Not feeling hungry? Here’s how to clear cookies from your favorite web browser

Why it matters to you

Cookies are useful, but they can be a privacy issue as well. Here’s how to clear cookies from your favorite browser.

Cookies can be a tasty treat, but they can also be rather annoying, leaving crumbs on your keyboard. On a PC or mobile device, they can be just as aggravating, compromising your privacy, and filling up your storage. If you’re concerned about what websites are leaving behind, and how advertisers are accessing that data, we’ve provided instructions on how to clear cookies from the latest version of your favorite web browser.

So what are cookies, and why aren’t they delicious?

Cookies are small text files written by a web browser that contain information about your interaction with one specific site. They include information such as what you shoved into a virtual shopping cart, you username for logging into the site (not the password), products you viewed during your last visit, and any other information that could be used to tailor the visit just for your needs.

Typically, cookies pose no threat to your computer. But many cookies can compromise your privacy. That’s because advertising companies are prone to embedding cookies with web advertisements, allowing them to easily track your browsing history, and tailor ads toward your individual habits across multiple sites. It’s creepy, we know.

Cookies don’t take up much space on your hard drive. In fact, they’re extremely small, and should only be a concern for mobile devices with small amounts of storage. For instance, even without clearing the cookies in Chrome on PC for many, many months, we’ve only accumulated around 4MB worth of cookies. That said, the amount of volume they use isn’t troublesome; it’s the privacy risks that are difficult to ignore.

Wanting to toss your cookies because of one or all the aforementioned issues is understandable. But be warned: cookies have legitimate functions, and can be essential to the functionality of your favorite websites. Some sites just don’t work properly without them, so be careful with that cookie-smashing hammer!

Google Chrome

The Digital Trends staff voted Google Chrome as the best browser of 2017. It lets you easily delete cookies, control browsing data, and specify what sort of files Google Chrome should accept or block. Here’s how:

Access content settings: Click on the “Menu” tab in the upper-right corner, and select “Settings.” Once the new tab opens, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Advanced.” This will expand the “Settings” page to include additional options.

The first expanded window you should see is the “Privacy and security” panel. Next, click on “Content settings,” and then select “Cookies.”

You may also simply type “chrome://settings/content/cookies” into your address bar, and Chrome will take you to your intended destination.

Cookie juggling: On the “Cookies” panel, you will see three toggles: allow sites to save and read cookie data (recommended), keep local data only until you exit Chrome, and block third-party cookies. This third option means advertisements won’t be able to read cookie data provided by a parent website, preventing them from using that information across multiple sites.

Smashing cookies: Google also provides options to block specific sites from leaving cookies, to allow specific sites to leave cookies, and to clear cookies left behind by specific websites when exiting Chrome. If you want to delete it all, click on the “Remove All” button, and you will be cookie-free. You can delete cookies individually, too.

Finally, if you’re curious as to where Chrome stores cookies on Windows 10, and how much space they take, the sole “Cookies” SQLite file can be found here:

C:Users<your_username>AppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefault

For Android, iOS: Access Chrome’s menu, go to “Settings,” and then find the “Privacy” tab under “Advanced” settings. From there, select “Clear Browsing Data” at the bottom, and check “Clear cookies and site data.” There are also options for clearing your naughty browser history, and removing space-eating cached images and files.

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla’s Firefox browser came in second in our 2017 vote. The open-source browser actually offers more options than Chrome when it comes to customizing these settings.

Access custom settings: Click on the “Menu” three-lined icon in the top-right corner. In the drop-down menu, select “Options,” which will open a new “Preferences” tab. On this page, select “Privacy” listed on the menu to the left, and then head to the “History” section. Here you will need to choose “Use custom settings for history” in the drop-down menu located next to “Firefox will…”

For the impatient, simply use this address in a new tab: about:preferences#privacy

Cookie juggling: With the advanced history settings enabled, you should see an option to toggle on/off “Accept cookies from sites.” To the right, Mozilla provides an “Exceptions” button where you can control the cookie flow. These include blocking or allowing cookies from specific sites, and allowing a cookie from a specific site for only one browsing session. This is done by merely inserting the address of the website.

Next, you have the ability accept or deny third-party cookies, or accept third-party cookies from sites you already visited. You can also keep all cookies on the plate until they become stale, or clean the plate entirely once you close Firefox.

Smashing cookies: To manually delete cookies in Firefox, you’ll need to hit the “Show Cookies” button. A window appears with a search field for locating a specific cookie, and a list of all cookies stored on your device. You can hit the “Remove Selected” button to delete a highlighted cookie, or hit the “Remove All” button to nuke the entire cookie pile from your plate.

On Windows 10, this is the general area where Firefox keeps the cookie jar (cookies.sqlite):

C:Users<your_username>AppDataLocalMozillaFirefoxProfiles

Firefox (iOS): Tap the New Tab button (top right, with the number in it). Now tap the cog button in the top left of the screen. Scroll down to “Clear private data.” On the next screen, make sure “Cookies” is selected, then tap “Clear Private Data.”

Now, let’s move on to Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Opera….