How To Delete Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of information that is downloaded to your computer when you visit a web site. These data pieces allow websites to gather information about an internet user such as gender, age, interests, and browsing activity so that these sites can better monitor and analyze traffic. This information also allows internet advertisers to follow users from one site to another.

If you are concerned about your internet security, you can delete these cookies from your browser in just a few simple steps. Deleting your cookies will eliminate any traces you left on sites in your browser history.

This article will walk you through how to delete cookies in Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Open your Chrome browser and click the Menu option located in the top-right corner (represented by 3 horizontal lines). Then click on Settings.

Next, click on Show advanced settings, located at the bottom of the page. Head to the Privacy section and then click on the Content Settings option. Scroll to the Cookies section and choose your preferred setting. Mozilla Firefox users can delete their cookies by going to Edit > Preferences > Privacy > Cookies.

Select View cookies to see any cookies accumulated through your email and browser. From here, you can either delete all cookies, or delete select cookies. To clear cookies in Opera, head to Tools > Preferences, and select the Advanced tab.

Scroll to the section labeled Cookies and click on Manage Cookies. From here, you can either remove select cookies, or delete the entire folder. To delete cookies in Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options, and select Delete Cookies.

Internet Explorer also allows you to selectively remove cookies from your browser. To do this, go to My Computer and go to your C: drive. Next click on Documents and Settings, click on your PC name, and then select Cookies.

You will then see a list of internet cookies. To delete any of these cookies, simply select the item and click Delete. Open your Safari browser, click on the Safari menu, and then go to Preferences > Privacy.

From here, you can either choose to Remove All Website Data, or remove cookies from select sites by clicking on Details, selecting one or more websites, and clicking Remove.

Image: © Rashad Ashurov - Shutterstockom