How to Clear Cookies on a Mac (Various Browsers and Devices)

When using the internet, websites store cookies in your browser that contain data, like login information, search history, and website addresses. By clearing this data, you can increase browser speed and reduce potential security and privacy risks, especially when using your device for job-related tasks. Understanding how to clear cookies on a Mac may help improve your device's performance and give you more control over your personal and work-related data. In this article, we provide detailed steps for clearing stored data on your Mac, iPhone and iPad, and explain how to do this in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

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Why learn how to clear cookies on a Mac?

Knowing how to clear cookies on a Mac can be useful for jobs that require you to use the internet regularly. When you visit a website, you may notice pop-ups asking you to accept cookies. These are small data files your browser stores that include details like login information, search history, and website addresses. Cookies allow the website and your browser to save and share this information.

Once you clear cookies, you may notice websites take longer to load the first time you revisit them. It may also be necessary to re-enter your login information. Removing cookies clears the stored data that enabled websites to track this type of information. If you prefer to keep some of this data, such as login information, many browsers have an option to choose which data to remove before clearing cookies.

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How to clear cookies on Safari

Safari is a common web browser used on Mac computers, iPhones, and iPads. Here are some steps you can follow to manage cookie settings in this browser on different devices:

How to clear cookies on a Mac

remove cookies and stored data from Safari browsers on your Mac:

1. Open Safari on your desktop and click the "Safari" button in the upper-left corner of your menu bar.

2. Select "Preferences" from the drop-down menu.

3. In the menu bar, click on the "Privacy" tab.

4. You can choose to prevent third-party trackers from using cookies to track you by clicking "Prevent cross-site tracking."

5. To block cookies, click "Block all cookies" or choose specific sites, then click "Remove."

6. To block all cookies on your browser, click "Block all cookies."

7. To confirm, click "Block all" (blocking cookies may limit website features, including logging in)

8. To remove cookies, click the "Manage Website Data" button.

9. To delete all cookies, click "Remove All" or select which cookies to delete, and then click "Remove."

10. In the new pop-up window, click "Remove Now."

11. Click "Done" to finish removing stored data in your Safari browser.

How to remove website history in Safari

On a Mac, Safari offers users an option to clear web browser history only and keep other website data and cookies for specific sites. This can allow you to delete web browser history, but keep your login information and other data. The steps to remove website history are:

1. Open Safari the Safari browser.

2. Pull down the Safari menu while pressing the "Option" key.

3. When the “Clear History,” prompt turns into “Clear History and Keep Website Data,” select this option.

4. Look for the pop-up window that says “Clearing only removes browsing history, but keeps other web browsing data”.

5. In the drop-down list, choose the time frame to clear web browsing history.

6. Click “Clear History” to remove stored data.

How to clear Safari cookies from your iPhone or iPad

When clearing your history, cookies, and browsing data on an iPhone or iPad, it doesn't affect your AutoFill information, so you can still use this data to fill website forms. To clear Safari cookies, follow these steps:

1. Open settings in your device.

2. Scroll down to and tap on "Safari," which opens the "Allow Safari to Access" page.

3. Scroll down until you see the "privacy and security" settings.

4. Scroll down again until you find "Clear History and Website Data."

5. When you tap on this option, you can choose "Clear History and Data" or "Cancel."

6. Tap "Clearing your history, cookies, and browsing data" to remove stored data.

How to clear cookies in Google Chrome

Chrome has a vast collection of extensions for adding tools or apps directly to the web browser, and it can be good for users who like to multitask. You can remove cookies from a Chrome browser on your Mac desktop when you follow these 10 easy steps:

