How to clear cookies

Until the information age, cookies were only known as a tasty but unhealthy snack that some people enjoyed, and others avoided. HTTP cookies, also known as computer, browser, or Internet cookies, are similarly divisive. Although some people like the more personalized browsing experience created by cookies, others have privacy concerns.

Cookies are small pieces of information that websites can store in your browser. A website can check that information each time you interact with it, and that allows it to tell you apart from everyone else. Without cookies you would never be able to log in to a website or store items in a shopping cart.

However, that ability to tell you apart from everyone else is also what makes cookies extremely useful for cross-site tracking and advertising. Thankfully, privacy-conscious users can disrupt that tracking easily, because blocking or clearing cookies is easy. Although there are plenty of tools that can help manage your cookies, if you need to, you can easily clear the decks directly in your browser. Here’s how:

Clearing cookies on a desktop computer

The following instructions will guide you through clearing cookies on the most popular desktop and mobile browsers (as of June 2021).

How to clear cookies in Chrome on Windows

1. Start Google Chrome.
2. Click the vertical three-dots icon on the top right-hand corner and then select History—alternatively, press Ctrl+H in Chrome. 
3. Click Clear browsing data.
4. Select Cookies and other site data.
5. Select All time in the Time range dropdown menu.
6. Click Clear data to clear cookies in Google Chrome.
7. Click Block all cookies in Cookies and other site data to turn off cookies permanently.

How to clear cookies in Firefox on Windows

1. Start Firefox.
2. Click the three-lined icon (hamburger menu) on the top right-hand corner and select Options next to the gear icon.
3. Click Privacy & Security and then Cookies and Site Data.
4. Select Cookies and Site Data.
5. Select Cached Web Content.
6. Hit Clear to clear cookies in Firefox.
7. You can also click Strict in Privacy & Security to Block most cookies, but this may cause websites to malfunction in Firefox.

How to clear cookies in Edge on Windows

1. Start Microsoft Edge
2. Click the horizontal three-dots icon on the top right-hand corner and select Settings next to the gear icon.
3. Click Privacy, search, and services.
4. Click Choose what to clear under Clear browsing data.
5. Select Browsing history, Download history, Cookies and other site data, and Cached images and files.
6. Hit Clear now to clear cookies in Microsoft Edge.
7. Click Block third-party cookies in Cookies and site preferences to block third-party cookies permanently.

How to clear cookies in Opera on Windows

1. Start Opera.
2. Click Settings on the top left-hand corner.
3. Click Advanced and then Privacy & Security.
4. Click Clear browsing data. Alternatively, please Ctrl+Shift+Del to open your Clear browsing data options faster.
5. Select Cookies and site data.
6. Hit Clear data to clear cookies in Opera.
7. Click Cookies and site data under Site Settings to find options to block all third-party cookies permanently.

How to clear cookies in Safari on macOS

1. Start Safari on your Mac.
2. Select Preferences and then click on Privacy.
3. Find Cookies and website data and hit Manage Website Data.
4. Press Remove All and Done to clear cookies in Safari.
5. Click Block all cookies under Manage Website Data and tick Prevent cross-site tracking to turn off cookies permanently.

Clearing cookies on a mobile device

How to clear cookies in Chrome for Android

1. Start the Chrome app.
2. Click the vertical three-dots icon on the top right-hand corner and then select History.
3. Click Clear browsing data…
4. Select All time in the Time range drop-down menu.
5. Click clear data to clear cookies in Chrome on an Android device.

How to clear cookies in Firefox for Android

1. Start the Firefox app.
2. Click the three-dot icon in the corner and hit Privacy.
3. Click Delete browsing data.  
4. Select Cookies and click Clear Data.
5. Alternatively, click Clear private data on exit to clear cookies in Firefox on an Android device
6. Click Disabled in Cookies to turn off cookies permanently.

How to clear cookies in Safari for iOS

1. Click Settings on your iOS device.
2. Find Safari.
3. Click Clear History and Website Data to clear your cookies and history in iOS.
4. Alternatively, click Settings, Safari, Advanced, Website Data, and then hit Remove All Website Data to clear cookies in iOS but keep your history.
5. Click Block All Cookies in Safari to turn off cookies permanently.

How to clear cookies in Firefox for iOS

1. Start the Firefox app.
2. Click the three-lined icon (hamburger menu) on the lower-right corner.
3. Hit Settings.
4. Select Data Management.
5. Click Clear Private Data to clear cookies in Firefox on iOS.
6. Click Cookies in Data Management to turn off cookies permanently.

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