What are cookies and what do you need? What is a cookie and how to clear cookies in modern browsers

A person using a computer and, in particular, the Internet, has probably come across the word cookies. You may have heard and read about them, what cookies are for and that they need to be cleaned, etc. However, in order to understand this issue well, we suggest you read our article.

Cookies are a set of data (file) with which the web browser receives from the server necessary information and records to PC. When you visit Internet pages, the exchange takes place using the HTTP protocol. This text file stores the following information: personal settings, logins, passwords, visit statistics, etc. That is, when you enter a particular site, the browser sends the server an existing cookie for identification.

Cookies are valid for one session (until closing the browser), and then they are automatically deleted.

However, there are other cookies that last longer. They are written to a special file "cookies.txt". The browser later uses this recorded user data. This is good, because it reduces the load on the web server, since you do not need to access it every time.

Why are cookies needed?

Cookies are quite useful; they make browsing the Internet more convenient. For example, having logged in to a certain site, you no longer need to specify a password and login when logging into your account.

Most websites work incompletely or not at all without cookies. Let's see exactly where cookies can come in handy:

In the settings - for example, in search engines it is possible to set the language, region, etc., but to prevent them from getting confused, cookies are exactly what is needed;
In online stores, cookies allow you to buy goods; without them, nothing will happen. For online purchases, it is necessary to save data about the choice of product when moving to another page of the site.

Why do you need to clear cookies?

Cookies can also cause inconvenience to the user. For example, using them, you can monitor the history of your visits to the Internet; also, an outsider can use your PC and be on some sites under your name. Another nuisance is that cookies can accumulate and take up space on your computer.

Because of this, some people decide to disable cookies, and popular browsers provide this option. But after this procedure, you will not be able to visit many websites because they ask you to enable cookies.

How to delete cookies

Periodic cleaning can be done either in a web browser or using special programs. One common cleaning solution is CCleaner.

After launching CCleaner, go to the tab "Applications". Near desired browser check the box "cookies" and press "Clear".

Each of us spends a lot of time at the computer and in particular on the Internet. Most of you have probably come across such a concept as cookies. But probably, when they saw this word, everyone immediately went to Google and looked for what it was, why they should be cleaned, and generally what they were intended for.

Since they are talking about it, it means the thing is necessary and useful. Let's look into this issue and try to understand what these so-called cookies.

What are cookies?

Cookies or as we call them in Runet “cookies”- these are not large pieces of data with the help of which the browser receives the necessary information (data) from the server. The exchange takes place using the http protocol when you visit a website. If the same site is visited a couple of times, then the browser and the server where the site is located exchange data every time again.

Some data can be stored for a certain time (one session) and deleted when the browser is closed. Others can be stored for a long time and are recorded in a special file cookies.txt , which is located in the directory of the browser you are using.

Cookies allow the browser to remember some user data on the site, and not contact the server again for this data. Many will say, what difference does it make, let him apply at least 100 times. This is where the whole problem lies, with their help you can reduce the load on the server, which is very good.

Inaccurate information about cookies:

Cookies are not programs (text file) don't believe it, they can somehow infect your computer with viruses.
They have nothing in common with pop-ups. Windows can be disabled using browser tools or additional extensions.
Cookie does not identify your data as a person, it detects browser data. For example, if you open a new site in one browser and register, then the next time you log into this site from the same browser, all data will be saved. If you log in from a new browser, you will have to enter the data again. It also doesn’t matter who uses this computer, you or someone else.

Why are they needed?

IN modern internet, many sites will not be able to work without cookies, and if they can, they will lose most of their functionality.

Examples of the need for cookies:

Authorization. Most of the sites: and others, have authorization (entering login, password, name, phone, email). If you do not use so-called cookies, then when you switch to new page, you will need to re-enter your login and password or other data.
Online stores. This is a separate topic; if you do not use cookies, it will not be possible to buy the product at all, since the entire operation of the shopping cart is based on saving data from these files. If you select a product and go to a new page, it will disappear.
Settings. Let's say you have set the necessary settings in search engines, region, language, etc. So that they don’t get lost and become the default.

These are some examples, in fact there are many. But the use itself cookies are very necessary and useful.

What are persistent and third-party cookies?

Persistent cookies, as a rule, can be saved for the entire time or for a certain period of time, which will be specified by the site developer. After this time has passed, they will be automatically cleaned. These are the cookies that are stored in cookie.txt file, which is located in the directory of the browser you are using.

Third party cookies- these are files that can be stored and loaded on third-party servers, and not on those where your site is located. Examples could be installed counters for tracking visits to Google (), Yandex (), LiveInternet, scripts for various advertising units, uploading photos and much more. All of these examples can pass data to the browser.

Many people are wary of third-party cookies because they may violate privacy policies. Using your browser settings, you can block them and prevent loading.

How to clear, block or disable cookies in modern browsers.

Sometimes situations arise in which it is necessary to clear or delete cookies. Here are some examples.

