Cookies are little text packets that serve the purpose of retaining your personal data you give you a better experience. There are different types of website cookies, both first-party and third-party, making them both good and bad for your experience. In this article, we tell you everything there is to know about what cookies are, why you should delete them, and how to do it on different web browsers.
What are Cookies
Website cookies are not the same as biscuits, nor does it refer to the “Cookie Monster” we all know.
What are Cookies Uses of Website Cookies Why Delete/Remove Cookies How to Clear Cookies Clear Cookies on Google Chrome For a Single Website For all Websites Clear Cookies on Microsoft Edge For a Single Website For all Websites Clear Cookies on Mozilla Firefox For a Single Website For all Websites Clear Cookies on Vivaldi For a Single Website For all Websites Clear Cookies on Opera For a Single Website For all Websites How to Block Third-Party Cookies on Windows Takeaway
Cookies are basically text files shared between your computer and an end server. They store your personal data, like usernames, passwords, cart items, and searches. This information is stored locally on your computer by your internet browser(s) and is used in the next “session” on a website. A session refers to the time you spend on a website in one go. When the session is over, cookies are stored on your computer again and recalled the next time you visit the same website or web page. There are different types of website cookies known as “Magic Cookies” and “HTTP Cookies” Magic Cookies are old-school and have become mostly obsolete. Whereas HTTP Cookies are the more modern type of cookies, designed on the logic of Magic Cookies, but repurposed to deliver a better online experience. Additionally, a website may host both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are the ones created by the website hosting itself. These are usually safe and authentic. It’s the third-party cookies that you ought to be concerned about, which are usually linked to the ads and other non-website-related domains. Now that you know what cookies are, let us discuss why they are needed in the first place.
Uses of Website Cookies
It is imperative to understand why the internet needed cookies to deliver a better online experience and to better understand why it might be better to remove them if need be. The primary purpose of HTTP cookies is to give the end user a better online experience. they personalize your experience by showing you content relevant to what you may be interested in or last searched for on the web domain. The personalization experience includes session management. Using cookies, a website remembers your credentials and other data by sharing your username and password so that you are automatically logged in. Therefore, without cookies, you will need to provide your credentials for each session. With that, websites also track your activity on a web page. For example, an e-commerce website may use cookies to remember what you last shopped for and suggest matching results automatically. This is the purpose of first-party cookies. However, third-party cookies may use your information for malicious intent.
Why Delete/Remove Cookies
Since cookies store your personal data, especially your usernames and passwords, they are often a common target for hackers. Using or manipulating the data inside these cookies, they can track your activity online across all websites, and send the data back to the hackers. There is even a term for the more malicious type of cookies, which is “Zombie Cookies.” Zombie cookies are third-party cookies that are permanently installed on your computer. Even after deleting them, they re-appear and continue to track your online activity. These types of cookies are usually injected/saved on your computer through malicious ads and unsafe websites. It is because of this reason, you should occasionally remove cookies from your computer, across all web browsers, and have a fresh start with only first-party cookies. It is now time to see how to delete cookies on different browsers.
How to Clear Cookies
Below, you’ll find the methods to delete existing cookies from your web browsers for a specific domain and all cookies at once. Note that removing cookies will require you to sign into the website again by providing your credentials. Also, any items saved inside your cart on a shopping website will be removed.
Clear Cookies on Google Chrome
For a Single Website
On Google Chrome, there are 2 methods to clear the cookies for a specific website. You can either do it by going to that specific website, or from Chrome’s settings. Select either one of the methods shared below:
By going to a website: Open the website in the Chrome browser. Click on the “View site information (Lock icon)” beside the Omnibox. View site information in Chrome Click Cookies. Open site cookies Select a domain in the Allowed tab. Select a domain Click Remove. Remove cookies for a specific website You can repeat the last two steps to clear the cookies for additional domains. From Chrome Settings: Here is the other method to remove the cookies for a specific website without navigating to the website in the first place: Open Chrome Settings. Open Chrome settings Now go to the following: privacy and security » Cookies and other site data » See all site data and permissions Click on the trash can icon beside the domain you want to remove the cookies for. Remove cookies for a specific website from Chrome settings You can repeat the last step to clear cookies for multiple sites. You may also click “Clear all data” to remove the cookies for all websites, or use the method below to clear them.
For all Websites
Perform these steps if you want to delete all cookies for all the websites stored by Chrome: You can repeat the last two steps to clear the cookies for additional domains. Here is the other method to remove the cookies for a specific website without navigating to the website in the first place: You can repeat the last step to clear cookies for multiple sites. You may also click “Clear all data” to remove the cookies for all websites, or use the method below to clear them. All cookies saved by Google Chrome will now be removed.
Clear Cookies on Microsoft Edge
For a Single Website
For all Websites
Clear Cookies on Mozilla Firefox
For a Single Website
For all Websites
Clear Cookies on Vivaldi
For a Single Website
The cookies for that particular website/domain will now be removed.
For all Websites
Clear Cookies on Opera
For a Single Website
You may also click “Clear all data” to remove the cookies for all websites, or use the method below to clear them.
For all Websites
How to Block Third-Party Cookies on Windows
As we mentioned before, there are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies that a website may host. In all of the methods discussed above, you will find settings on each web browser to block third-party cookies and manage domain exceptions. However, you can also block third-party cookies across all browsers using these simple steps:
Takeaway
Clearing out cookies from your PC not only saves you up on storage space but keeps your computer secure from unwanted trackers. We suggest that you occasionally clear cookies across all web browsers to preserve your privacy, and when you do delete them, we suggest that you take a good look if any cookies have returned automatically. If they do, those will most likely be malicious, in which case, we also suggest that you perform a virus scan of your PC.
