Whether streaming, screen sharing, or just posting a screenshot, it’s too easy to share information you didn’t intend to. Here’s how you can conceal your personal information when sharing content online.

1 Hide Your Browser Search Suggestions and Bookmarks

First and foremost, you need to hide your browser search suggestions and bookmarks. Did you recently search for a local business or hospital? If someone sees this, they might be able to figure out where you live. That’s not to mention any embarrassing content that might come up.

Most major browsers support disabling search suggestions. Here’s how you can turn them off:

• Google Chrome: Head to Settings > You and Google > Sync and Google services > Other Google services and disable the Autocomplete searches and URLs toggle.
• Safari: Click through Preferences > Search and uncheck Include search engine suggestions.
• Microsoft Edge: Head to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Services > Address bar and search > Search suggestions and filters and disable the Show me suggestions from history, favorites and other data on this device using my typed characters toggle.
• Firefox: Click through Settings > Search > Search Suggestion and uncheck Provide search suggestions, as well as the suggestions listed under Address Bar — Firefox Suggest.

You should also delete or hide your bookmarks before recording your screen. Most browsers allow you to hide your bookmarks bar with a simple keyboard shortcut. Here’s how you can hide your bookmarks:

• Google Chrome: Click the star icon on the right side of your search bar, then click the Pin icon > Show favorites bar and select to display it Never or Only on new tabs.
• Safari: Open the View options panel and click on Hide Favorites Bar.
• Microsoft Edge: Click through Settings > Appearance > Customize toolbar > Show favorites bar and select to display it Never or Only on new tabs.
• Firefox: Navigate to Bookmarks and click on Hide bookmarks toolbar.

It’s worth noting that your bookmarks bar may still appear when you open a new tab, depending on what configurations your browser allows. If you’re concerned, you should consider manually deleting revealing or embarrassing bookmarks.

2 Turn Off Taskbar Notifications

If you’ve turned on taskbar notifications for social media or work-related websites, you might accidentally reveal more information than you’d like. (That also goes for Steam notifications since you can’t exactly control what inappropriately titled games your friends choose to play or when.)

You can disable taskbar notifications on Windows by heading to Settings > System > Notifications & actions and disabling Get notifications from apps and other senders.

Apps that use their own notification delivery mechanisms, such as Steam and Skype, must be disabled separately. Here’s how you can disable notifications for both applications:

• Steam: Navigate through Steam > Settings > Notifications and change the Show Notification Toasts… setting to Never.
• Skype: Click through Settings > Notifications and disable all toggles in the first section, including Chat notifications and Contact comes online notification.

It’s a similar process for most apps, but you’ll have to check individually.

3 Separate Your Personal and Public Activity

While disabling notifications and cleaning up your browser will help keep you safe, the best method of protecting yourself is simply separating your personal and public activities.

You can accomplish this by creating a separate user account on Windows or macOS and connecting your browser to a separate, professional email account. Things like private notifications and embarrassing search suggestions are almost always tied to your OS account or email account, so you can eliminate most problems at the source by simply not using them during screenshares or streams.

4 Black Out Sensitive Information and Avoid Blurring

It might come as a surprise, but redacting information by blurring it isn’t secure. Many people also make the mistake of redacting text with semitransparent pen tools, and as a result, their redactions are easily reversed.

There are a few methods you can use to redact sensitive information from your photos, but the most reliable method involves blacking it out. You can do this in any app that has a pen tool. Just make sure that the tool you use is opaque (100% opacity).

To be clear, you should never attempt to censor information by:

• Using a highlighter tool
• Using digital effects, like blurring

Instead, you can use one or more of the below methods to remove personal information from your photos and videos:

• Remove location data from your photos using an EXIF removal app
• Use an opaque pen tool or insert shapes to cover up personal information on photos
• Remove revealing elements from webpages using browser extensions like uBlock Origin
• Redact parts of your screen using overlays in applications like OBS

Remember: if you’re sharing webcam footage or photos, your surroundings might reveal personal information, too. For example, the position of sunlight in a photo or video can indicate what time zone you’re in.

If you’re planning on using your webcam or sharing a photo, make sure to look in the background for anything you didn’t realize was there. Mirrors, scattered documents, photos, or even just a glimpse of what’s outside your window can provide more information than you might expect.

5 Select Specific Windows When Recording Your Screen

Last but not least, you should avoid sharing your entire screen whenever possible. When screen sharing, you’re usually given the option of sharing a specific window or your entire screen, and the latter is usually not worth the risk.

Sharing your entire screen is useful when you need to show multiple applications or want to eliminate audio issues, but the drawback is that anything that appears on your screen will show up.

So, if you forgot to close an application or couldn’t get rid of all of your taskbar notifications, sharing a specific application window will ensure that those don’t show up for viewers.

Of course, you probably don’t need to use all five methods to maintain your privacy. As long as you make some effort to conceal your personal information and maintain professional habits, staying secure online is a simple feat.