Is incognito mode really safe?

It is completely safe to use incognito mode. But incognito will not provide you with the privacy protection you may be looking for. Here are some caveats.

When using incognito mode, you can.

Treat a borrowed device as a loaner device. Always treat your work or school device as a borrowed device, even if you use incognito mode all the time. When someone uses your personal device to check their email, let them use the incognito browser.

Expect to be hidden. In incognito mode you will not be completely invisible, but the surprise birthday present you search for on your home computer will still be a surprise.

When using incognito mode, do not.

Log on to personal websites. Logging into your personal account on social media sites or elsewhere will help other sites recognise you, even in incognito mode.

Expect to be invisible. If you are looking for new work on your work computer or accessing NSFW content, incognito mode will not be enough to hide your activity if a network administrator decides to check.