How to Use Brave: The Beginner's Guide (First Install, Shields, Leo AI, and the Privacy Line)

CodexFuse Team · 2026-10-28T19:05:59.799Z · 13 min read

How to use Brave, the privacy-first Chromium browser: install it, import your bookmarks and passwords from Chrome, set Shields, search privately, and use Leo AI — free or Premium.

Learning how to use Brave takes about ten minutes, because Brave is built to feel familiar from the first launch. Brave is a free, privacy-first web browser from Brave Software, built on Chromium, the same engine that powers Google Chrome. That shared engine is why your bookmarks, passwords, and most Chrome extensions move across cleanly, while Brave's own Shields block ads and trackers by default instead of asking you to install extra tools.

This beginner's guide walks through the whole first-use system in order: install Brave, import your stuff from Chrome, set Shields, search privately, and use Leo, the built-in AI assistant. If you are still deciding between browsers, our Google Chrome beginner guide covers the browser most people are switching from, so you can compare the two setups side by side.

What is Brave, and why would you switch from Chrome?

Brave is a Chromium browser with privacy blocking built in rather than bolted on. The practical difference from Chrome is the default: Brave blocks third-party ads, trackers, cross-site cookies, and fingerprinting on every page you visit, without any setup, while Chrome leaves most of that tracking in place unless you change settings or add extensions.

You do not need a Brave account to use the browser, and you do not need one for Leo, the built-in AI assistant. Brave also ships its own search engine, Brave Search, its own sync system for bookmarks and passwords across devices, and an optional Rewards program that is off until you choose to turn it on.

Switching costs almost nothing, because Brave imports from Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and other browsers. The honest trade-off is compatibility: a small number of sites break under Brave's blocking, and this guide shows you the one-click fix for those cases.

How do I install Brave and bring my stuff with me?

Installing Brave means downloading it from the official site, running the installer, and accepting the import prompt that moves your bookmarks, history, and passwords from your old browser. The whole process usually takes under ten minutes.

1. Go to brave.com in your current browser and download Brave for your system: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS. Only download from brave.com or your phone's official app store, never from a download-aggregator site.
2. Run the installer. On Windows, open the downloaded file and approve the prompt; on macOS, drag Brave to your Applications folder; on a phone, install it from the App Store or Google Play.
3. When Brave first opens, accept the import prompt and pick your old browser. Tick bookmarks, history, and saved passwords, and extensions if offered, then click Import.
4. Set Brave as your default browser if you want links to open in it. You can do this during setup or later in Settings, under Default browser.
5. Start browsing. Shields are already on, so your first page loads without third-party ads and trackers.

If you skipped the import prompt, you have not lost anything. Open Settings, go to Get Started, and choose Import bookmarks and settings to run the same import again.

What do Brave Shields block by default?

Brave Shields block third-party ads, trackers, cross-site cookies, phishing attempts, and fingerprinting on every page, with no setup required. The default level is Standard, which Brave describes as the best privacy for most users, and it also upgrades connections to HTTPS where possible and strips tracking parameters from links.

The lion icon in the address bar is your per-site Shields panel. Click it on any page to see what Brave blocked there, and to adjust Shields for that one site without changing your global settings.

Do not stack several privacy extensions on top of Shields. Brave already blocks ads, trackers, and some fingerprinting, and extra blockers can make your browser more identifiable and break more sites, not fewer.

How do I fix a site that Shields breaks?

If a site will not load, log you in, or finish a checkout, Shields is the first thing to check, and the fix takes seconds. Click the lion icon in the address bar and turn Shields off for that site only; every other site keeps its protection.

Before you turn Shields off, make sure you trust the site, because you are giving up Brave's protections there. If the site then works, use the Report a broken site option in the same panel so Brave's developers can investigate the breakage for other users.

If you run Shields on Aggressive and sites break often, step back to Standard first. Aggressive blocking catches more trackers, but independent testing found it breaks some checkout pages and logins, which is why it is not the default.

How do I use Leo AI in Brave?

Leo is Brave's built-in AI assistant, and using it needs no separate app, no account, and no sign-in. The first time you use Leo you are asked to opt in, and Leo does not work or send data until you confirm that opt-in.

