Disable Private Browsing with Tor in Brave Browser

Step 1: Why Disable Tor in Brave

Brave's "Private Window with Tor" feature routes all browsing through the Tor network, completely bypassing your local DNS settings — including CleanBrowsing content filtering. Users can access this through the Brave menu or with Alt+Shift+N.

If you're using CleanBrowsing to enforce content filtering on a network, disabling this feature prevents a common bypass method.

Method 1: Using brave://flags

This is the quickest method for individual devices:

1. Open Brave and navigate to brave://flags
2. Search for "Tor" in the search box
3. Find "Private Window with Tor"
4. Change the dropdown from Default to Disabled
5. Click Relaunch to restart the browser

Method 2: Edit the Configuration File

Modify Brave's Preferences file directly:

1. Close Brave completely (check Task Manager / Activity Monitor)
2. Locate the Preferences file in your profile folder:
   • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Preferences
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Preferences
   • Linux: ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Preferences
3. Open the file in a text editor
4. Find the section: "tor": { "enabled": true }
5. Change it to: "tor": { "enabled": false }
6. Save the file and restart Brave

Method 3: Group Policy (Windows Only)

For managed environments (schools, businesses), use Group Policy for centralized control:

1. Download the Brave Group Policy templates from GitHub
2. Install the ADMX/ADML templates into your Group Policy store
3. Open gpedit.msc (Local Group Policy Editor)
4. Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Brave Browser
5. Find the "Enable Tor" policy
6. Set it to Disabled
7. Run gpupdate /force to apply immediately