How to change your cookies settings

Help on how to change your cookie settings in various different browsers.

Cookies are small files stored by websites on your computer to make browsing the website a better experience and most are very helpful. But some can be used to track which websites you visit and these can be turned off.

How you turn off cookies is based on the browser you are using, and not the type of computer. So the method is slightly different for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari and other browsers.

If you use more than one type of browser then you need to check cookies on all of them.

In some browsers you can view and manage your existing cookies. You can also configure which individual websites are allowed to set cookies and how long to keep them for.

Cookie Settings in Firefox

In newer version of Firefox, you can manage your stored cookies, site data, and cache by following steps:

• From the Firefox menu, select "Settings"
• Select "Privacy & Security"
• There is a section with heading "Cookies and Site Data" where you can find various options like "Manage Data" and on clicking on it, you'll see a list of sites and how much information each site is storing on your computer.
• Click the site you want to remove and click "Remove Selected" (or click "Remove All" to remove all stored cookies and site data).
• In section "Cookies and Site Data", you'll see "Manage Exceptions" where you can set up Firefox to always allow or block specific sites from storing information.
• Type in the exact address of the site you want to allow or block, or select the site if it's already on the list.
• Click "Block", "Allow for Session" or "Allow".
• Click "Save Changes" to finish.

Firefox Support Article — Manage local site storage settings 

Cookie Settings in Chrome

In Chrome, use following steps to change Cookie settings on your pc:

• On your computer, open Chrome.
• At the top right, click on three vertical dots () and then Settings.
• Under "Privacy and security", click Site settings.
• Click Cookies.
• From here, you can:
  • Turn on cookies: Next to "Blocked", turn on the switch.
  • Turn off cookies: Turn off Allow sites to save and read cookie data.

Chrome Support Article — Turn cookies on or off 

Cookie Settings in Safari

In the Safari app on your Mac, choose Safari > Preferences, click Privacy, then do any of the following:

• Prevent trackers from using cookies and website data to track you: Select "Prevent cross-site tracking".
  Cookies and website data are deleted unless you visit and interact with the trackers' websites.
• Always block cookies: Select "Block all cookies".
  Websites, third parties and advertisers can't store cookies and other data on your Mac. This may prevent some websites from working properly.
• Always allow cookies: Deselect "Block all cookies".
  Websites, third parties and advertisers can store cookies and other data on your Mac.
• Remove stored cookies and data: Click Manage Website Data, select one or more websites, then click Remove or Remove All.
  Removing the data may reduce tracking, but may also log you out of websites or change website behaviour.
• See which websites store cookies or data: Click Manage Website Data.

Note: Changing your cookie preferences or removing cookies and website data in Safari may change or remove them in other apps.

Safari Support Article — Manage cookies and website data in Safari on Mac 

Cookie Settings in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge allows you to manage cookies and site permissions through following steps:

• Open Microsoft Edge and then select "Settings and more" () and then "Settings" () and then "Cookies & site permissions".
• Select "Manage and delete cookies and site data". Here you can set specific controls for cookies and site data.
• Select See all cookies and site data.
• Here you can see the list of all cookies saved on your device.
• You can remove all cookies by clicking on "Remove all" at top right corner above list.
• Or you can remove individual cookie for a specific site by expanding list of cookies by clicking down arrow () and then click on trash () to delete that cookie.

Microsoft Edge Support Article — View cookies in Microsoft Edge