1. Open the Chrome web browser.

2. Click on the three vertical dots in the upper right corner of your screen.

3. Select "More Tools" from the drop-down menu.

4. Click "Clear browsing data" in the drop-down menu.

5. In the pop-up window that appears, click the "Advanced" tab.

6. Place a check next to the box labelled "Cookies and other site data."

7. Click on the arrow next to "Time Range" on the pop-up window.

8. Select your desired time period from the drown-down menu.

9. To remove all stored data, select the "All Time" option.

10. Click "Clear Data" to remove the stored data from your Chrome browser.

How to clear Chrome cookies from your iPhone or iPad

By removing cookies in Chrome, it can delete your login information and saved preferences. If you decide to delete cookies on your iPhone or iPad, follow seven easy steps, which include:

1. Open the Chrome app.

2. At the bottom right, tap the triple-line icon, which gives you "More."

3. Go to "Settings."

4. Tap "Privacy," usually right below "Voice Search."

5. Tap "Clear Browsing Data," which gives you access to all Chrome's stored data.

6. Check the "Cookies, Site Data" box.

7. Uncheck any items you wish to keep.

8. Tap "Done" to remove the stored data.

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How to clear cookies in Mozilla Firefox

Some Mac and iOS users might prefer Firefox as their default web browser because of its customization options and different themes. Firefox can allow users to synch the browser between a Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Here's how to clear cookies from Firefox on different Mac devices:

Clearing cookies from Firefox on your Mac

Follow these eight easy steps to remove cookies on your laptop or desktop:

1. Launch Firefox on your Mac.

2. Click the "Open menu" icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner of your browser window.

3. Select the "Preferences" option.

4. Click "Privacy & Security" in the left column.

5. Scroll down and click "History" and click the "Clear History... " button.

6. In the "Time range to clear" option, chose a timeframe from the drop-down menu.

7. Check all boxes that contain the information you want to remove.

8. Click "OK" to finish removing data.

Clearing Firefox cookies from your iPhone or iPad

To clear cookies and other stored data from your Firefox browser on your iPhone and iPad, follow these seven simple steps, which include:

1. Open Firefox on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

2. Tap on "settings."

3. Scroll down to "Privacy" then select "Data Management."

4. Use the toggle switches to select the data types you want to clear.

5. Tap "Clear Private Data."

6. To remove cookies from individual sites, at Step 3, after selecting "Data Management," tap "Web Site Data" then tap the red minus button beside each site you want to clear.

7. Tap "Delete" to finish.

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How to clear cookies in Microsoft Edge

Some Mac and IOS users prefer Microsoft Edge as a default web browser. Edge allows users to modify the browser theme to change the default colour, pictures, and add news stories each time they open a new tab in the browser. You can clear cookies from Microsoft Edge on these different Mac devices:

Clearing cookies in Microsoft Edge on your Mac desktop

You can follow these 10 easy steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser on your Mac.

2. In the menu bar, click on the three horizontal dots in the upper-right corner of the browser screen.

3. Click on "Settings" in the drop-down menu.

4. In the settings view, click on the "Privacy, Search and Services" button on the left sidebar.

5. Scroll down in the window on the right to "Clear Browsing Data."

6. Click the "Choose what to clear" button beside "Clear browsing data now."

7. In the "Time range" drop-down menu, chose a timeframe in which to clear cookies.

8. Check "Cookies and other site data." This also lets you choose to clear other data, like your browsing and download history, cache images and files, passwords, and other options.

9. Click the "Clear Now" button and remove the selected stored data from your browser.

10. In Step 5, at the "Clear browsing data" section, you can select "Choose what to clear every time you close the browser." This gives you the option to clear specified data automatically.

Clearing Microsoft Edge cookies from your iPhone or iPad

Follow these six steps to clear cookies and other stored data from your Microsoft Edge browser on your iPhone or iPad:

1. Open Edge on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ and tap the menu icon (three horizontal dots) in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

2. Tap on "settings."

3. Scroll down to "Privacy" then select "Clear browsing data."

4. Select the data types you want to clear.

5. Tap "Clear Browsing Data."

6. Tap the "Clear" button to finish.

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