You can open Leo four ways on desktop. Click the Leo icon in the sidebar, turn on the Leo icon in the toolbar under Appearance and then Customize your toolbar, type a question in the address bar and choose Ask Leo from the suggestions, or right-click selected text and use the Leo AI tools menu, which offers Summarize, Explain, Paraphrase, and more.

On a phone, open Leo from the main menu or from the address bar's Ask Leo option. On Android you can also launch Leo from the quick search engines bar, and on iPhone from the main menu's AI Chat entry.

Leo can also help you organize tabs. Tab Focus Mode, under Settings and then Leo, reads what your open tabs are about and picks out the ones relevant to a topic you describe, such as vacation planning, instead of matching keywords only. It asks you to opt in the first time you use it.

To change the model Leo uses, go to Settings, then Leo, then Personalization, and pick a default model for new conversations. The Automatic option lets Leo choose a model for each task, and the exact models available change as Brave updates Leo, with some reserved for paying users. As a dated example, Brave's version 1.98 release in October 2026 added GPT 5.6 Luna to the free tier and GPT 5.6 Terra and Grok 4.6 to Leo Premium, so check the model picker rather than trusting any fixed list. Like every AI assistant, Leo can get facts wrong, so verify anything important against a reliable source. If you want to compare in-browser assistants, our ChatGPT beginner guide covers the standalone assistant most people know, and our Meta AI beginner guide covers the assistant built into Meta's apps.

What are Leo Skills, and how do I save one?

A Leo Skill is a prompt you save once and reuse with a short slash shortcut, so a task you repeat stops needing a freshly written prompt. Skills are available on desktop and Android with Brave version 1.85 or higher, and you must opt in to Leo before you can use them.

To save a Skill from a conversation, send Leo the prompt you want to reuse, open the options menu on your message, and choose Save as New Skill. Give it a descriptive name, a shortcut keyword such as eli5, and the model it should use, then save it.

To create one from scratch, click the slash icon in Leo's message box and choose New, then fill in the same fields. To use a Skill, type a slash followed by its shortcut, for example /eli5, and Leo applies that prompt to the current page, or to several selected tabs if you have multi-tab context enabled.

Start with one Skill for a job you actually repeat, such as summarizing a long article in five bullet points or explaining a page in plain language. A Skill only saves time if the prompt is one you would otherwise type out again.

What is confidential inference, and which chats does it cover?

Confidential inference is Brave's strongest privacy claim for Leo, and it covers one specific route, not every Leo chat. In October 2026 Brave announced that conversations with the open-weight GLM 5.3 Flash model in Leo are protected by end-to-end encryption and hardware-backed confidential computing.

The system works in three steps. Your browser encrypts each prompt on your device with Oblivious HTTP before it leaves the device, so only a hardware-attested Trusted Execution Environment can decrypt it. Brave's gateway hides your IP address from the AI provider, NEAR AI, which runs the GLM 5.3 Flash model inside a sealed, Nvidia-backed hardware enclave. To use this route, open Leo's model settings and select GLM 5.3 Flash.

The honest scope matters. If you pick a different model, you still get Leo's standard privacy, which means no account, no recorded chats, and no training on your conversations, but not the encrypted-enclave route. Brave says it plans to move the verification step into the browser itself, so this feature is still evolving, and the AI-browser field is moving fast generally, as our guide to AI browsers explains.

Should I pay for Leo Premium?

Leo Premium costs $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year, with a 7-day free trial, and one subscription covers up to 5 devices. It buys access to more capable models, higher rate limits, faster responses, and early access to new features.

Pay for Premium if you use Leo heavily every day, hit the free usage limits, or want the newest models as soon as they appear. Stay on the free tier if you ask Leo a few questions a day, since the free tier covers summaries, explanations, and page questions comfortably. Premium subscriptions are validated with unlinkable tokens, so Brave cannot connect your payment details to your day-to-day Leo use. If you are comparing paid AI plans more broadly, our Google Gemini beginner guide explains how Gemini's free and paid tiers compare inside Chrome.

What is Brave Rewards, and should I turn it on?

