HOW TO Protect your online privacy

1 On the edge

When you first launch Edge it helpfully provides a list of key features. Just click on Privacy to see a quick overview – and if you’re really keen on privacy, Microsoft even lets you download an in-depth guide to its policies.

2 Personal profiles

Edge allows you to create multiple personal profiles for different people who share a computer. Each profile can store passwords, online accounts, and payment info for different users – and keep them separate.

3 Private browsing

Like many browsers, Edge enables you to open ‘private’ windows and deletes the browsing data for those windows after you close them. You can also log in as a ‘guest’ and your entire browsing session will be deleted.

4 Adjust settings

You can control your browsing information in great detail, using the Settings menu. Click the three dots (…) in the top right of the window to open Settings, and then click Privacy And Services in the column on the left.

5 Who’s watching?

Edge gives you three different levels of Tracking Prevention to stop ads from ‘tracking’ you while you’re online – Basic, Balanced and Strict. It also keeps a list of the sites that it has blocked, so you can see the worst offenders.

6 Browsing history

Scroll down and you’ll see an option to clear your recent browsing data. There’s also an option to ‘Clear browsing data on close’. This automatically deletes your browsing history and data every time you close Edge.

7 And malware too

Keep scrolling down to the Services section. Microsoft’s SmartScreen service is turned on by default in Edge, and constantly monitors for malware and dodgy websites. You can also choose to block suspicious downloads.

8 No permission

Click on Site Permissions in the left-hand column. Edge can block a variety of activities – preventing websites from using your camera or microphone, opening pop-up windows, sending notifications, or accessing location data.