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<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Cookies - MozillaZine Knowledge Base</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"e3f8737eb0c2fc5b717487fe","wgCSPNonce":false,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Cookies","wgTitle":"Cookies","wgCurRevisionId":46293,"wgRevisionId":46293,"wgArticleId":1002,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Privacy and security","Privacy and security (Thunderbird)"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Cookies","wgRelevantArticleId":1002,"wgIsProbablyEditable":false,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":false,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[]};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready", "user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","skins.monobook.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["site","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.monobook.scripts"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"});});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/load.php?lang=en&modules=skins.monobook.styles&only=styles&skin=monobook"/> <script async="" src="/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=monobook"></script> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.40.1"/> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"/> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"/> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes, minimum-scale=0.25, maximum-scale=5.0"/> <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/opensearch_desc.php" title="MozillaZine Knowledge Base (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//kb.mozillazine.org/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="MozillaZine Knowledge Base Atom feed" href="/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Cookies rootpage-Cookies skin-monobook action-view skin--responsive"><div id="globalWrapper"> <div id="column-content"> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice"></div> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Cookies</span></h1> <div id="bodyContent" class="monobook-body"> <div id="siteSub">From MozillaZine Knowledge Base</div> <div id="contentSub" ><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="jump-to-nav"></div><a href="#column-one" class="mw-jump-link">Jump to navigation</a><a href="#searchInput" class="mw-jump-link">Jump to search</a>  <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-parser-output"><p><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie">Cookies</a> are small pieces of textual information stored by webpages on your computer. Their many uses include remembering login information and preserving the contents of your basket on shopping sites. Cookies may also pose a privacy risk as they can be used for <a href="/User_tracking" title="User tracking">user tracking</a> across websites. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Cookie_permissions"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Cookie permissions</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#SeaMonkey"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">SeaMonkey</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-3"><a href="#Per-site_cookie_management"><span class="tocnumber">1.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Per-site cookie management</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#Firefox"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Firefox</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-5"><a href="#Third-party_cookies"><span class="tocnumber">1.2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Third-party cookies</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-6"><a href="#Exceptions_list"><span class="tocnumber">1.2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Exceptions list</span></a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="#Websites_report_cookies_are_disabled"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Websites report cookies are disabled</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Removing_cookies"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Removing cookies</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#Mozilla_Suite_and_SeaMonkey"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="#Firefox_2"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Firefox</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="#Where_are_cookies_stored"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Where are cookies stored</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Cookie_permissions">Cookie permissions</span></h2> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="SeaMonkey">SeaMonkey</span></h3> <p>Overall cookie permissions are controlled in "<a href="/Menu_differences_in_Windows,_Linux,_and_Mac" title="Menu differences in Windows, Linux, and Mac">Edit -> Preferences</a> -> Privacy & Security -> Cookies". You can choose to block all cookies, allow all cookies, or to allow cookies for the originating website only (thus blocking third-party cookies), In SeaMonkey 2.19 and later, third-party cookies can be restricted to allow cookies from previously visited websites only. If you allow cookies, you can also select the following retention preferences: </p> <ul><li>Accept cookies normally</li> <li>Accept for current session only (deletes the cookie the next time you exit your browser).