Brave Rewards is an opt-in program that pays you in Basic Attention Token, or BAT, for viewing privacy-respecting Brave Ads, and it is off until you choose it. The ads appear as new-tab page images or push notifications, never inside web pages, and your browsing data never leaves your device because ad matching happens locally.

You can use BAT to tip verified creators or hold it in a wallet, but treat it as small change, not income. Brave never promises an amount, and earnings depend on your country and the campaigns running there. Rewards earning is also limited on iOS devices because of platform rules.

Turn Rewards on if you like the idea of tipping creators with tokens instead of cash. Leave it off if the crypto side puts you off, because Brave's privacy protections work exactly the same either way, and the browser never nags you about it.

Brave vs Chrome: which should you pick?

Pick Brave if you want privacy blocking on by default, an AI assistant that needs no account, and a browser that does not depend on an advertising business. The switch is low-risk, because Brave imports your Chrome data in minutes and runs your Chrome extensions.

Pick Chrome if your work or school life runs on Google's ecosystem, with deep integration across Gmail, Drive, and Android, or if you need enterprise tools that only Chrome supports. Chrome is also free, and its Gemini assistant is the natural choice if you already pay for Google's AI plans.

For most privacy-minded switchers, Brave is the better default, and the deciding test is simple: install Brave, import your data, and browse normally for a week. If no site you depend on breaks, and you like the quieter pages and the no-login Leo, you have your answer.

Sources

• Brave premium page — Leo Premium $14.99 per month, $149.99 per year, 7-day free trial, higher rate limits, more models, early access (fetched October 28, 2026).
• Brave Help Center: How do I use Brave Leo — no account or login required, chats not recorded or used for training, Premium $14.99 per month covering up to 5 devices (fetched October 28, 2026).
• Brave Help Center: How do I use Skills in Brave Leo — desktop and Android, Brave 1.85 or higher, save from a conversation or from scratch, use with a slash shortcut (fetched October 28, 2026).
• Brave blog: Leo adds end-to-end encryption, Oblivious HTTP, and verifiable confidential computing — published October 15, 2026; GLM 5.3 Flash route, on-device OHTTP encryption, TEE attestation, gateway hides IP, NEAR AI enclave, available in Release, Beta, and Nightly (fetched October 28, 2026).
• Brave Shields page — default protection on every page, blocks third-party ads, trackers, cross-site cookies, phishing, and fingerprinting; Standard default, Aggressive stricter (fetched October 28, 2026).
• The Windows Club: How to enable and use Leo AI on Brave browser — toolbar, sidebar, address bar, and right-click access paths; Tab Focus Mode; model picker and changing model lists (fetched October 28, 2026).
• Android Police: I tested Brave browser on Android — published October 26, 2026; default Standard level, third-party cookies and fingerprinting blocked, tracking-URL stripping on (fetched October 28, 2026).
• PiunikaWeb: Brave adds GPT 5.6 and Grok 4.6 models to Leo — published October 23, 2026; version 1.98 adds GPT 5.6 Luna free, GPT 5.6 Terra and Grok 4.6 Premium (fetched October 28, 2026).
• Brave Rewards page — opt-in BAT earnings for Brave Ads, new-tab images and push notifications, browsing data never leaves the device, limited on iOS (fetched October 28, 2026).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Brave really free?

Yes. The Brave browser, Shields, Brave Search, and the free tier of Leo cost nothing. Brave only charges for optional extras such as Leo Premium, Brave VPN, and the Brave Origin edition.

Do I need an account to use Leo?

No. Leo works without a Brave account or login, and Brave does not record your chats or use them for model training. You only create an account if you buy Leo Premium, and that subscription is validated with unlinkable tokens.

Does Brave work with my Chrome extensions?

Mostly yes. Brave is built on Chromium, so most extensions from the Chrome Web Store install and run in Brave. Import your bookmarks, history, and passwords during setup, then reinstall the extensions you actually use.

Why is a website broken in Brave?

Shields probably blocked something the site needs, such as a tracker-based login or checkout script. Click the lion icon in the address bar and turn Shields off for that one site; your protection stays on everywhere else.

Is Brave Rewards worth turning on?

Only if you want to tip creators with BAT or you enjoy the experiment. Earnings are small and vary by country and campaign, so turn it on for the creators, not for income, and leave it off without losing any privacy protection.