Short answer: no setting stops all tracking, but five changes make it much harder. Block third-party cookies, use Incognito for browsing you don’t want remembered, turn off Make searches and browsing better and Help improve Chrome’s features and performance, keep your Chrome history out of your Google Account, and add a tracker blocker. The steps are below.
“Tracking” in Chrome means two different things, and they have different fixes:
- Websites and ad companies following you from site to site. This mostly works through third-party cookies. Steps 1, 2 and 5 deal with it.
- Chrome sending data to Google. Usage statistics, the pages you visit and your history, depending on your settings. Steps 3 and 4 deal with it. For a full list of what Chrome sends and when, see what data Chrome collects.
1. Block third-party cookies
Third-party cookies are set by other companies embedded in the pages you visit, and Google’s cookie help says they can be used to “learn about actions you take on other sites.” Google decided to keep them in Chrome and to keep offering users the choice in Privacy and security settings (Google’s announcement), so blocking them is up to you:
- Open Chrome. At the top right, select More (three dots) > Settings.
- Select Privacy and security > Third-party cookies, or paste
chrome://settings/cookiesinto the address bar. - Choose Block third-party cookies.
On Android: More > Settings > Site settings > Third-party cookies > Block third-party cookies. If a sign-in or checkout then breaks, allow third-party cookies for that one site; managing cookies in Chrome shows how.
2. Use Incognito for browsing you don’t want kept
Press Ctrl + Shift + N on Windows, Linux or a Chromebook, or ⌘ + Shift + N on a Mac. In Incognito, third-party cookies are blocked by default, Chrome doesn’t automatically sign you in to your Google Account, and cookies and history are removed when you close all Incognito windows.
Know its limits. Google’s Incognito help says it “doesn’t make you invisible”: websites, including Google’s, and whoever runs your network can still see what you do.
3. Turn off the Google services that send browsing data
Google’s usage statistics help says Chrome sends usage statistics and crash reports by default. With Make searches and browsing better on, Chrome also sends Google the URLs of pages you visit. To turn both off on a computer:
- Select More > Settings > You and Google.
- Select Google services.
- Turn off Help improve Chrome’s features and performance.
- Turn off Make searches and browsing better.
On Android, iPhone and iPad, both switches are under More > Settings > Google services.
4. Keep your Chrome history out of your Google Account
Signing in to Chrome saves bookmarks, passwords and other data to your Google Account. Your tabs and history are only saved there if you turn on History and tabs. Google says Chrome history in your account may be used to personalize other Google products when Web & App Activity, including its Chrome setting, is on (how sign-in works in Chrome). Pick one:
- Stay signed in, but don’t save history: select More > Settings > You and Google, select your account name, and turn off History and tabs.
- Sign out of Chrome: at the top right, select your Profile picture > Sign out of Chrome. New bookmarks and other info you save are then kept only on this device, not in your Google Account.
To check or turn off Web & App Activity, open My Google Activity. To delete Chrome data already saved in your account, go to chrome.google.com/data and select Delete data.
5. Add a tracker blocker
A tracker-blocking extension adds another layer on top of cookie blocking. Privacy Badger, made by the digital rights nonprofit EFF, is in the Chrome Web Store and “automatically learns to block hidden trackers.” For ad blockers, see the best ad blockers for Chrome. Install extensions only from the Chrome Web Store, and use one blocker at a time so you can tell which one is acting on a site.
What about Do Not Track?
You can turn it on, but Google’s own help says most websites, including Google’s, ignore it. Do Not Track in Chrome covers where the switch is and what it does.
For every remaining privacy setting in one place, including secure DNS, Safe Browsing levels and deleting site data when Chrome closes, see how to harden Chrome for maximum privacy.