Have you noticed that Windows 11 (and Windows 10) clipboard history no longer saves content you copied in Chrome’s incognito? It’s not a bug but a feature and a part of Microsoft’s efforts to make Chromium’s private browsing more “private” on Windows.
This isn’t exactly news because Microsoft made these changes several months ago, and Google shipped it to everyone in Q3 of 2024. However, while it’s not a new update, it’s still worth discussing because I don’t see it documented anywhere. You should know why and how the incognito mode changed because of Microsoft.
By default, Chromium was designed to save a copy of copied text or image in the clipboard history. In the case of Windows, Chromium’s copied content is synced with Cloud Clipboard, which can be accessed using the Windows Key + V keyboard shortcut. However, the problem with syncing everything to a clipboard is privacy, especially if you’re in incognito.
The whole point of incognito is to hide and protect everything you do in that private browsing session, but is it really private when Google is leaking and syncing Chrome’s copied content across your devices? Certainly not. Syncing the private clipboard content defeats the purpose of using incognito.
That’s when Microsoft’s Anupam Snigdha realized it needed to step in to patch Google’s flawed approach to incognito and clipboard on Windows 11.
On Mar 15, 2024, Microsoft filed a code commit to prevent the clipboard from writing the data into clipboard history and cloud clipboard if the user is copying from an incognito window.
As noted by Microsoft in a support document, Windows has special clipboard formats to exclude data from history/cloud sync, but other platforms like Android didn’t work the same way.
Some clipboard formats were meant for passwords (should be hidden) but were used for Incognito as well. The team needed to separate: Passwords (should be visually hidden) and incognito data (should not be stored but can be visible)
Thanks to Microsoft, Chromium now uses Windows clipboard formats to block history & cloud sync:
- ExcludeClipboardContentFromMonitorProcessing → Stops saving to history & cloud
- CanIncludeInClipboardHistory=0 → Stops saving in history
- CanUploadToCloudClipboard=0 → Stops cloud sync
In the case of macOS, the approach is somewhat different because it clears the clipboard after copy to prevent sync across Macs and iPhones.
Later, Google also picked up the changes and shipped an update to Chrome that prevents clipboard data from being saved in history or cloud sync when copied in Incognito mode.
Media content is private
Another noteworthy change, which is also old at this point, is related to how Windows handles media preview of content playing in Chromium.
When you play a YouTube video in a regular tab/window of Chrome/Edge and adjust the volume or open the volume panel on Windows 11/10, you’ll notice a small preview of the media with information like the title, artists, artwork, etc. This also appears on the lock screen.
After an update shipped in 2024, Chrome hides media content when you watch anything in an incognito window.
That’s why you see “A site is playing media” media preview when you’re playing something in incognito.
These are pretty nice changes and make Chromium more private than ever.
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