Private windows

A private window is for browsing that leaves nothing behind. Pages you open there aren't kept in your history, and their cookies and sign-ins go when you close the window.

Open a private window

1. Choose File › New Private Window.Or press ⇧⌘P. A new window opens beside your usual one.
2. Browse as you normally would.The window has one Space of its own, called Private, with its own tabs.
3. Close the window when you're done.Every page, cookie and sign-in from it goes with it.

Each private window starts empty. Nothing from your Spaces is signed in there, and nothing from an earlier private window is still around.

What a private window doesn't keep

• History. Pages you visit aren't added to your history, and Show All History isn't available from the window.
• Cookies and site data. They're kept in memory while the window is open, never on disk.
• Your session. Its tabs aren't saved, so they don't come back the next time you open Tern.
• Camera and microphone answers. If a site asks and you answer, Tern remembers it only until the window closes.
• The agent's conversation. The window has an agent of its own, and nothing you ask it is saved.

What works differently

A private window stays apart from the rest of Tern, so a few things aren't there:

• No sync. Its tabs never go to iCloud, and you can't send a tab from it to another device.
• No agents from your Spaces. No Space's agent can see a private window or its pages.
• No extensions. Extensions don't run in a private window, so a password manager won't fill sign-ins there.
• No Overview or import. Overview and Import from Another Browser work in your usual window only.

Tracker blocking works in a private window just as it does in your Spaces. See Tracker blocking.

On iPhone

In Tern for iPhone, open the page's menu at the end of the address and choose Private Browsing. It works the same way: pages aren't kept in your history, and their cookies and sign-ins go when you close it.