How to Hide browser at workplace
Today, i am going to pass on a trick that i am using from a long time, way back from 2003. I use it everyday, umpteen times a day at my workplace.
Most of you those who browse at workplace ( to pass the time ), don’t want others to look at what you are browsing ( especially your boss )
I am using a browser from 2002 - till date and this browser has an option to hide the browser 
The feature to hide the browser is called “Boss Key” ( you can guess why the feature is named as this ). There is a shortcut to hide and unhide the browser Alt + ~ key combination like a toggle switch. The option can be found in File Menu.
The browser is Maxthon (formerly MyIE2). You can download the browser from here.
If you have permissions to download and install at your workplace then go ahead use this browser. Maxthon is portable by design, so you don’t have necessarily have to install it anywhere. Either download a zipped version and unpack it to a UFD and run it from there at work (assuming USB isn’t disabled at work), or install maxthon at home, copy the whole folder to work.
Or if you know what you’re doing, you can even unpack the install exe, configure it to your liking, then copy the folder to a CD-R and run it from there.Let me tell you, you will love it and will be excited to use this feature.
For some of them who are addicted to the firefox browser, Don’t worry… Ashwin has posted a trick with which you can hide the tab’s or whole tab bar of firefox browser
If you have installed maxthon and used firefox before, I suggest you use Maxthon because
- The tabs can be hidden in firefox, but the firefox main window is still visible. what if you don’t others to see a browser on your desktop at all (want your boss to think that you are working and NOT browsing ) then ?
- Maxthon is a good option because after you press Alt + ~ key (”Boss Key”) combination, the browser is hidden. just a small icon is your system tray.
If anyone knows any extension for firefox to hide the firefox browser itself, then just leave a comment here or If anyone is good at writing/developing firefox extensions, then come up with an extension.
Do you know that i prefer using maxthon even though i have firefox installed. I will come with one more article that will tell you why i still prefer maxthon over firefox.
I found that there is also an utility waiting to be downloaded at HideMyBrowser. It does the same thing. check it out.
If you want to hide any application on windows not only a browser then you can try this:
Go to AutoItScript download and install it.
What is this ?
It is a scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. More details @ AutoIt Script
Want to try hide and unhide firefox window (make sure you have downloaded and installed autoit)
Hide FireFox:
- Open notepad
- Copy and paste the below commands in it.
AutoItSetOption("WinTitleMatchMode", 2) // sets the win title match mode to "Match any substring in the title" WinSetState("Firefox", "", @SW_HIDE) // hides the firefox window - Save the file as hide_firefox.au3
Unhide Firefox:
- Open notepad
- Copy and paste the below commands in it.
AutoItSetOption("WinTitleMatchMode", 2) // sets the win title match mode to "Match any substring in the title" WinSetState("Firefox", "", @SW_SHOW) // unhides the firefox window - Save the file as unhide_firefox.au3
Now you can hide and unhide any application by just replacing the first argument in WinSetState.
below is for winamp
WinSetState("winamp", "", @SW_SHOW)
WinSetState("winamp", "", @SW_SHOW)
With above trick you can hide maxthon, hide firefox, hide IE. Do check it out and share with friends.
Download Maxthon browser | AutoItScript
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If you like Firefox, try out the Ghostfox extension. It just adds two little icons to the bottom-right corner of your Firefox window in the status bar. They look like a 9 and a 6. Just press the 9 and then click an open word document or other window to open it. The extension makes firefox resize to the typing area of Word (just underneath the toolbars and such. When your boss is near, just move the mouse off of the portion of the screen that you write in, and it simply disappears. The only place you can find it is in the Task Manager, but it’s not likely that your boss will be suspicious enough to check there. To make the browser re-appear in the same spot, move the mouse to the left side of the screen, then all the way to the right, then back to the left, and it appears right where it used to be, just where oyu left off.
It’s really handy because it’s simple to do. If there’s a problem installing firefox on your work computer, a portable version is available at http://www.portableapps.com.
The extension is available at http://preview.tinyurl.com/3bhas8.
Jester
Jester,
I will try out it out.
thanks for the tip. but still i want a feature in firefox like we have in maxthon.
try Ghostzilla!!!
Ghostzilla browser for Windows is a tool that shields you from the looks of people around you, when they try to see if you are surfing the Web.
With Ghostzilla, they see your normal work screen. You see the Web page, drawn to appear inside your work application and to look like that application to a bystander.
If someone comes too close, move the mouse away from the Web page and it disappears, leaving the original application frame. When the coast clears, another mouse move brings Ghostzilla and the Web page back inside your application.
[...] i mentioned earlier in my previous article hide browser that “I prefer using maxthon even though i have firefox installed“. Here it is….. [...]
Arvind, thanks for the tip
will try ghostzilla.
even i still use both maxthon and FF both have pro’s and con’s…but there are so many sites that just do not show up properly on FF. FF has much better ad blocking.
You are right arvind. I use both based on the features and some sites work well in maxthon and some in FF
Continue using both
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