How to Delete Cookies on Any Browser (2026)

How to Delete Cookies on Any Browser (2026)

Last Updated: April 2026

The fastest path on any desktop browser: Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows/Linux) or Command + Shift + Delete (Mac). This opens the clear browsing data menu directly in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Brave. Check “Cookies and site data,” set your time range, click Clear.

That’s the 10-second version. If you need to clear cookies on mobile, a specific browser, or just one website without logging out everywhere else — keep reading.

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Before You Clear: What You’ll Actually Lose

Deleting cookies logs you out of every website for the time range you select. That means:

• All login sessions end. Every site you’re signed into — Gmail, your bank, social media, streaming services, work tools — will ask you to sign in again.
• Saved preferences reset. Language settings, theme choices, remembered locations, notification dismissals — gone.
• Shopping carts empty. Items in carts on sites you weren’t logged into will disappear.
• Personalization vanishes temporarily. Sites that remember you without a login (news sites, forums) will treat you as a new visitor.

What you don’t lose: your bookmarks, browser history (unless you check that box too), saved passwords, and downloaded files. Cookies are separate from those.

If you only want to fix a problem with one specific site — without logging out of everything else — skip to the “Delete cookies from one site only” section below. It’s the most useful feature most guides don’t mention.

Cookies vs. Cache vs. History — Know What You’re Clearing

These three things live in different places and do different things. Most guides treat them as one blob. They’re not.

What	What it stores	What clearing it does
Cookies	Login sessions, preferences, tracking data	Logs you out of sites, resets preferences
Cache	Copies of web pages, images, scripts	Makes pages load slightly slower on first visit after clearing
History	URLs you’ve visited	Removes the record of where you’ve been

You can clear any of these independently. The steps below focus on cookies specifically. If you want to clear your cache, our guide on clearing cache on any device covers each platform in detail.

Google Chrome (Desktop — Windows, Mac, Linux)

Fastest method — keyboard shortcut:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows/Linux) or Command + Shift + Delete (Mac)
2. Set Time range — “Last hour,” “Last 24 hours,” “All time,” etc.
3. Make sure Cookies and other site data is checked
4. Click Clear data

Manual path:

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) → Settings
2. Privacy and security → Clear browsing data
3. Same interface as above

To see which sites have stored cookies before deleting: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data → See all site data and permissions — this shows a full list of every domain with stored cookies, with a delete button next to each.

Google Chrome (iPhone and iPad)

The iOS version of Chrome uses a slightly different menu layout than desktop:

1. Tap the three dots (bottom-right on iPhone, top-right on iPad)
2. Tap Settings
3. Tap Privacy and Security
4. Tap Clear Browsing Data
5. Make sure Cookies, Site Data is checked
6. Set your time range
7. Tap Clear Browsing Data → confirm

Note: On iOS, Chrome can’t clear cookies from other browsers. Each browser on iPhone manages its own cookies independently — Safari’s cookies are separate from Chrome’s cookies, regardless of which you use more.

Google Chrome (Android)

1. Tap the three dots (top-right)
2. Tap History → Clear browsing data (or directly: Settings → Privacy and security → Clear browsing data)
3. Select Cookies and site data
4. Choose your time range
5. Tap Clear data

Safari (Mac)

Safari gives you two approaches: a fast full clear and a more selective one.

Fast — clears all history + cookies at once:

1. In the menu bar: History → Clear History…
2. Choose your time range (options: last hour, today, today and yesterday, all history)
3. Click Clear History

This removes browsing history and all cookies for the selected period in one step.

Selective — cookies only, without clearing history:

1. In the menu bar: Safari → Settings (or Preferences on older macOS)
2. Click the Privacy tab
3. Click Manage Website Data…
4. Wait for the list to load (it can take a few seconds)
5. Click Remove All → Remove Now to delete all site cookies

Or use the search box to find a specific site and remove only its cookies.

One thing to know about Safari’s cookies: Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) automatically deletes cookies from trackers after 7 days without interaction and blocks most third-party cookies by default. Safari already clears a meaningful portion of tracking cookies automatically — manual clearing focuses primarily on first-party cookies from sites you’ve actually visited.

