Yes, you can use Chrome without signing in. Signing in to Chrome is optional, and Google’s help says so plainly: “It’s optional to sign in to Chrome.” You do not need a Google Account to download Chrome, browse, save bookmarks or save passwords. Without an account, everything you save stays on that one device.
Below: how to keep Chrome signed out, how to stop it signing you in when you open Gmail or YouTube, how to sign out safely, and what you give up.
Start Chrome without signing in
- First time you open Chrome: when Chrome offers to sign in, decline it and keep browsing. Nothing else needs to be set up.
- Adding a new profile: click the Profile picture at the top right, then Add Chrome profile, and choose Continue without an account. The profile works normally and keeps its data on this computer. See Chrome profiles for more.
Need Chrome first? Get it for Windows, Mac or Linux.
Stop Chrome signing you in when you use Gmail or YouTube
When you sign in to a Google service such as Gmail in the browser, Chrome may ask whether you also want to sign in to Chrome. You can set the answer once. Google’s steps, from its sign-out help:
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- At the top right, click the Profile picture, then Google Services Settings.
- Under “Other Google services,” choose Don’t sign in. The other choices are Sign in and Ask every time.
With Don’t sign in, you can still use Gmail, YouTube and other Google sites on their own; Chrome itself just stays signed out.
Sign out of Chrome
Read this first: when you sign out, Google says your info “is kept safe in your Google Account and removed from the device” (Google’s sync help). Your bookmarks and passwords are not lost, but they leave this computer. If you want them here while signed out, export them before signing out (see exporting passwords from Chrome).
Windows, Mac and Linux
- Click the Profile picture at the top right.
- Click Sign out of Chrome.
Android
- Open Chrome and tap More (three dots), then Settings.
- At the top, tap your account name.
- Tap Sign out.
iPhone and iPad
- Open Chrome and tap More (three dots), then Settings.
- At the top, tap your account name.
- Tap Sign Out.
What works without an account, and what does not
Works the same: browsing, tabs, bookmarks, history, saving passwords and addresses, downloads, settings and Incognito. When you are signed out, Google says bookmarks and other info you save are kept only on your device.
What you give up, according to Google’s help:
- Your bookmarks, passwords and settings on your other devices.
- Getting your saved info back if you lose your phone or get a new computer. Without an account, back up your bookmarks and passwords yourself.
- Being signed in automatically to Gmail, YouTube, Search and other Google services.
- Personalization in other Google products based on your Chrome history.
- Installing an extension on your computer from your phone, which Google’s extensions help says needs you signed in.
Is it more private?
Staying signed out means Chrome does not save your bookmarks, passwords and history to a Google Account, so that data stays on your device. It does not make you anonymous: websites, your internet provider and your employer or school can still see what you do, signed in or not. For more control, go through Chrome’s privacy settings.
Using someone else’s computer for a moment? Neither signing in nor staying signed out is the right tool. Use a guest window, which deletes its history, cookies and site data when you close it.