Adobe Target Activities showing up only in inconito mode

[ValentinCh1]

Hi all,

We have noticed that our Adobe Target activities only appear when using incognito mode. When accessing the same page in normal browsing mode, the activities do not show up at all.

Could anyone help us understand why this might be happening?

Thank you!

[NarenKotipalli]

@ValentinCh1If Adobe Target activities are showing in incognito mode but not in normal browsing, it’s likely due to either browser cache, cookies, or how the implementation is working in different sessions.

Here are a couple of things you can try:

1. Check Target Setup & Activity Qualification
   Please use the Adobe Experience Platform Debugger to check if Target is implemented properly and whether the activity is qualifying for the user.
   You can follow the official guide here: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-platform/debugger/solutions/target 
   Look out for:
   • Whether the target global mbox request is fired
   • If the activity audiences are matching
   • Use Target Trace (mboxTrace) to dig deeper into why it may or may not be showing
2. Clear Cookies and Try Again
   If everything looks fine in the debugger, try clearing your browser cookies (especially Adobe Target related cookies like mbox) and reload the page.
   Sometimes, older cookies or cache in normal mode can prevent Target activities from appearing incognito mode avoids that, which is why it works there.

Also, just check if any ad blockers or browser extensions are enabled in normal mode, these can block Target scripts from running.

Let us know what you find after trying the above steps. Happy to help further if needed.
Best,
Narendra

[pradnya_balvir]

Hi @ValentinCh1 ,

This is a classic Adobe Target troubleshooting scenario. The fact that activities show in incognito but not in regular browsing mode usually means something in the user’s browser state (cookies, cache, or conflicting scripts) is preventing Target from firing properly.

Check Network Calls in Dev Tools

• Open DevTools → Network tab → filter for mbox or tt.omtrdc.net.
• In normal mode, see if the request is being blocked or if response shows "empty" (no activities).
• Compare against incognito mode.

Clear Target Cookies

• Delete cookies related to Adobe Target (mbox, mboxPC, at_check, etc.) and reload.
• If it starts working → it was a cookie corruption or frequency capping issue.

Check Audience / Activity Settings

• Does the activity exclude returning visitors or use frequency capping?
• Incognito always looks like a first-time visitor, so it qualifies.

Verify at.js Version and Implementation

• Ensure both incognito and normal sessions load the same at.js version from the same domain.
• If a CDN or cache busting is misconfigured, normal browsing could be loading a broken version.

Disable Extensions Temporarily

Run in normal browsing with extensions disabled. If it starts working, an extension is blocking Target.