</li> <li>Accept cookies for __ days</li> <li>Ask for each cookie (you can limit these warnings by choosing "except for session cookies")</li></ul> <p>This has a [Cookie Manager] button that opens the Data Manager to control cookie settings per-site. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Per-site_cookie_management">Per-site cookie management</span></h4> <p>In SeaMonkey 2.x, the <a href="/Data_Manager" title="Data Manager">Data Manager</a> lets you view or delete individual cookies for a site ("Cookies") tab and override basic cookie settings so that you can allow or block cookies for individual sites ("Permissions" tab). You can open Data Manager from the [Cookie Manager] button in Preferences "Privacy & Security -> Cookies" described above and also from the menu item "Tools -> Data Manager". </p><p>(In SeaMonkey 1.x and the earlier Mozilla Suite the Cookie Manager was a separate panel, accessible via "Tools -> Cookie Manager -> Manage Stored Cookies" and the tabs were named "Stored Cookies" and "Cookie Sites".) </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Firefox">Firefox</span></h3> <p>Cookie permissions are controlled in "<a href="/Menu_differences_in_Windows,_Linux,_and_Mac" title="Menu differences in Windows, Linux, and Mac">Tools -> Options</a> -> Privacy". You may have to choose "Use custom settings for history" in the "Firefox will:" drop-down menu to see more options. You may choose to accept all cookies that websites wish to set or, in Firefox 3.0 and above, you may choose to accept or block third-party cookies that are often set by other companies who advertise on those sites. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Third-party_cookies">Third-party cookies</span></h4> <p>Starting in Firefox 3, you can block third-party cookies in the user interface, by deselecting (clearing) the option, "Accept third-party cookies". <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=419596">[1]</a> With Firefox 22, a new option is introduced to block third-party cookies from web sites which you haven't explicitly visited before, thus making it harder to employ cross-site <a href="/User_tracking" title="User tracking">user tracking</a> based on such cookies. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=818340">[2]</a> The drop-down menu has three options: </p> <ul><li>Always - all cookies from websites other than the site you visit are allowed;</li> <li>From visited - cookies from third parties are allowed only if you have explicitly visited that site itself before;</li> <li>Never - no cookies from websites foreign to the website you currently visit are allowed.</li></ul> <p>If you block all third-party cookies, many sites will not work. If you want them to work you have to make an exception (see below) to Allow (or Allow for Session). This will set the site to accept all cookies, including third-party cookies. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Exceptions_list">Exceptions list</span></h4> <p>As well as the basic permissions above, in Firefox you may also make blacklists and whitelists using the Exceptions list. The settings in this list override your basic cookie settings, so that you can have stronger control over individual sites that you have manually added to the list. You can choose to allow an individual site to set cookies, or to set "session" cookies which are deleted once you have closed Firefox, or to stop it from setting cookies at all. </p><p>SeaMonkey does not have a direct equivalent to Firefox's Exceptions list. Instead you have to struggle with Data Manager's confusing buggy interface (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=770322">bug 770322</a>). </p> <ol><li>Click Add</li> <li>Enter a hostname in the box near the bottom, e.g. <tt>apis.google.com</tt>,</li> <li>Select a Type of "Set Cookies" from the dropdown</li> <li>Click the new Add button</li> <li>Uncheck Use Default</li> <li><i>Change the cookie setting from whatever it was (the default) to something else</i></li> <li>Then change the cookie setting to what you really want, e.g. "Allow".</li></ol> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Websites_report_cookies_are_disabled">Websites report cookies are disabled</span></h2> <p>Some websites will not work properly or will display an error message if cookies are disabled. If you have set your Mozilla browser to accept cookies but websites are not allowing you to log in or report that cookies are not enabled, are blocked, or are being rejected by your browser, see if the site is shown as blocked in the Firefox "Exceptions" list (under <a href="/Menu_differences_in_Windows,_Linux,_and_Mac" title="Menu differences in Windows, Linux, and Mac">Tools -> Options</a> -> Privacy") or in the Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey "Cookie Sites" list (under "Tools -> Cookie Manager -> Manage Stored Cookies") and, if so, remove it from the list. For more information, read <a href="/Websites_report_cookies_are_disabled" title="Websites report cookies are disabled">Websites report cookies are disabled</a>. