Microsoft and Google Improve Privacy in Chrome’s Incognito Mode on Windows

Microsoft and Google have collaborated to improve privacy in Chrome’s Incognito mode on Windows 10 and 11. The update was implemented in Q3 2024 and prevents clipboard content copied during private browsing sessions from being saved in Windows’ clipboard history or synced via Cloud Clipboard.

Content copied in Incognito mode is no longer saved to Windows clipboard history (accessible via Win+V). Incognito clipboard data is not synced across devices through Microsoft’s Cloud Clipboard.

Not just copied content, when playing media in Incognito mode, Windows now displays “A site is playing media” instead of showing detailed information like video titles or artist names.

Credit: Windows Report

Microsoft introduced three new clipboard formats to achieve this enhanced privacy, as reported by Windows Report.

1. ExcludeClipboardContentFromMonitorProcessing

2. CanIncludeInClipboardHistory=0

3. CanUploadToCloudClipboard=0

These formats are automatically applied to content copied in Chrome’s Incognito mode and prevent local storage and cloud synchronization of clipboard data.

Thanks to all this, users will notice that content copied in Incognito mode is no longer available in the Windows clipboard history. But the copied content can still be pasted immediately after copying, maintaining basic clipboard functionality.