How to disable private browsing in safari on OS X El Capitan?

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Level 1

10 points

How to disable private browsing in safari on OS X El Capitan?

There used to be the option of using textwrangler, Xcode, or pref setter app to disable private browsing on safari. Or you could delete safari completely. Now those options no longer seem to be an option on OS X El Capitan. There must be a way to be able to disable the private browsing option from safari. Any ideas on how?

And no I do not wish to use parental controls. I am the only one using my computer and I do not wish to have another account to disable the private browsing option in safari.

- Thanks

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012)

Posted on Sep 11, 2016 4:24 PM

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Answer 1

tso26

Level 1

4 points

Nov 10, 2016 6:15 PM in response to Che87

I've figured out how to disable Private browsing on a MacBook for safari..

1. reboot your mac, when you hear the mac sound keep clicking cmd+r.

2. it'll take you to your macbook's recovery mode. ignore the box that shows up.

3. at the top... can't remember what its in but its in the top menu bar, you'll find Open Terminal

4. put in the command "csrutil disable" (

5. restart mac

6.go to safari in finder and right click to show package contents

7. go to contents..resources..

8. in the search bar... search for "private" and select "Resources" rather than "this mac" when they are asking where you want to search.

9.Drag all these files into a new folder on your desktop. or just keep it safe incase you want to re-enable it.

10. delete the files from where you dragged it from (it'll ask for your password to do that)

(make sure safari was closed throughout)

11. Private browsing just won't work.. option is still there but it won't work!

12. repeat steps 1-3

13. type in the command csrutil enable.

14. you're good to go!

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Answer 2

Nov 26, 2016 2:23 PM in response to tso26

Thank You tso26!

This worked like a charm.

I use Parental Controls, but sorry to say, it is garbage. It fails to work as inteneded often.

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Answer 3

Feb 20, 2017 7:35 PM in response to tso26

This didn't work for me. I have a new iMac and I just kept getting an error message when I tried to delete the files from the 'Resources' search for 'Private'. ..................I had it copied but, I lost it.....something about I can't delete them because MacOS requires them!?

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Answer 4

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Feb 23, 2017 4:59 AM in response to Che87

Open safari and its preferences , click on general safari opens with > click on drop down arrows and change from new private window to a new window .

This option is to change the settings , but disabling method is not set in the software .

You can send your feed back to Apple .

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Answer 5

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,962 points

Sep 12, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Che87

In El Capitan, you must deliberately invoke a New Private Window from the File menu, or keyboard shortcut to achieve private browsing. As you are the stated, only user of your Mac, how is it that you cannot simply avoid invoking this menu item?

There are no user configurable settings that can deactivate that hard-coded, New Private Window menu entry.

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Answer 6

Che87 Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 12, 2016 2:26 PM in response to VikingOSX

In my original post I described previous ways of doing so. There must be a way of doing so through plist protocols to turn the code to an integer value of 1 to hide it. I did it with google chrome via the institutions in this YouTube video - http://youtu.be/qF6UmSrR6ZQ which used an app called pref setter to alter the code.

Now as to your response of, "how is it that you cannot simply avoid invoking this menu item?" There are many reasons to not want the option there altogether. The fact that you cannot think of one at all and simply narrow your response to - why don't you just not use it shows a lack of insight or possibly caring on your part. Of course I or anyone else could simply not use it if we desire. But some people would also like the option not to be there altogether.

For example - someone who has a *********** addiction may not want that option available to them because it disables extensions from blocking **** sites they wish not to view. I'm sure I could use many more. just realize I am far from the only person with this question or desire. Do a quick Google search and you'll see many people, blogs, and discussions on forums as to how to do what I have described.

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Answer 7

Sep 12, 2016 5:36 PM in response to Che87

Che87 wrote:

Now as to your response of, "how is it that you cannot simply avoid invoking this menu item?" There are many reasons to not want the option there altogether. The fact that you cannot think of one at all and simply narrow your response to - why don't you just not use it shows a lack of insight or possibly caring on your part.

Or, it was an attempt to get further information on why you wanted to do something so that it might generate further possible ideas for solutions.

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Answer 8

Che87 Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 12, 2016 6:11 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

That's a nice way of looking at it I suppose but I highly doubt that. The "solution" essentially was, don't use it. That is not a solution. Also it doesn't really matter why one chooses not to have the function available, as that would not effect any solution given to disable it. Lastly I would point you to all of the other times it has been brought up in the apple support forums - Re: How do I disable private browsing on Safari 10.5.8? iMac, Re: Disable private browsing for children, Safari private browsing, Re: Disable Private Browsing in Safari on iMac, Safari 9: Can't disable private browsing etc. They all have lots of people, also very often VikingOSX giving non-solutions. I did not ask how to enable parental controls, I asked how to disable private browsing. The real issue here is that Apple has decided to make safari essential to the OSX system (apparently) so it cannot be disabled, and also difficult to tweak protocols on. Therefore making it extremely difficult to handle if you want to get rid of private browsing for personal reasons. It's kind of getting annoying having people give zero support and opinions about why a person may desire to disable the feature. This is just another example of such behavior.

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Answer 9

Che87 Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 13, 2016 2:34 PM in response to Che87

Well here is my work around. Silly you can't just edit the plist in safari to hide private browsing from the mainmenu.nib but this works too.

1. download google chrome

2. use this youtube video https://youtu.be/qF6UmSrR6ZQand the free application pref setter to disable/hide incognito mode (the equivalent to private browsing in safari). Unlike safari, this way actually allows you to change the plist and disable incognito mode.

Just a note - you need to use the IncognitoModeAvailability and then set it to Integer then set it to 1.

3. use this website's http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac- os-x/ instructions to disable SIP on OS X El Capitan.

4. after the reboot you can find the safari application, right click, unlock the padlock on the bottom right, and set all of the permissions to "no access" or "read only". Then if you try to access safari nothing will happen.

5. Use google chrome, which after following steps 1 & 2 no longer has incognito mode as an option.

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