You have visited the site from someone else’s computer and logged in. In order not to leave your username and password on this computer, you need to clear the cookies. And even better in such cases, you can use the keys for this Сtrl+Shift+N.
There are problems logging into the page; the first thing you need to do is clear the cache in your browser. You can read the article: “”. If it doesn’t help, then try clearing cookies using the methods described below.
You may need to disable or prevent the loading of third-party cookies.

Let's look at several methods for each browser.

Google Chrome (Google Chrome)

Let's go to the browser.
Press the key combination Ctrl+Shift+Delete.
In the window that opens, select “Cookies and other site and plugin data.” In the list, select the period for which you want to delete. Don't forget to click “Clear history”.

Clear history Google Chrome

To block or prohibit sites from saving data, you need to go to the menu and click on “Settings”. On the settings page, look for the “Personal Data” item and click on the “Content Settings” button.

Setting up Google Chrome content

In the pop-up window you can see the “Cookies” item and check the required box. You can manage sites or make exceptions from which sites to save and which to block. After making changes, you must click the “Done” button.

In Yandex browser, all steps are similar!

Mozilla Firefox

Let's go to the browser.
Press the key combination Ctrl+Shift+Delete. You can also go to the menu, find the item “ Magazine” and select “Delete recent history” from the list.
In the window that opens, select “Cookies”. In the list, select the period for which you want to delete. Don't forget to click “Delete history”.

To block or prohibit sites from saving data, you need to go to the menu and click on “Settings”. On the settings page, look for the “Privacy” tab. Here you can choose whether to track your site or not, as well as record cookies in the history or not. If you need to delete individual cookies for sites, click on the text “Delete individual cookies”. In the window, select the necessary sites to delete. Don't forget to save the settings.

Opera

As in previous cases, there are 2 ways in which you can clean . Using a keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Delete or go to the menu and find the “History” item. In the upper right corner we find “Clear browsing history”. In the history window, check the box next to “Delete cookies and site data”, select the period in the drop-down list and click the “Clear browsing history” button.

If you need to block or prevent the saving of cookies, then look for the “Settings” item in the menu. On the settings page, select “Security” in the left menu. Below we put the necessary marks to block or prohibit saving. You can also manage exceptions, select and allow data to be saved.

Internet Explorer

I don't like it this browser, but I’ll tell him for him too.

Let's go to the browser.
Press the keys Ctrl+Shift+Delete or go to the menu, find the “Security” item and select “ Delete browsing history”.
In the window, check the box next to “Cookies and website data.” Click the “Delete” button.

If you need to block or prohibit the saving of data, you must select “Security” in the menu and go to “Tracking Protection” in the list. To be honest, I didn’t understand how everything worked there, since I don’t really use this browser and I don’t recommend it to you.

Safari

The latest browser from Apple today. I like its style, but it is not very popular with me. To clear cookies you need to use the following steps.

Let's go to the browser.
Go to the menu and select “ Reset browser" In the reset window, check the boxes next to the items “Delete saved names and passwords”, “Delete all website data”. Don't forget to click the “Reset” button.

If you need to block or prevent sites from saving cookies, then go to the menu and select “Settings”. In the settings window we find the “Confidentiality” tab, where you can delete (clear all data), block and prohibit.

You've probably come across the term cookies while using the Internet. What is it? Essentially, cookies are a file or several small files that store text information. They are created when you visit sites that support this technology.

How do cookies work?

It's very simple. As soon as the browser receives a specific web page from the site, the connection between it and your PC is severed. If you decide to go to another page of the same resource or update the current one, a new connection will be established. On sites where there is no user authorization, this does not create any problems. But if it is necessary, without additional measures the resource is not able to “remember” the people visiting it and display information in accordance with the preferences of each of them. Cookies help to avoid a situation in which, when moving between different pages of a site, a person is not perceived by the service as a new, unauthorized visitor. You already know that this is text information. And cookies work very simply: when you move from one page to another, the server sends a request to the computer for the data from the cookies. Using them, he finds out who is going to perform such an action, and then, based on the information received, he grants or denies the request. Cookies are also used when creating online stores. It is thanks to them that the familiar shopping cart can exist, in which data about selected but not yet purchased goods can exist. And it is cookies that allow the specified products not to disappear from it while you are browsing other parts of the catalog and placing an order.

How are cookies useful?

You already know about several aspects of using cookies. We also managed to find out what it is. Now let's talk about what else can be useful this technology and in what cases you can’t do without it.

Surely you know that now many services have so-called “affiliate programs”. Almost all of them are long-term and last for months or even years. Throughout this period, information is stored on the hard drive, thanks to which the partner will receive his percentage if the user who follows his link orders a service or product from the seller.

When working with visit counters, rating and voting systems, cookies are also used. What does this give in this case? Cookies are necessary so that the system can determine what this user Already followed the link or left your vote. That is, there is some kind of insurance against artificial markups. There are ways to bypass such protection, but for ordinary users this result is more than enough.

