Enable incogonito mode in phone's keyboard: A step-by-step guide

Keyboard privacy

Incognito mode is especially useful on a keyboard app, where we type sensitive information like passwords, OTPs, and other private details. Modern keyboards can even fetch OTPs automatically from SMS messages, and clipboard history may temporarily retain copied items. Enabling incognito mode on the keyboard helps keep your data private by preventing it from being saved.

Popular keyboard apps like Google’s Gboard, Apple’s default keyboard on iOS and iPadOS, and Microsoft’s SwiftKey offer incognito mode, though each implements it differently. Here’s a guide on how to use incognito mode on each of these keyboards.

Apple and Google have made incognito mode available in their respective keyboard apps, but they activate only when using Safari on Apple devices and Chrome on Android with Gboard. When you open a browser in incognito mode, the keyboard automatically switches to incognito as well. However, there is no separate setting within the keyboard app to toggle incognito mode on or off manually.

In incognito mode, both keyboards change appearance: Apple Keyboard becomes black, while Gboard displays a border around the keys, visually indicating privacy mode is active.

SwiftKey offers a manual option to enable incognito mode. Here’s how you can activate it:

Tap on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top right corner of the SwiftKey keyboard.

Find and tap the Incognito icon. Once enabled, the keyboard’s colour will change to black, signalling that incognito mode is active.

With SwiftKey, you can toggle the incognito mode on or off as needed, giving users the flexibility to protect sensitive information at any time.