How to Launch Microsoft Edge in InPrivate Window by Default

By Hongkiat Lim. in Internet. Updated on April 12, 2023.

Microsoft Edge has a lot of cool features; for example – you can earn Microsoft Rewards points by just browsing the web with it. However, when it comes to launching a new window (natively) in a private mode, it kind of falls short when compared with Firefox or Safari. But this doesn’t mean that it can’t be achieved at all.

In this post, we will tell you how to enable Microsoft Edge to open in a drive window each time we launch it. For this, we need first to create a shortcut and alter it with some parameters of its default settings, just like we’ve previously done it with Chrome. Let’s take a look.

Windows Users

Step 1

Launch File Explorer, and navigate to ProgramData > Microsoft > Windows > Start Menu > Programs. Or, you can also paste the following path directly in File Explorer to get directly to the intended destination.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Step 2

Right-click once on the Microsoft Edge shortcut and select "Properties".

Step 3

Inside “Target:”, go to the end of the line, hit space once, then insert “-inprivate” with the quotes.

This will change the default:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"

Into becoming:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" -inprivate

Step 4

Now, click “OK”, follow by “Continue” to confirm your changes.

Your Edge browser should always open in InPrivate mode (by default) every time you launch it.

Mac Users

And for those who have Microsoft Edge installed on your macOS, here’s how to open it in InPrivate mode by default.

Step 1

Launch Spotlight, search for and open the Script Editor app.

Step 2

Click “New Document” and paste the following codes inside.

do shell script "open -a /Applications/Microsoft\\ Edge.app -n --args --inprivate"

Next, save the file by going to File > Save, or hit the shortcut Command + S.

Select “Desktop” for “Where:”, “Application” for “File Format:” and then hit the "Save" button. What happens here is that an executable file that opens Edge in InPrivate mode will be created on your Desktop.

Step 3

To ensure it works, double-click the executable file and see if it opens up Edge in InPrivate mode.

Step 4

Now, let’s add an icon to the executable we created and move it to the Dock.

Launch Finder, the Microsoft Edge app installed on your Mac; right-click and select “Get Info”.

Note: Microsoft Edge should be located inside Macintosh HD > Applications.

Next, do a “Get Info” on the executable file and put the two dialogue boxes side by side, see the screenshot below for reference.

Now, left-click once on the Edge logo, do a Command + C to copy its logo, then click the executable file’s logo and hit Command + V.

This will give the executable file a nice-looking Edge logo.

Last but not least, drag it onto the Dock.