(Credit: Zain bin Awais)
On the internet, everyone wants your attention, data, and money. That’s why you often can’t read articles or watch videos without a bombardment of ads or other media running in the background.
Many online ads are eerily specific, and that’s because the companies behind them are constantly tracking you. It sounds dystopian and terrifying, but it’s our reality. The good news is that there are steps you can take to reduce your digital footprint—and you should start by adjusting the privacy settings of your web browser. We're here to walk you through what to do for four of the most popular browsers on the market. All offer some features that aim to keep your data private, at least to some extent (note that we are focusing on the desktop version of the browsers in this story). So find your browser below and amp up your security now.
Apple Safari
In Safari, open the browser's Settings menu and click the AutoFill icon. There, you can choose what kind of information the browser stores. Click on the Edit button to make changes. If you have a third-party password manager, you can turn off auto-filling and ignore the Apple Passwords setup tab. Next, click the Security icon and turn on warnings for fraudulent websites and non-secure site connections. After that, click on the Privacy tab. Enable the options to prevent cross-site tracking, hide your computer’s IP address from trackers and websites, clear your browsing history, and block all cookies.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)The next section to examine is Profiles, and it's a great option if you use the same computer for work and casual browsing. You can create a totally different profile with different cookies, extensions, and site data. Keeping your work separate from your personal affairs is always a good idea.
Another section of interest is the Websites tab. Here, you can configure the browser to be in Reader mode for certain websites. Reader mode blocks ads, auto-play videos, and pop-ups, which makes the internet a lot more readable. You can also set up content blockers for specific domains and adjust permissions for your camera, location, microphone, and more.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)The last section you should check out is the Advanced tab. Tick the boxes to turn on protection from advanced tracking and fingerprinting and to block cookies. I don't advise allowing websites to check for payment methods or privacy-preserving measurement of ad effectiveness, which is just a fancy way of saying, "We monitor your activity to see what ads are working on you."
Google Chrome
Google offers several powerful privacy settings in the Chrome browser’s Settings menu. To get started, head to the Privacy and Security section. Then, run a Safety Check and follow Google's recommendations regarding existing passwords and other settings.
Chrome has a built-in password manager that can handle your form-filling and credential-generation needs. That said, I don’t recommend keeping your passwords in your browser since browsers traditionally have lower encryption and strength standards than dedicated password managers. NordPass and Proton Pass are our Editors’ Choice winners within that category, and both come with other additional features to improve your security.
(Credit: Google/PCMag)After cleaning up your passwords, click on the Third-Party Cookies section and choose the block option. This will sign you out of all websites. This is also the section where you can ask Google to send automatic Do Not Track requests to websites on your behalf. Not all websites honor such requests, but you’ll be grateful for the ones that do. When you’re done, return to the previous page, click on the Ad Privacy section, and turn off all the settings.
(Credit: Google/PCMag)Next, head to the Security section. I don’t want to send my browsing data to Google, so I didn’t enable this option. If you want to use Gemini AI to detect dangerous websites and downloads, you can turn on that setting. I also recommend enabling the option to always use secure connections so you get a warning if you’re on an unsecured website. You can also allow Google to scan your encrypted password list to learn whether any appear in a data breach.
Finally, head to the Site Settings section and tweak the options to block or allow sites to use your camera and microphone and view your location. In this section, you can also block third-party cookies and disallow pop-ups or redirects. It’s a good idea to check the box at the very bottom of the page to remove old permissions from websites you haven’t visited in a while.
Microsoft Edge
Start locking down browsing on Edge by opening the Settings menu, choosing Privacy, Search, and Services, and changing your tracking prevention settings to Strict. This mode limits advertiser tracking, so you probably will stop seeing personalized ads. If you find many of your favorite sites don’t load correctly when this setting is active, change it to Balanced.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)In the browsing data section, you can clear your cookies, history, and passwords each time you close Edge. In the Privacy section, turn on the option to send Do Not Track requests and turn off the option to allow sites to check if you have payment methods saved.
As in the above screenshot, you should enable all the security settings available and turn on Strict browsing mode. I don’t see a good privacy or security reason to turn on any options in the Search and Connected Experience section.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Next, head to the Cookies and Site Permissions tab and make adjustments based on your preferences. I recommend changing the settings to require sites to ask before accessing your AR and VR device, camera, location, and microphone. In this section, you can also block sites from installing payment handlers or using motion and light sensors to track your movements on a page. Edge blocks pop-ups and unsecured content by default. There are a lot of permissions here, so take your time deciding what to allow.
The last section to consider is the Family Safety section. If you have young children, this free parental control setting will sync across your Android, Windows, and Xbox accounts. You can view your child’s browsing activity and enable filters to limit harmful online encounters.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox has an extensive Privacy and Security section within the browser's Settings menu. It’s smart to enable Strict Tracking Protection, which blocks social media trackers and advertising cookies while eliminating known crypto miners and fingerprinters. Keep in mind that this might break some sites. If a page fails to load after enabling Strict Tracking Protection, follow these steps to turn off the setting for just that website, consider visiting in private browsing mode, or better yet, in a different browser.
(Credit: Mozilla/PCMag)Next, tick the box to automatically tell websites not to sell or share your data. While there, you can delete cookies and site data each time you close the Firefox browser. Remember that this means you’ll need to sign into your accounts each time you open a new browser window.
The next section allows you to use Firefox as a password manager. Any password manager is better than using the same password everywhere online, so if you don’t already have one, enable this setting. If you already use a password manager (and you should), you can skip this step.
In any case, the email masking feature is worth looking into if your password manager doesn’t offer it. Email masking creates fake email addresses you can use when logging into websites, shopping online, or signing up for newsletters. It’s a good way to hide your actual email address and reduce inbox clutter. It’s also a good way to share less personal information about yourself online.
The Autofill section is next. If you’re not using Firefox as a password manager, I recommend unchecking the options to save and fill in your addresses or payment information. It’s vital, private data that you don’t need to give up to use the web browser, so don’t volunteer it.
In the History section, check the box for private browsing mode. This will keep Firefox from retaining your browsing history.
(Credit: Mozilla/PCMag)Below that section, you can change the browser’s permissions. Unless you need to use the browser for video conferencing, you should block new requests for your camera, location, microphone, and VR device access. You can also stop videos from automatically loading by changing your autoplay settings.
I recommend unchecking all options in the data collection and use section, but the opposite goes for the next section. You’ll want to check every option in the security section to block dangerous downloads and receive warnings about unwanted software.
You should consider enabling HTTPS-Only mode to avoid unsecured websites. That said, I wouldn’t mess with the DNS settings unless you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, the default protection option should be secure enough for your activities.
Consider Using a Privacy-First Browser
If you’re looking for browsers with baked-in privacy, check out our recommendations for the best private browsers. The list includes well-known options like DuckDuckGo and Opera, along with browsers from companies that make other privacy products, such as Avast and Mullvad. Tor is a good option for staying anonymous, but it definitely targets a niche audience. That’s why it made our list of the best alternative browsers.