At DuckDuckGo, we don’t track you, ever. That’s our Privacy Policy in a nutshell. As you visit websites, everyday data, like regular cookies and browser storage, builds up locally in the browser. We’ve made it simple to stay in control of how data like this is kept or deleted from the DuckDuckGo Browser's local storage on your device with the Fire Button, Fire Windows, and Fire Tabs.
What’s the Difference?
The Fire Button sits within easy reach in the DuckDuckGo Browser on desktop and mobile. It’s your go-to button for choosing which browsing data to burn whenever you want.
Fire Windows (on desktop) and Fire Tabs (on mobile) let you browse in a completely isolated session. All data stays separate from your regular browsing, and all data is deleted when you close the session.
This means that you can use the Fire Button to browse normally and choose which data you want to keep or delete as you go; or use Fire Windows or Fire Tabs to leave nothing behind on specific sessions.
The Fire Button
The Fire Button makes it easy for you to delete traces of websites that you’ve visited (like cookies, website caches, and favicons), browsing session information (like open tabs, back button history, and visited URLs), and permissions you’ve granted to websites (like geolocation, camera, and microphone settings).
In the Browser
On Mobile
Simply click on the Fire Button in the DuckDuckGo Browser app and you can choose to delete all the app’s browsing data from all open tabs, or just the data from the tab you’re on.
On Desktop
In the DuckDuckGo browser, simply click on the Fire Button and you’ll be given the option to delete the browsing data from the tab you’re currently on or everywhere in the browser. You can also choose to delete all browsing data or keep the history or cookies you’d rather not lose. In addition to the Fire Button, you can now delete your browsing data by choosing the Delete Browsing Data option in your browser ☰ menu.
In the Extension
If you have the DuckDuckGo Extension installed on a 3rd-party browser, click the Fire Button and you’ll be able to choose to delete all of the browsing data, only the data from the site you're currently on, your open Duck.ai chat, or the data from a particular time period (all time, last four weeks, last week, last day, last hour).
In Duck.ai
To delete a chat in Duck.ai, all you need to do is hit the Fire Button next to the chat input.
Fireproofing
Our browsers offer additional control, where you can also make specific sites partially immune to the Fire Button by “Fireproofing” them. Fireproofing a website keeps some helpful data around, like 1st-party cookies and storage that would otherwise be cleared out by the Fire Button, so you can stay signed in.
From DuckDuckGo app Settings, you can manage your Fireproof Sites and choose whether you’d like to automatically clear tabs and data on restart. It’s important to note that the Fire Button will not delete the following: 1st-party cookies and storage for Fireproof Sites, bookmarks, downloaded files, or DuckDuckGo Search settings and associated storage. For example, we might use local storage to anonymously remember the fact that you’ve already dismissed a prompt to turn on a particular feature in the DuckDuckGo Browser so that we don’t annoy you by showing it again.
Fire Tabs on Mobile
On the DuckDuckGo mobile Browser app, Fire Tabs work by allowing you to isolate your browsing from your regular tabs. When you close them, all their browsing data is deleted. You can also use the Fire Button as normal. Deleting browsing data in Fire Tabs won’t affect the data in your regular tabs. When you long-press on a link you’ll also be given the option to open it in a regular tab or a Fire Tab.
Fire Windows on Desktop
Fire Windows have the same tracking protections as regular browser windows, but they isolate your activity from other browsing data, and they automatically burn their data when closed. Try it by selecting the New Fire Window option in your browser menu, or Open in New Fire Window when right-clicking on links, bookmarks, favorites, and more.