How does private browsing mode affect a browser's history?

Choosing private browsing mode generally prevents the browser from saving any browsing history, meaning that pages visited during this session are not added to the history list. The primary purpose of private browsing is to maintain user privacy by not retaining a record of the websites that were accessed, which can be particularly useful when using a shared or public computer.

In this mode, once the session is closed, the browser essentially forgets all the sites visited during that time, the cookies created are deleted, and any temporary files generated are also removed. This helps protect against someone else accessing your history later on.

The other choices suggest behaviors that do not align with the core functionality of private browsing. For instance, adding every visited site to the history permanently contradicts the purpose of private browsing focused on user privacy. Recording all downloads in the history or allowing selective history saving also misrepresents the intentions behind this browsing mode, as the essence is to limit the retention of information about the browsing session.