Install Docognito for Chrome
Add it from the Chrome Web Store, reload any tab that was already open, and the document view takes over from there.
Free. One permission. Nothing to configure.
Add it to Chrome
The whole install is three clicks and one prompt, the same as adding any other free extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Open the Chrome Web Store listing
Go to the Docognito listing on the Chrome Web Store, either through that link or by searching "Docognito" from Chrome's own extensions menu.Click Add to Chrome
Chrome shows a permission prompt before anything installs. It is short, one line, and worth reading before you approve it.Approve the permission
Click Add extension in that prompt and Chrome installs it immediately. There is no account to create, no onboarding screen, and nothing further to set up.
What Chrome shows you before you install
Chrome discloses every permission an extension asks for before it installs, in its own words rather than the developer's. Docognito's prompt lists one line: one browser permission, storage.
That line is what makes the claim checkable rather than something you have to take on trust. Storage lets an extension remember a small setting between visits, such as whether the disguise is on and whether it displays in light or dark. It grants no path to your browser history, no access to other websites, and nothing broader than that one line describes. Chrome writes the prompt, not Docognito, so there is no separate description to compare it against.
| On the install prompt | A typical extension | Docognito |
|---|---|---|
| Permissions listed | Often several, tabs or all sites among them | One: storage |
| Account or sign in | Sometimes required | None |
| Payment at any point | Sometimes, for a paid tier | free, with no account and no payment |
Reload any tab you already had open
A browser extension's code attaches to a tab at the moment that tab loads, not retroactively to a tab that was already sitting open. If claude.ai or chatgpt.com was open in another tab while you were installing, that specific tab keeps showing the real site until you give it a fresh load.
Every tab you open after installing works without any extra step, since the extension is already in place by the time that tab starts loading. The reload is a one time thing per already-open tab, not something to repeat.
Hard refresh the tab, not just the browser
Using Shift and Escape
Shift and Escape, which both hides the disguise and brings it back. Press it once and the disguise drops away to the real interface. Press it again and the document view comes straight back. There is no second combination to learn for the reverse direction, and no separate setting to turn it on.
It needs the same thing the disguise itself needs, a tab that loaded after the extension attached to it. If it does nothing at all in a specific tab, reload that tab first. The popup gives you the same toggle through a click on the extension icon, with no dependency on timing, if you would rather use that instead.
What installing this does not change
The address bar keeps showing the real site
the address bar, which still reads claude.ai or chatgpt.com. Docognito redraws the page, the tab title and the favicon, and it leaves the address alone on purpose, because rewriting it broke the assistant it is meant to disguise. No configuration changes this after install, because none exists.
A few other things sit outside what any install ever covers, among them your browser history and anything captured by screen recording or proctoring software. The full list, and the reasoning behind each one, is on how it works.
On a phone
There is nothing to install here on a phone. A Chrome extension installs into the Chrome browser itself, and Chrome for Android and Chrome for iPhone do not offer an extensions menu or an install path the way a desktop or laptop copy does. Searching either app store for it will not turn up a listing, because the platform it needs is not one either phone browser provides.
If part of your ChatGPT or Claude use happens on a phone, install Docognito on a desktop or laptop copy of Chrome and rely on it there. More detail on why phone browsers work this way is in does Docognito work on Chrome for Android or iPhone.
Common questions
Does installing Docognito need an account or payment
No. It installs straight from the Chrome Web Store with no sign in and no payment screen. It is free, and there is no paid tier to opt out of today.
Will a claude.ai or ChatGPT tab I already had open pick up the disguise straight away
No, not until you reload it. The extension attaches to a tab at the moment that tab loads, so a tab opened before you installed it needs one refresh before the document view appears.
Can I add it to Edge or Brave instead of Chrome
Yes. The Chrome Web Store listing installs on any Chromium based browser that supports it, Edge and Brave included. It is not currently published for Firefox or Safari.
Does Shift and Escape work the moment the extension finishes installing
It works in any tab that loads after installation completes. A tab that was already open when you clicked add needs the same reload the disguise itself needs, since both depend on the extension attaching to that tab.
Do I ever need to open the popup for the disguise to work
No. Shift and Escape toggles it without opening anything. The popup exists for two optional settings, switching it on or off with a click and choosing light or dark, and neither is required day to day.