Chat in private with Incognito mode
You can have a more private and secure, end-to-end encrypted conversation with one or more people in Google Allo through Incognito mode.
Start a chat in Incognito mode
- Open Allo.
- Tap New Chat
Start incognito chat or Start group incognito chat.
- From the Contacts list, tap the person's name you want to start a chat with. You can also search for the person's name or number.
- Tap Next.
Note: If you share your incognito group's link with other people, anyone with the link can join your chat. Reset your group link by tapping the profile icon 
What happens in Incognito mode
- Previews of messages won't show in the Allo conversation list. You'll just see that you or the other person "sent a message."
- Notifications won't display who sent the message or its content. If you want to turn off notifications entirely, go to Menu
- Your chats are end-to-end encrypted and can only be seen by you and the person you're chatting with. Google can't read any of your messages, so you won't see any Smart Reply or Google Assistant features.
- When you receive a sticker from a sticker pack that you don’t have, Allo will download it securely from Google’s servers, but without using end-to-end encryption.
Set messages to expire
In incognito mode, you can set the messages to disappear after a period of time. The default period is 1 hour, but you can change it.
- Open Allo.
- Tap New Chat
- In the top right corner, tap the timer
.
- You can choose to never expire your messages. Or choose after how long you want your messages to disappear: Never, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 week.
- For the sender: The timer starts when the message is sent.
- For the receiver: The timer starts when the message is read.
.Within the same chat, you and the recipient share the same timer setting. But you can set a different timer each time you start a new chat.
Important: Allo users who receive your messages can use other ways to save them, like taking a screenshot or by taking a photo.
Related links
Caroline is an Allo expert and author of this help page. Help her improve this article by leaving feedback below.