This is the best browser to maximize your web privacy

There are many different ways you can improve the security and privacy of your online browsing experience. But if you want to maximize how safe you are when you venture out on the web, it’s worth switching to a specific browser.
The Tor Browser is available for Windows, macOS, and Android, and is free to use. There’s no iOS version, but there is something similar in the form of the Onion Browser.
We’ll explain here how it keeps you protected online above and beyond what regular browsers like Chrome and Firefox can do, as well as some of the trade-offs it makes in terms of security and speed.
How the Tor Browser works
The Tor Browser made its debut in 2008, but its story really starts in 2002 with the launch of the Tor network: A layer sitting between the web and users, enabling anyone to get online while staying anonymous. It’s made up of several thousand relays operated by volunteers, which act as a cloak for your online activities.
While the Tor network can be used with other browsers, it’s much easier to access and configure through the official Tor Browser—meaning anyone can quickly get up and running with the anonymizing network without having to install and configure multiple software programs.
The key benefit here is anonymity. Because of the Tor network, your internet provider can’t see the pages you’re visiting—only that you’re using Tor. At the other end, the sites you’re visiting can’t see the usual collection of information about you, such as where you’re located and what time zone you’re in.
The Tor Project is focused on security and privacy. David Nield
There’s more too: The Tor Browser takes steps to prevent fingerprinting, where websites try to figure out your identity through signals like your display resolution and the fonts you’ve got installed. The combination of these system characteristics can be enough for trackers to spot you in a crowd, but the Tor Browser obfuscates these details.
The browser isn’t enough to block all kinds of tracking—if you log into Amazon, Amazon is still going to know it’s you, and log the items you look at, for example. But the software and the network it runs on go a long way to limiting what advertisers and platforms can detect about you and your activity.
If you’re thinking this sounds a lot like a VPN program, you’re right. There are some differences though—with the Tor Browser you don’t have to sign up for an account or pay for VPN access, you don’t have to decide which VPN service you trust the most, and you get extra protections against fingerprinting.
Getting started with the Tor Browser
One of the major appeals of the Tor Browser is that it’s so easy to get started with. Download the right version for your computer, run the installation file, and you can be up and running in just a few minutes. You don’t need to set up an account or log in anywhere—you can just start browsing.
The first time you try to access the web with the Tor Browser, you’ll be asked to connect to the Tor network. Click Connect to accept the default settings and head to the web, or click Configure Connection if you want more control over how the browser gets online. You can also use the toggle switch to connect automatically each time.
You can get back to these options at any point by clicking the menu button (three horizontal lines), then Settings > Connection. If you need to connect to specific relays (referred to as bridges here), you can select them here—but for most users, the automatic settings will be enough.
The browser connects to the web through a series of relays. David Nield
Once connected, you can browse as you normally would, and everything in the Tor Browser looks similar to the features and menus in other popular browsers. A couple of icons to know about on the toolbar: The shield icon, which lets you set your security level, and the new identity icon (the sweeping brush symbol), which restarts the browser and gives you a fresh start in terms of your connection and anti-fingerprinting settings.
There are some trade-offs to talk about with the Tor Browser as well. As you’re connecting to the web through several relays, uploading and downloading speeds will be slower, and you might find the occasional website feature doesn’t work because of the strict privacy and security protections the browser puts in place.
Overall though, several million users consider those trade-offs worthwhile in return for the extra anonymity and privacy you get online. If you come to rely on the Tor Browser and the Tor network regularly, you can consider donating to support the organization and the volunteers who run it.
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