Safari (iPhone and iPad)

iPhone Safari cookies are cleared through the Settings app, not within the browser itself:

1. Open the Settings app
2. Scroll down to Safari and tap it
3. Scroll down to Clear History and Website Data
4. Tap it — a prompt confirms this will clear history, cookies, and cache
5. Tap Clear History and Data

If you want to clear cookies without losing your browsing history:

1. Settings → Safari → Advanced → Website Data
2. Tap Remove All Website Data → Remove Now

Or scroll through the list and swipe left on individual sites to delete their cookies only.

Firefox (Desktop)

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows) or Command + Shift + Delete (Mac) — opens the Clear Data dialog directly.

Manual path:

1. Click the three-line menu (☰) → Settings
2. Click Privacy & Security in the left sidebar
3. Scroll to Cookies and Site Data
4. Click Clear Data…
5. Check Cookies and Site Data (uncheck Cached Web Content if you only want cookies)
6. Click Clear

Firefox-exclusive option — auto-delete on close:

Firefox has a built-in setting to automatically delete cookies every time you close the browser, without clearing during active sessions. In Privacy & Security, scroll to Cookies and Site Data and check Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed. This is the cleanest ongoing privacy option without affecting your current session.

Microsoft Edge (Desktop)

Edge is built on Chromium, so the interface is nearly identical to Chrome.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows) or Command + Shift + Delete (Mac) — opens Clear browsing data directly.

Manual path:

1. Click the three-dot menu (…) → Settings
2. Click Privacy, search, and services in the left sidebar
3. Under Clear browsing data, click Choose what to clear
4. Check Cookies and other site data
5. Choose your time range
6. Click Clear now

Edge includes three tracking prevention levels — Basic, Balanced (default), and Strict. Balanced blocks trackers from sites you haven’t visited. Strict blocks most trackers but may break some site functionality. These settings don’t delete existing cookies but limit future cookie creation. Access them at Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Tracking prevention.

Microsoft Edge (Mobile)

1. Tap the three-line menu at the bottom
2. Tap Settings (gear icon)
3. Tap Privacy and security
4. Tap Clear browsing data
5. Check Cookies and site data
6. Tap Clear data

Brave Browser (Desktop)

Brave blocks third-party cookies and most trackers by default through its Shields feature, which means less manual clearing is needed. But you can still clear cookies manually:

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Windows) or Command + Shift + Delete (Mac) — same as Chrome and Edge.

Manual path:

1. Click the three-line menu (☰) → Settings
2. Click Privacy and security → Clear browsing data
3. Check Cookies and other site data
4. Choose time range
5. Click Clear data

Brave’s Shields — what it already blocks: By default, Brave blocks cross-site trackers, third-party cookies, and fingerprinting attempts. The cookie data you’re clearing manually is primarily first-party session cookies. For most users, Brave’s automatic blocking means manual cookie clearing is less urgent than on Chrome or Edge.

Samsung Internet (Android)

Samsung’s default browser on Galaxy devices has a slightly different path:

1. Tap the three-line menu (bottom-right)
2. Tap Settings (gear icon)
3. Tap Personal browsing data
4. Tap Delete browsing data
5. Check Cookies and site data
6. Tap Delete

Delete Cookies From One Site Only — Without Logging Out Everywhere

This is the most useful feature in browser cookie management and the most commonly overlooked. If a specific site is behaving strangely — looping on a login page, showing you the wrong account, loading an outdated version — clearing just that site’s cookies fixes it without affecting your sessions on any other site.

Chrome (Desktop)

1. Go to chrome://settings/cookies in the address bar
2. Under “Sites that can always use cookies” or scroll to the full data list
3. Click See all site data and permissions
4. Search for the site by name using the search box
5. Click the trash icon next to it

Faster method:

1. Click the padlock icon (or info icon) in the address bar while on the site
2. Click Cookies and site data
3. Click Manage cookies
4. Delete the specific cookies shown

Firefox (Desktop)

1. Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Manage Data…
2. Search for the site name in the search box
3. Select it and click Remove Selected → Save Changes

Safari (Mac)

1. Safari → Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data…
2. Wait for the list to load
3. Search for the site
4. Select it and click Remove

Edge (Desktop)

1. Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies and site data → See all cookies and site data
2. Search for the site
3. Click the down arrow next to the domain, then the trash icon

Auto-Delete Cookies on Browser Close

If you want ongoing privacy without manually clearing cookies every time, most browsers offer automatic cookie deletion when you close the browser.

Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → scroll to Cookies and Site Data → check Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed. This is the cleanest implementation — it deletes without requiring you to remember.

Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data → enable Clear cookies and site data when you close all windows. Note: this logs you out of everything every time you close Chrome.

Safari: No native auto-delete for cookies on close, but Safari’s ITP already auto-expires tracking cookies after 7 days.

Edge: Settings → Privacy, search, and services → scroll to Clear browsing data → Choose what to clear every time you close the browser → toggle on Cookies and other site data.

The practical tradeoff: Auto-delete means you’ll sign in to every site every browsing session. For users who want this level of privacy, it’s worth it. For most people, periodic manual clearing (or targeted single-site clearing when something’s broken) is the better balance.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Should I delete cookies?

Periodically, yes. Cookies serve legitimate purposes — keeping you logged in, remembering your preferences, maintaining shopping carts. But they also accumulate tracking data over time, can grow to meaningful storage sizes, and occasionally cause site behavior issues. A reasonable approach for most people: clear cookies every 4–8 weeks, or whenever a specific site starts behaving oddly.

What happens when I clear cookies?

You get logged out of every website covered by the time range you selected. Your saved preferences on those sites reset. If you’re not logged into sites (just using them with remembered settings), those settings reset too. Your bookmarks, saved passwords, and downloaded files are unaffected.

Can I delete cookies without losing my passwords?

Yes. Saved passwords in your browser live in a separate password manager store, not in cookies. Clearing cookies does not delete saved passwords. You will need to use those saved passwords to log back in after clearing cookies, but the passwords themselves remain intact.

What’s the difference between cookies and cache?

Cookies store login sessions, preferences, and tracking identifiers. Cache stores copies of web page files (images, scripts, CSS) to speed up loading. They’re separate. Clearing cookies logs you out of sites. Clearing cache makes pages load slightly slower on the next visit as files are re-downloaded. For troubleshooting a broken site, clear both — cookies and cache — for the most comprehensive reset.

Do I need to clear cookies on iPhone?

iOS Safari automatically manages many tracking cookies through Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention. But first-party cookies from sites you regularly visit accumulate. Clearing Safari cookies on iPhone (Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data) is useful when a site is behaving oddly or you want a full privacy reset.

How often should I clear cookies?

There’s no universal rule. Security professionals often suggest every 7–14 days for active users who value privacy. For most people, monthly is a reasonable cadence that balances privacy benefit against the inconvenience of re-logging into everything. If a specific site is broken or you’re troubleshooting, clear just that site’s cookies (see the one-site section above) rather than clearing everything.

Do cookies slow down my browser?

Marginally. A large accumulation of cookies takes up disk space and can add slightly to the data each browser session manages, but the performance impact is minor compared to cache and browser history. If you’re trying to speed up a slow browser, clearing the cache has more impact than clearing cookies alone.

Will clearing cookies stop all tracking?

No. Cookies are one of several tracking mechanisms, not the only one. Browser fingerprinting (which identifies your browser by its unique combination of settings and capabilities) doesn’t use cookies at all and isn’t affected by clearing them. Tracking pixels, IP-based tracking, and device identifiers operate independently. Clearing cookies reduces cookie-based tracking but doesn’t eliminate online tracking entirely. The FTC’s guidance on protecting your privacy online covers the full range of tracking methods and the controls available to consumers. For broader tracking protection, browser-level blocking (Firefox Enhanced Tracking Protection, Brave Shields, Safari ITP) is more effective than periodic manual clearing.

Are cookies dangerous?

First-party cookies — set by the site you’re actually visiting — are generally safe and useful. Third-party cookies — set by external trackers embedded in a page — are what most privacy concerns address. These track your behavior across multiple sites. Most major browsers now block or restrict third-party cookies by default (Safari, Firefox, Brave) or are in the process of phasing them out (Chrome). Malicious cookie hijacking (session fixation attacks) is a real threat, which is one reason to clear cookies after using shared or public computers.

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Quick Reference: Keyboard Shortcuts and Paths

Browser	Desktop Shortcut	Manual Path
Chrome	Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Delete	⋮ → Settings → Privacy and security → Clear browsing data
Firefox	Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Delete	☰ → Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Clear Data
Edge	Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Delete	… → Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Clear browsing data
Brave	Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Delete	☰ → Settings → Privacy and security → Clear browsing data
Safari (Mac)	—	History → Clear History, or Safari → Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data
Safari (iPhone)	—	Settings app → Safari → Clear History and Website Data
Samsung Internet	—	☰ → Settings → Personal browsing data → Delete browsing data