Short answer: work through the ten settings below in order. They are all built into Chrome on a computer, need no flags or add-ons, and each was checked against Google’s Chrome help. The first five do most of the work: run Safety Check, block third-party cookies, delete site data when Chrome closes, turn off the Google services that send browsing data, and decide what your Google Account keeps. The rest tighten security and connections. Where a setting trades privacy against protection, the trade-off is spelled out.
If you only want the quick version, how to stop Chrome tracking you covers the five changes that matter most. To understand what each Google setting sends, see what data Chrome collects.
All the paths below start from More (three dots, top right) > Settings.
1. Update Chrome and run Safety Check
Safety Check looks for compromised passwords, available updates, risky extensions, unused site permissions and unwanted notifications (Google’s safety and security help). Go to Privacy and security and, under “Safety Check,” select Go to Safety Check. Fix anything it lists. If it says an update is waiting, update Chrome first, since security fixes arrive through updates.
2. Block third-party cookies
Go to Privacy and security > Third-party cookies (chrome://settings/cookies) and choose Block third-party cookies. This stops the cookies other companies use to follow you between sites. If a site you trust breaks, add it under “Sites allowed to use third-party cookies” (Google’s cookie help).
3. Delete site data when you close Chrome
Go to Privacy and security > Site settings > Additional content settings > On-device site data (chrome://settings/content/siteData) and choose Delete data sites have saved to your device when you close all windows. Sites should still work while you browse, but are less likely to remember you next time. The trade-off: you will often have to sign in again. Google advises against the stricter option, blocking all site data, because sites may not work (on-device site data help).
4. Turn off the Google services that send browsing data
Go to You and Google > Google services (chrome://settings/googleServices) and turn off:
- Help improve Chrome’s features and performance: stops usage statistics and automatic crash reports, which are on by default.
- Make searches and browsing better: stops Chrome sending Google the URLs of pages you visit.
- Improve search suggestions: stops what you type in the address bar going to your search engine as you type. You still get suggestions from your own history.
Sources: Google’s articles on usage statistics and address bar data.
5. Decide what your Google Account keeps
Signing in to Chrome saves your bookmarks, passwords and settings to your Google Account. You have three options (Google’s sign-in and saving help):
- Save less: go to You and Google, select your account name, and turn off what you don’t want saved, especially History and tabs.
- Encrypt it: on the same page, select Encryption options and choose Use your own passphrase to encrypt all the Chrome data in your Google Account. Google then can’t read it. You’ll need the passphrase on every new device, and you can’t view passwords on passwords.google.com.
- Don’t sign in: select your Profile picture > Sign out of Chrome. New bookmarks and other info then stay on this device only. Data already saved in your account stays there until you delete it at chrome.google.com/data.
Also check Web & App Activity in My Google Activity: when it includes Chrome history, Google can use that history to personalize other products.
6. Choose your Safe Browsing level
Go to Privacy and security > Security (chrome://settings/security). The choice is a real trade-off (Safe Browsing help):
- Standard protection (the default) checks an obfuscated part of each URL through a privacy server, so neither Google nor the server operator sees both the URL and your IP address. It sends full URLs and bits of page content to Google only if a site does something suspicious.
- Enhanced protection sends Google the URL of every site plus samples of page content, extension activity and system information, in return for faster warnings about new threats.
- No protection is “not recommended” by Google. Don’t turn it off for privacy; you lose warnings about dangerous sites and downloads.
7. Always use secure connections
On the same Security page, under “Secure connections,” turn on Always use secure connections. Chrome then upgrades sites to HTTPS and warns you before it opens a site that doesn’t support it. This is built in, so no extension is needed for it.
8. Check secure DNS
Secure DNS encrypts the lookup Chrome makes to find a site’s address. Google says it is on by default in automatic mode, and that if Chrome has trouble looking up a site this way it falls back to unencrypted lookups. To stop the fallback, on the Security page under “Advanced,” keep Use secure DNS on and pick a provider from the drop-down menu instead of your current service provider. If sites then fail to load with “server’s IP address couldn’t be found,” switch back. Secure DNS isn’t available when your device is managed or parental controls are on, according to the same Google safety and security help as step 1.
9. Review ad privacy and site permissions
- Ad privacy: if your Chrome shows Privacy and security > Ad privacy, you can turn off ad topics, site-suggested ads and ad measurement there (ad privacy help). Google announced in October 2025 that it is retiring the Privacy Sandbox technologies behind several of these features, including Topics (Google’s update), so this page may change.
- Site permissions: go to Privacy and security > Site settings and look at location, camera, microphone and notifications. Remove any site you don’t recognize. See the site settings guide for what each permission does.
10. Use Incognito, and Do Not Track if you like
For browsing you don’t want saved on the device, press Ctrl + Shift + N (Windows, Linux, Chromebook) or ⌘ + Shift + N (Mac) for an Incognito window, where third-party cookies are blocked by default. It doesn’t hide you from the sites you visit or your network (Incognito help).
You can also turn on Do Not Track on the Third-party cookies page. Google says most websites, its own included, ignore it.