This short guide will show you how to configure Microsoft Edge so that it always starts in InPrivate Mode in macOS.
If you surf the web using Microsoft Edge when it’s in “InPrivate mode” that means none of your browsing history, download history, cookies, cached files or passwords are saved when you quit the app. Browsing in InPrivate mode doesn’t keep you safer online, but it does help keep your private information a bit more private.
In order to have Edge automatically start up in InPrivate mode on your Mac you’ll need to create something that’s kind of like a “fancy shortcut”. Fortunately, it’s super easy to do – here’s how –
- Launch the Script Editor, which you can find by going to your Applications folder and then the Utilities folder.
- Click the New Document button when the Script Editor app opens.
- Enter the following line of text into the top panel:
do shell script "open -a /Applications/Microsoft\\ Edge.app --args --inprivate" - Save the file by selecting File and then Save…
- Give the file a name (something descriptive) in the Save As: field. The one name not to use is “Microsoft Edge” – anything else is fine. Select your Applications folder as the save the file. Finally, select Application from the File Format: menu. Click Save when you’re done.
- Check your Applications folder and you’ll find a new app. Before we test it out, let’s get rid of the ugly icon first.
- Hold down the controlGet Info from the menu.
- Take a moment to download an icon file from macOSicons to use with your new copy of Edge. Once you’ve picked one out and downloaded it, drag-and-drop it onto the existing small icon in the upper-left corner of the Get Info panel (see screenshot below).
- Confirm that the icon changed.
- Quit any open instances of Microsoft Edge and then double-click your newly created custom app. Ta-da! Edge will open in InPrivate mode. Every time you open Edge via the new app it will open in InPrivate, as long as there aren’t any currently running instances of the browser. That’s it! You can update Edge as you normally would when updates become available and just leave the version you created as it is.
