Google has announced that a new feature, “Default to Guest mode,” is now available for Windows, Linux , and macOS in the Chrome web browser. The new Google Chrome feature can be enabled using a command-line switch or an enterprise policy, and allows users to configure the web browser to always run in Guest Mode. In this browsing mode, Chrome will delete all browsing activity from the computer after the user exits the browser.
Guest mode (Default to Guest mode) allows others to use your computer to browse or surf the Internet on another user's device without access to a Chrome profile. The difference between Guest mode and Incognito mode is that users will have access to all of their profile information while using it.
When browsing the web in Default to Guest mode, Chrome will not store information about the websites that users visit, including the ads and sources used on them, and information about the websites that users connect to. In addition, it will not store information about the employer, school, or anyone else who controls/provides the network that a user uses. Information that will not be stored includes the Internet and search engines.
Windows users can enable Guest mode by following these steps:
- Exit all running Chrome instances.
- They right-click on the “Chrome” shortcut.
- They choose properties.
- At the end of the “Target:” line add the following: chrome.exe –guest
- When finished, they use the shortcut to launch Chrome.
Windows users can also open the Command Prompt or PowerShell (or any other Terminal program), navigate to Google Chrome, and launch the browser with the -guest parameter.
As for macOS and Linux users, they should follow the following procedure:
- Exit all Chrome instances.
- Run your favorite Terminal application.
- In the terminal, users should locate the Chrome application and add –guest as a command line parameter and press ENTER to launch Chrome.
- To return to their Chrome profile, users will need to close all Chrome instances and restart the web browser without the –guest flag. Windows users who edited the shortcut will need to change the “Target:” line back to its previous form.
