The DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser is Now Available for Windows
DuckDuckGo’s privacy-focused desktop web browser is now available for Windows. It’s been available for Mac users for just about a year now. And while the DuckDuckGo browser for Windows is now in beta, it offers many of the same features as the Apple version.
According to DuckDuckGo, the DuckDuckGo browser does not track your browsing activity, and it blocks “accept cookies” popups and third-party trackers by default. According to DuckDuckGo, this helps to protect your privacy and prevent companies from collecting data about you without your consent.
Cloudeight’s Start Page in DuckDuckGo
While we have only been testing the browser for a few days, other than the lack of accommodation for extensions, it seems ready for primetime and works very much like other browsers although the DuckDuckGo browser does have several unique privacy features.
DuckDuckGo browser Blocking ads and trackers on MSN.com (above) and Yahoo.com (below).
The DuckDuckGo browser makes it easy to set up a Duck email address
The DuckDuckGo browser makes getting a “Duck” email address very easy. Getting a “Duck” email address allows you to hide your real email address by using your Duck address. DuckDuckGo will forward any mail that comes to your Duck address to any email address you specified when you set it up. It’s a great option for cutting down on spam and one we’ll use.
Some of the features of the DuckDuckGo browser for Windows
The Windows version of the DuckDuckGo browser shares many of the same features as the Mac, iOS, and Android versions. These features include:
Tracker blocking: The browser blocks third-party trackers by default, helping to protect your privacy.
Ad blocking: The DuckDuckGo browser blocks ads, making your browsing experience more pleasant and efficient.
Password manager: The browser includes a built-in password manager, so you can store your passwords securely and easily.
Duck Player: The browser includes a YouTube video viewer that blocks ads and ad tracking, and prevents watched videos from affecting your recommendations.
Cookie Pop-up Management: The browser automatically selects the least invasive options for you when websites ask for your consent to store cookies.
The Fire button: The DuckDuckGo browser has a Fire button on the toolbar that lets you close all tabs, and delete cookies/history with a single click.
Fireproof option: When you Fireproof a site in the DuckDuckGo browser, will not delete its data when you click the “Fire” button. The Fireproof option is great when you want to stay signed into a site. For example, let’s say you use Gmai and you don’t want to have to keep signing in every time you open the DuckDuckGo browser. Fireproofing Gmail will allow you to stay logged into Gmail even if you click the “Fire” button.
A quick summary of the DuckDuckGo browser for Windows
- The DuckDuckGo browser is available for download from the DuckDuckGo website.
- The browser is compatible with supported versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11.
- The browser is still in beta, so there may be some bugs.
- You can provide feedback on the browser by visiting the DuckDuckGo website or from within the browser. Your feedback will help make the DuckDuckGo browser better.
When you install the DuckDuckGo browser it will ask you if you want to import your bookmarks, passwords, etc. from another browser. And it will also ask if you want to make DuckDuckGo your default browser. We suggest you choose “Maybe later” for both options until after you’ve used the browser for a while. It’s still in beta, so, in our opinion, you should not make it your default browser yet.
You can read more about and/or download the DuckDuckGo browser for Windows here.
This is GREAT! I’ve been using Duckduckgo for years already [since they came out just about!] In private mode too. [they give you that options] Now the feature to use them for emails is another great reason to have them on board. I love DuckDuckgo! And thank you for the extra information I can cow use as well~!!! 😀
Wow! This sounds exciting. Been a long time since a browser made me look forward to using it. Second thought, NONE EVER have. I’ve been using DuckduckGo since you guys made me aware of it years ago. Thanks.
I’ve also used duck duck go for a couple of years on my old computer, have not reinstalled on the new one yet. It did seem to slow things down a bit. Also noticed heaps of features I didn’t know about yet. Thank you
DuckDuckGo Search & DuckDuckGo Browser are as different as Google Chrome browser and Google Search. DuckDuckGo browser for Windows has only been around a couple of weeks;the search engine has been around a decade.
Hi , I installed DDG browser, used it for a few days and uninstalled it. It was very slow to open, D/L speeds were slower (I know it’s Beta). The worst feature is that it retains all sites you visited, so if you want “complete” privacy, you MUST go to each site and delete it. I did some research and find this to be quite an issue with many people.
So, in effect, it is not a total privacy browser. Maybe someday???
Thank You
It does not change my download speeds. Pages opened faster in DuckDuckGo than in Brave. It’s easy to change the settings so it does not open the previously open the tabs that were open last session which is the default. But the best way is just to click on the Fire button (on the toolbar) which wipes out all data, cookies, cache, and history. That’s kind of what the Fire button is for. No browser should affect your download speeds – unless its loaded up with extensions. Download speed is more dependent on your Internet connection than your browser. I am only posting this to give DuckDuckGo a fair evaluation. I’m not a fan of DuckDuckGo search or privacy browsers in general. People who have read our newsletters for a long time know I have preached that there is no such thing a privacy on the web. There’s just scant degrees of privacy.
I have been using Duckduckgo (Win 10) for a couple of years.
The main advantage as far as I am concerned is that the “traditional” browsers are subjected to censorship of controversial articles, but Duckduckgo is not.
DuckDuckGo Browser and DuckDuckGo Search are two different things. DuckDuckGo Browser for Windows has only been available for about 2 weeks. I think you’re referring to DuckDuckGo search.What affects the results retuned more than anything is the search query itself. Anyway, I just wanted to clear up that you’re talking about DuckDuckGo search and not the browser because the browser was not available a couple of years ago
Thanks for emphasizing the difference.. duckduckgo search/browser. i neglected to clarify that i meant ”search” in my previous post. Again, i’m looking forward to trying duckduckgo browser. Think I got caught up on the company name. Now that they have a second product I must remember to disinguish between the two products when referring to DuckDuckGo.
Thankyou for the info and the option!
Since you said it doesn’t have extensions, shall I assume you can’t use LastPass with DDG?
It does not yet support extensions but it does have a secure password manager built in. I haven’t had a lot of time to look at the password manager in the DDG browser, but it appears it (as of now) only imports passwords stored in other browsers, but not passwords stored by password manages like Bitwarden, LastPass, RoboForm, etc. I don’t know if DDG will support extensions in the future or not.
Thank you, CloudEight, for featuring Duck Duck Go. I was wanting to get it but have more faith in it if you feature it, my hats off to you guys! Keep on keeping on!