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Removing_cookies">Removing cookies</span></h2> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Mozilla_Suite_and_SeaMonkey">Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey</span></h3> <p>To remove all cookies go to "<a href="/Menu_differences_in_Windows,_Linux,_and_Mac" title="Menu differences in Windows, Linux, and Mac">Edit -> Preferences</a> -> Privacy & Security -> Cookies -> Cookie Manager -> Stored Cookies (tab)" (or use "Tools -> Cookie Manager -> Manage Stored Cookies") and click "Remove All Cookies". To remove specific cookies, select a cookie from the list and click "Remove Cookie". </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Firefox_2">Firefox</span></h3> <p>To remove all cookies, go to "<a href="/Menu_differences" class="mw-redirect" title="Menu differences">Tools -> Options</a> -> Privacy". In Firefox 3.5, select "Use custom settings for history" in the "Firefox will:" drop-down menu, if another option is shown. Select "Show Cookies..." and click "Remove All Cookies". To remove specific cookies, select a cookie from the list, and click "Remove Cookie". </p><p>To selectively remove more than one cookie in the above dialog use the "Ctrl" key to add additional lines to the selection, and/or the "Shift" key to extend a selection, then "Remove Cookie". There is a Search bar in the dialog that you can use to search on any string within the cookie, such as a site for example, which would be the preferred method and then selectively remove unwanted cookies from the shortened list. </p><p>Sometimes removing the cookies in the Cookie Manager is not sufficient and you need to delete the file that stores cookies in your <a href="/Profile_folder_-_Firefox" title="Profile folder - Firefox">Firefox profile folder</a> ("cookies.sqlite" in Firefox 3 and above, "cookies.txt" in Firefox 2 or below). See the section, <a href="#Where_are_cookies_stored">Where are cookies stored</a> (below) for more information. </p><p>The Torbutton extension interferes with cookie deletion.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=450850#c2">[3]</a><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=5138125#p5138125">[4]</a> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Where_are_cookies_stored">Where are cookies stored</span></h2> <p>Cookie information is stored in the <a href="/Profile_folder" title="Profile folder">profile folder</a>, in two files. Starting with Firefox 3.0 and SeaMonkey 2.0 the cookie information is stored in the files <a href="/Cookies.sqlite" title="Cookies.sqlite">cookies.sqlite</a> and <a href="/index.php?title=Permissions.sqlite&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Permissions.sqlite (page does not exist)">permissions.sqlite</a>. In Firefox 2 or below and Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey 1.x, cookies are stored in the <a href="/Cookies.txt" title="Cookies.txt">cookies.txt</a> file and cookie site permissions are stored in the <a href="/Hostperm.1" title="Hostperm.1">hostperm.1</a> file. </p> <table border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"> <tbody><tr> <th>File</th> <th>Description </th></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">cookies.sqlite <br /> cookies.txt</td> <td>Holds all of your cookies, including login information, session data, and preferences. </td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top">permissions.sqlite <br /> hostperm.1</td> <td>Holds preferences about which sites you allow or prohibit to set cookies, to display images, to open popup windows and to initiate extensions installation. </td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/Import_cookies" title="Import cookies">Import cookies from Internet Explorer</a></li> <li><a href="/RSS_cookies_-_Thunderbird" title="RSS cookies - Thunderbird">RSS cookies - Thunderbird</a></li> <li><a href="/Multiple_cookies_files_created" class="mw-redirect" title="Multiple cookies files created">Multiple cookies files created</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Cookies">About cookies (Firefox Support)</a></li></ul>    </div> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=Cookies&oldid=46293">http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=Cookies&oldid=46293</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/Category:Privacy_and_security" title="Category:Privacy and security">Privacy and security</a></li><li><a href="/Category:Privacy_and_security_(Thunderbird)" title="Category:Privacy and security (Thunderbird)">Privacy and security (Thunderbird)</a></li></ul></div></div>  <div class="visualClear"></div> </div> </div> <div class="visualClear"></div> </div> <div id="column-one" > <h2>Navigation menu</h2> <div role="navigation" class="portlet" id="p-cactions" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label"> <h3 id="p-cactions-label" >Page actions</h3> <div class="pBody"> <ul > <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected mw-list-item"><a href="/Cookies" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c">Page</a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/Talk:Cookies" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t">Discussion</a></li><li id="ca-view" class="selected mw-list-item"><a href="/Cookies">Read</a></li><li id="ca-viewsource" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/index.php?title=Cookies&action=edit" title="This page is protected.
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