26/09/2023
Cookies in your browser. Clean it or not?
There are a few reasons you might clear your cookies
There are a couple of reasons you might need to clear the cookies on your computer or phone. I've heard a few reasons why someone might want to clear their cookies, but in my opinion they don't really make sense any more (eg. "Cookies slow your computer down" - unless you have a really, really old computer I would say that this just isn't true any more).
But there are still a few good reasons you might need to:
To fix a bug or problem with a website
You may have cookie/s that are in a quirky/conflicting state with the website. clearing them is a good way to get a "clean slate" and start from scratch.
You are on a public or shared computer
Clearing the cookies (and clearing your cache) on a computer is a good way to quickly make sure you're logged out of all the websites you just accessed, so that no one else can sit down and keep using your accounts.
If you just used a shared computer in a Library, School, Workplace, or somewhere like that, you might want to clear cookies before walking away from it.
You are concerned about Third-Party cookies tracking you
Normal cookies - the ones set by the website you are actually visiting - are usually considered fairly safe. Because, if you are trusting a website enough to use it, you would normally trust that website enough to also let it set some cookies.
However cookies can be come a privacy/identity issue when they are "Third-Party Cookies". Third Party cookies are usually the ones created by Advertising networks and Social Media companies, and they can definitely be used to track you online.
Occasionally clearing your cookies will erase the identifiers that have been left on your computer and make it a bit harder for those companies to track you.
If you are concerned about this, another option is to simply refuse to allow Third-Party cookies to be set on your computer. We have a guide to controlling your Cookie settings that you can follow.
Why might you
not
want to clear cookies?
Websites will log you out
Clearing cookies will log you out of all the websites that you are currently logged into on that computer or phone. You will have to log in again to use those sites.
You may lose your site settings/preferences or shopping cart
Site settings/preferences
Some websites may store your personal site preferences or settings in a cookie on your device. If you clear your cookies for that site, you would lose those preferences and have to reconfigure the site again (perhaps re-choosing the timezone, color preferences, layout, etc). This really depends on the site in question though; I think a lot of websites tend to store your settings on their servers instead of just in a cookie, so clearing your cookies wouldn't affect this.
Shopping carts & work in progress
Some websites may store your Shopping Cart or other kind of progress (eg. maybe a Video Game Level or Questionnaire) in a cookie on your computer. If you clear your cookies, that cart or progress would be lost. In my experience, it seems more websites store that information on their servers instead of on your device these days, which removes this problem. But it's worth noting that there may still be some sites that have this limitation.
If you do clear cookies, do it when you're not "in the middle of something"
Because clearing cookies will "wipe out" your current browsing data, it's normally a good idea to wait until you've finished doing what you're doing with your web browser before clearing cookies.
In other words, if you're shopping for something online and haven't completed the purchase, or you're in the middle of writing a Social Media Post and haven't posted it yet, clearing your cookies will definitely interrupt what you're doing.
So if you can, you should finish what you're doing, close all your tabs, and then clear some or all of your cookies. Doing it that way is the safest way to not lose your progress on a website.
from: WhatIsMyBrowser.com
