Clear Your Browser's Cookies

Cookies contain information that websites have gathered about you and stored on your computer as small text files. Most of these files are completely harmless, but others store private details like where you went, what you did, and any personal information you gave. Websites may also allow other sites (their advertisers, for example) to store third-party cookies on your computer. To ensure that companies are not keeping tabs on what you do online, you should periodically clear your browser's cookies by accessing the Privacy or Browsing History sections of your browser's settings. The exact process varies by browser, however, so you'll need to follow along with the instructions for the specific browser you use.

Steps

Chrome on Desktop

  1. Open your browser and click the hamburger menu in the upper right corner. Older versions of Chrome have a gears or wrench icon instead.
  2. Click Tools > Clear Browsing Data from the dropdown list.
  3. Select the timeframe you want to delete. If you want to erase all your cookies, select the beginning of time.
  4. Check Cookies and other site and plug-in data. Check or uncheck other options as desired.
  5. Click Clear Browsing Data. Your cookies and other selected data are now cleared.

Chrome on Mobile

  1. Open Chrome on your mobile device and click the "hamburger" menu in the upper right corner.
  2. Click "Settings".
  3. Click "Privacy."
  4. Click "Clear Cookies, Site Data". Confirm the follow up prompt.

Safari on Mobile

  1. Go to to Settings > Safari.
  2. Scroll down and tap Clear Cookies and Data.
  3. Tap Clear Cookies and Data to confirm.

Safari on Desktop

  1. Open Safari and select "Safari" from the top menu, then "Preferences"
  2. Select Privacy.
  3. Click "Remove All Website Data". Agree to the confirmation prompt.

Firefox

  1. Open the firefox homepage and choose Settings from the menu.
  2. Select the Privacy tab. Below the settings options, it says You may want to clear your recent history or remove individual cookies.
  3. Select Remove individual cookies.
    • To delete all cookies, click Remove All Cookies. The cookies will immediately be cleared.
    • To delete specific cookies, select the cookies you wish to delete. Hold down Ctrl while clicking to make multiple selections and press Remove Cookies. You can even expand each site to delete specific cookies from each site.

Internet Explorer 9, 10, and 11

  1. Open your browser and click the Tools button. It's the cog-shaped button in the upper right-hand corner.
    • For mobile, go to Settings. Tap Options > History, then select the Cookies check box and tap Delete.
  2. Go to Safety > Delete browsing history. Choosing this will allow you to clear all cookies.
    • If you want to manage your cookies and choose which ones get deleted, instead of clearing them all, go to Tools and click Internet Options. Under the Privacy tab, you can set which types of cookies are blocked or allowed.
  3. Select the Cookies check box. If you have Internet Explorer 10, it will say Cookies and website data.
  4. Check or uncheck other options as desired.
  5. Click Delete.

Internet Explorer 8

  1. Open your browser and go to Tools > Internet Options.
  2. Under the General tab, find the Browsing History section. From here, you can decide whether to delete some or all cookies:
    • To delete all cookies, click uncheck the Preserve Favorite Website Data box, check the box next to Cookies, and hit Delete.
    • To selectively delete cookies, go to Settings > View Files. Select the cookies you wish to delete (hold down Ctrl while clicking to make multiple selections) and press Delete.

Internet Explorer 8: New Toolbar

  1. Open your browser and go to Safety > Delete Browsing History.
  2. Check Cookies.
  3. Check or uncheck any additional aspects of your browsing history.
  4. Click Delete.

Internet Explorer 7

  1. Open your browser and go to Tools > Internet Options.
  2. Under the General tab, find the Browsing History section. From here, you can decide whether to delete some or all cookies:
    • To delete all cookies, click Delete, select Delete Cookies, and hit Yes.
    • To selectively delete cookies, go to Settings > View Files. Select the cookies you wish to delete (hold down Ctrl while clicking to make multiple selections) and press Delete.

Opera

  1. Open your browser and go to Settings > Delete Private Data.
  2. Delete your cookies.
    • To delete all cookies, uncheck anything you want to keep (ex. history, saved passwords, cache, etc.) and then click Delete. You may get a dialog that says Active transfer has not been removed if you are currently downloading a file; this is done to prevent download interruption.
    • To delete specific cookies, go to Manage Cookies. Select the cookies you wish to delete (hold down Ctrl while clicking to make multiple selections) and press Delete.

Konqueror

  1. Open your browser and go to Settings menu > Configure Konqueror.
  2. Scroll down and select Cookies.
  3. Click the Management tab.
  4. Delete your cookies. Either click Delete All to delete all cookies or select the cookies you wish to delete (hold down Ctrl while clicking to make multiple selections) and click Delete.

Tips

  • It is a good idea to clear your browser's cookies on a regular basis.
  • It is a good idea to clear your browser's cache while clearing cookies. The cache stores information, images, and web pages on your computer for quick and easy access. Hackers can obtain crippling financial information from your cache if you're not careful.
  • You can disable or restrict cookies via your browser’s security settings. This is recommended for security reasons but will render some sites inoperable; to be able to use such sites, you will have to add them as exceptions to your restrictions list.

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