How to View Cookies

This wikiHow teaches you how to view cookies (small files stored on the computer, allowing some scripts to be customized to meet the user’s needs) on the desktop version of browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer and Safari.

Table of Contents

Google Chrome

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Launch Google Chrome. This icon is shaped like a green, red, blue and yellow sphere.

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Click . This icon is located in the upper-right corner of the Chrome window.

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Click the Settings action at the bottom of the drop-down menu.

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Scroll down and click Advanced . You will find this option at the bottom of the page.

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Click Content settings . This is towards the bottom of the “Privacy” group of preferences.

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Click on the Cookies option located at the top of the page. A list of cookies and other temporary browser files will appear.

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View browser cookies. All of this content is located under the “All cookies and site data” heading near the bottom of the page. Cookies are files that have “[number] cookie(s)” next to them.

You can click on an item and see a list of cookie names, then click on each cookie within that item’s list to see the properties.

Firefox

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Launch Firefox. The app looks like a blue globe surrounded by an orange fox.

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Click the ☰ icon located in the upper-right corner of the browser window.

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Click the Gear-shaped Options icon, located in the drop-down menu.

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Click the Privacy tab on the left side of the page.

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Click remove individual cookies . This option is a link in the middle of the page. Then, the list of cookies of Firefox browser will appear.

If you are using a custom setting for your Firefox history, the option to remove individual cookies may not be visible; instead, click the Show Cookies button on the right side of the page.

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View browser cookies. Firefox cookies are organized by page. When you double click on a site folder, the cookies for that site are displayed, when you keep clicking on one of them, the cookie’s specific properties are displayed.

Microsoft Edge

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Launch Microsoft Edge. The app is dark blue with a white “e” above it.

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Navigate to the page where you want to view cookies. Because the Edge browser does not store cookies according to a specific installation directory, you will have to visit the website to which those cookies are attached.

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Click the … button located in the upper right of the Edge window.

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Click on F12 Developer Tops (F12 Developer Tools). This option is near the middle of the drop-down menu. When this option is clicked, a pop-up will appear at the bottom of the Microsoft Edge window.

You can also press the F12 key to open this window.

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Click Debugger . This tab is at the top of the pop-up at the bottom of the Edge page.

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Double-click the Cookies task on the left side of the pop-up window.

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View site cookies. You will see a list of cookies under the Cookies option. When clicking on one of the lists, the cookie’s properties will appear.

Internet Explorer

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Launch Internet Explorer. This icon has a light blue “e” shape with a yellow stripe.

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Click the ⚙️ button located in the upper-right corner of the Internet Explorer window.

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Click Internet Options . This action is located near the bottom of the screen.

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Click Settings . This option is in the lower right of the “Browsing history” section.

If you don’t see Settings , click the General tab at the top of the Internet Options window first.

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Click View files . This option is located near the bottom of the Settings pop-up window.

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View Internet Explorer cookies. The files in this directory are all temporary files from the browser, but among them, cookies are files with the words “cookie:[username]” inside the name.

Unlike most browsers, you cannot view the specific properties of a cookie on Internet Explorer.

Safari

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Launch Safari. The app has a blue compass shape.

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Click Safari . This is a menu item located at the top left of the screen.

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Click Preferences near the top of the drop-down menu.

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Click the Privacy tab in the middle of the top row of options of the Preferences window.

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Click the Manage Website Data task near the center of the window.

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View browser cookies. All the files shown here are temporary files from websites, but among them, only files with the word “Cookies” below the filename are cookies.

Advice

Clearing your browser’s cookies every few weeks will help maintain your computer’s performance.

Warning

Cookies help your computer load frequently visited web pages faster, so if you delete a website’s cookie, the next time you visit, the page load speed will become slower than usual.

Steps