How to Delete Cookies on a Mac Desktop & MacBook

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Clear cookies on macOS in any web browser

Co-authored by Chiara Corsaro and Megaera Lorenz, PhD

Last Updated: August 21, 2024 Fact Checked

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Safari

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Google Chrome

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Firefox

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

This wikiHow article teaches you how to delete your Mac's Safari, Chrome, and Firefox cookies. Cookies are temporary files related to sites that you've visited. Keep in mind that while clearing cookies from your browser may speed it up, doing so will also sign you out of most websites on which you were signed in.

Clear Cookies in Most Browsers on Mac

In Safari, go to Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data… and click Remove All.
In Google Chrome, go to Chrome > Clear Browsing Data…, select Cookies and other site data, then click Clear data.
In Firefox, go to Firefox > History > Clear Recent History…, select Cookies, then click Clear Now.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Safari

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This menu item is on the top-left side of your Mac's screen when the Safari browser is open. A drop-down menu will appear.^{[1]
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It's near the top of the Safari drop-down menu.

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You’ll find it at the top center of the Settings window.
It's in the middle of the page. On older versions of Mac OS X, this will say Remove All Website Data... instead.
5
Click Remove All. This button is on the lower left side of the window.
- If you’d rather delete cookies for individual websites, you can look for them in the list of websites in this window or search for them with the search bar at the top. Click an option in the list and then select Remove.
6
Click Remove Now when prompted. Doing so will clear your Safari browser's cookies.
- When you’re finished, click Done in the bottom right corner of the window.
7
Clear Safari's cache to get rid of persistent cookies. If you still see cookies popping up after deleting your Mac's stored cookies, you can clear Safari's cache, which will remove all of Safari's input information except for settings and bookmarks. To do so:
- Click the Safari menu item.
- Click Settings...
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Check the Show features for web developers box at the bottom of the window.
- Click the Develop menu item.
- Click Empty Caches.
- If you want to stop new cookies from showing up, you can also check the Block all cookies box in the Advanced tab of the Settings window.
EXPERT TIP

Chiara Corsaro
Phone & Computer Repair Technician
Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).

Chiara Corsaro
Phone & Computer Repair Technician

This is a safe way to clear cookies from your Mac. While it's safe to empty your cookies from the Safari app, it is not recommended to go directly into the macOS system library to clear out cookies unless you have experience in doing so. Accidentally deleting the wrong file in your system library can result in functionality issues with the application and/or operating system.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Google Chrome

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This menu item is in the top-left corner of your Mac's screen when the Chrome browser is open. A drop-down menu will appear.
It's near the top of the Chrome drop-down menu. Doing so will open the Browsing Data window.
3
Select a time frame. Click the drop-down box to the right of the "Time range" heading near the top of the window, then click one of the following options:
- Last hour
- Last 24 hours
- Last 7 days
- Last 4 weeks
- All time
You can check other boxes in this window as well if you want to remove other types of web data, but you must check the "Cookies and other site data" box to remove Chrome cookies from your Mac.
It's a blue button in the bottom-right corner of the Browsing Data window. Clicking this will completely clear your Mac's Chrome cookies.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Firefox

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It's a menu item in the upper-left side of your Mac's screen when Firefox is open. A drop-down menu will appear.
This option is in the History drop-down menu. A window will open.
3
Select a time frame. Click the "Time range to clear:" drop-down box, then click one of the following options:
- Last Hour
- Last Two Hours
- Last Four Hours
- Today
- Everything
You can check other boxes on this menu as well, but the "Cookies" box has to be checked in order for Firefox's cookies to be cleared.
It's at the bottom of the window.

Community Q&A

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Question

Is it safe to remove all the cookies on my iMac?

Liza Gaylord

Community Answer

Yes, removing cookies is always safe. They are quite harmless (and in no way related to viruses), and nothing will change when you remove them.

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Question

How do I clear the history on my Mac computer?

Community Answer

At the top of the screen next to "View" and "Bookmarks." There will be a "History" bar. Click on that, then click clear history for whatever time period you want, e.g. past hour, past day, all history.

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Question

Why do the cookies come back after I delete them?

Liza Gaylord

Community Answer

Websites will add cookies to your browser for certain functionality purposes. Most websites do this without telling you. You can delete your cookies every so often, but they will come back, and there's not much to be done about it.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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Tips

You shouldn't have to clear your Mac's Safari cache regularly, but doing so once in a while will help keep your Mac running quickly.

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To minimize how much websites can track you across the web in Safari, go to Safari > Settings… > Privacy and select the box next to Prevent cross-site tracking.

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Warnings

Cookies can be detrimental to your web browsing experience, but they're also what allows you to sign in to sites without re-entering your username or password every single time. Deleting cookies will sign you out of most websites.

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