REMOVE COOKIES FROM YOUR BROWSER

Internet cookies (the non-edible type) are tiny files stored on your hard drive by your browser that contain information about your visit to a particular website, like login status, personalization, and advertising preferences, etc.

Most of the time, cookies make browsing much more enjoyable by keeping you logged in to a site you visit frequently or remembering the several questions you've already answered at your favorite polling site.

Sometimes, however, a cookie may remember something you'd rather it didn't, or even become corrupted, resulting in a browsing experience that's less than enjoyable. This is when deleting cookies may be a good idea.

large;">You might also want to delete cookies if you're experiencing issues like 500 Internal Server or 502 Bad Gateway errors (among others), which are sometimes indications that the one or more cookies for a particular site are corrupted and should be removed.

How Do I Delete Cookies?

Whether for a computer issue, privacy or another reason, clearing cookies is a pretty simple task in any popular browser.

You can usually delete cookies from the Privacy or History area, available from the Settings or Options menu in the browser. In most browsers, the same menu can be reached through the Ctrl+Shift+Del keyboard shortcut, or Command+Shift+Del if you're on a Mac.

The steps involved in deleting cookies differ considerably depending on what web browser we're talking about. Below are some browser-specific cookie clearing tutorials.

Chrome: Clear Browsing Data

Deleting the cookies in Google Chrome is done through the Clear browsing data section, which is accessible through Settings. After you choose what you want to delete, like Cookies and other site data, confirm it with a click or tap of the Clear data button.

If you're using a keyboard, you can quickly open this part of Chrome's settings in Windows with the Ctrl+Shift+Del keyboard shortcut, or with Command+Shift+Del on a Mac.

The same area can be opened without a keyboard by clicking or tapping on the menu at the top right of Chrome (it's the button that has three stacked dots). Choose More tools > Clear browsing data... to open the Clear browsing data section and pick what you want to delete.

 : If you want to delete all of the cookies or passwords in Chrome, no matter how long ago they were saved, be sure to select All time from the option at the top of the Clear browsing data window—from the drop-down that says Time range.

Firefox: Clear All History

Delete cookies in Mozilla's Firefox browser through the Clear Data window of its Options section. Choose the Cookies and Site Data option and then the Clear button to erase the cookies in Firefox.

 The easiest way to get to a similar window in Firefox is with the Ctrl+Shift+Del (Windows) or Command+Shift+Del (Mac) keyboard shortcut. Another way is through the three-lined menu at the top right of the browser—choose Options > Privacy & Security > Clear Data... to open the Clear Data section.
 If you go the keyboard shortcut route, and therefore see the Clear Recent History window instead of the one in the screen shot above, you can choose Everything from the Time range to clear: menu to delete all the cookies and not just ones that were created within the last day.

Microsoft Edge: Clear Browsing Data

To delete the cookies in the Windows 10 Microsoft Edge browser, use the Clear browsing data window from Settings to select the option called Cookies and saved website data. Clear them out with the Clear button.

Tip: You can delete more than just the cookies in Microsoft Edge, like passwords, download history, browsing history, location permissions, and more. Just choose which what you want to be deleted from the Clear browsing data screen.

 The Ctrl+Shift+Del keyboard shortcut is definitely the quickest way to get to the Clear browsing data screen in Microsoft Edge. However, you can also get there manually through the menu button on the top right of the screen (called Hub—the one that has three horizontal dots). From there, go to Settings and click or tap the Choose what to clear button.

Internet Explorer: Delete Browsing History

The Delete Browsing History section of Internet Explorer is where you delete the cookies. Click or tap the things you want to delete and then use the Delete button to clear them. The option for cookies is called Cookies and website data—if you want to delete all the saved passwords, place a check in the Passwords box.

 The fastest way to get to this screen in Internet Explorer is to use the Ctrl+Shift+Del keyboard shortcut. The other way is manually, through the settings button (the gear icon at the top right of Internet Explorer), then the Internet options menu item. In the General tab, under the Browsing history section, click the Delete... button.

 On macOS, you can get to this section of the browser's settings through the Safari > Preferences... menu item. In Windows, use the Action menu (the gear icon at the upper-right corner of Safari) to select the Preferences... option.

Then, choose the Privacy tab. The buttons I mentioned above are in this Privacy window.

If you want to delete cookies from specific websites, choose the site(s) from the list or click/tap the Details... button (in Windows), and select Remove to delete them.

Safari: Cookies and Other Website Data

Deleting the cookies in Apple's Safari web browser is done through the Privacy section of Preferences, under the Cookies and website data section (called Cookies and other website data in Windows). Click or tap Manage Website Data... (Mac) or Remove All Website Data... (Windows), and then choose Remove All to delete all the cookies.

Opera: Clear Browsing Data

The setting to delete cookies in Opera is found in the Clear browsing data part of the browser, which is a section of Settings. Place a check next to Cookies and other site data, and then click or tap Clear browsing data to delete the cookies.

 Quick way to get to the Clear browsing data section in Opera is by using the Ctrl+Shift+Del keyboard shortcut. Another way is with the Menu button, through Settings > Privacy & security > Clear browsing data....

To remove all the cookies from every website, be sure to choose the beginning of time from the Obliterate the following items from: option at the top of the Clear browsing data pop-up.

 To remove all the cookies from every website, be sure to choose the beginning of time from the Obliterate the following items from: option at the top of the Clear browsing data pop-up.