What should you be wary of?

When working with cookies, it is important to remember that in some cases, seemingly harmless text information can be dangerous.

Cookies are one of the most important potential causes of online privacy violations. Why is this happening? Advertising sites always track which advertisements a particular user views. Cookies store data about which advertisements a person has already seen and track which topics are of interest to him. And while we are talking about cookies for a single site, there is no need to talk about the leakage of personal information. But if we are talking about large advertising networks, the codes of which are present on the vast majority of resources, everything becomes more complicated. Thus, thanks to the system, it can collect almost all the information about a person’s online activities. And if he enters his first and last name on some website, it becomes possible to connect all these actions with a real person.

There are other problems associated with cookies. They are mostly encountered by programmers who write document code. cookies for different sites. Without first reading professional sources, you can allow logins and passwords for the site to be stored in cookies. As a result, it becomes very easy to seize them and use them for your own purposes. However, almost all more or less serious sites store passwords and logins in a database on the server. Cookies are used here simply as a conditional identifier for the user. Moreover, it is issued only for a short period of time. That is, even if a hacker manages to gain access to cookies, he will not find any valuable information there.

How to enable, disable and clear cookies?

If you decide to disable cookies, please note that you will have to re-enable them each time you visit a site that requires them.

For Mozilla Firefox. Go to “Tools”. Next, you should find the “Settings” item, and in it - the “Privacy” tab. Opposite Firefox, in the “History” frame, you need to select “do not remember” from the list.

For Google Chrome. Open “Options” by clicking on the button in the form. After that, go to “Advanced” -> “Content Settings”. In the window that appears, you need to select Cookie, and then check the box that prohibits sites from storing data.

As you can see, disabling or re-enabling cookies in Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, the most popular browsers, is very simple. In other browsers, this is done in the same way, using the “Security”, “Privacy”, etc. tabs.

If you need to clear cookies, it's faster and easier to do so without using standard means browser, and using a special utility - cCleaner. Before cleaning, you need to close all browsers, otherwise you will not be able to delete all cookies.

In general, the best option is to install one of the programs that automates work with cookies. Nowadays there are a huge number of such applications, they weigh quite a lot and relieve users from the need to constantly change parameters manually.

We address the information contained on this page primarily to Microsoft users Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.x.- the most common browsers in Internet networks. It is important to note that our site is displayed adequately in other browsers. However, in our opinion, the supporters of Mozilla Firefox and Opera are enthusiasts and experts in advanced software, and therefore do not need advice on setting it up.

Cookies("cookies") are a small piece of text information that a website (site) transfers to your browser. The browser will store this information and transmit it back with each request you make to the site. Some cookie values can only be stored for one session (a single session of your connection with the site); they are deleted after closing the browser. Others, installed for a certain period of time, are recorded in a special file and stored on your computer. Typically this file is called "cookies.txt" and is located in the working directory of your browser.

Cookies by themselves can't do anything., this is just some text information. However, the site you are accessing can read the information contained in cookies and, based on their analysis, take certain actions in relation to you.

For example, if you need authorized access to the site in cookies during the session the user's "session code" is stored, in which encrypted his account (name and password). This allows you not to enter a username and password when prompted for each document that requires authorization. On our website, you have already noticed the authorization form, where under the fields for entering an account there is the inscription “Remember me”. If you check this box for authorization, then our website cookies will be stored on your computer permanently(and not just during the current session) until you yourself cancel the connection to our server using your registration parameters. As with session cookies, it is not your account (name and password) that will be stored on your computer, but only a “persistent connection code.”

We draw your attention to the fact that if you checked the “Remember me” option when logging in, then yours account can be used by anyone who accesses our website from your computer. Our site will not require re-authorization and will recognize such a user under your name. Therefore, we recommend that you check the “Remember me” checkbox only when accessing from the computer on which you are the sole owner.

Ordering functions are also often based on the use of cookies. Cookies are used for “targeting” (identifying the target audience, for example, by geographic location of users), this information is used by sites to collect statistics.

Cookie support in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x

Cookie support in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Almost immediately, any novice Internet user is faced with the concept of cookies. What does this mysterious word mean? Why are they sometimes cleaned? How do third-party cookies differ from direct cookies? How to turn them on or off? And most importantly - why?

No, we, of course, at the subconscious level understand that this is a necessary thing, since everyone is talking about it, but still it would be nice to dig a little deeper in order to separate truth from fiction and dispel some of the myths associated with these mysterious cookies. Well, and at the same time understand their purpose in order to clean, enable and configure their reception in the browser with skill.

What are cookies - myths and reality

In simple terms, cookies are just pieces of data that are exchanged between your browser and the web servers that host the sites you visit (). The point is that http protocol it is designed in such a way that every time you access a new page of the same site, your browser seems to get acquainted with the server again and everything that you did on the site’s pages a little earlier will be completely forgotten.

It would seem, so what... However, most sites will not be able to work without such a thing as cookies. More precisely, they can, but they will lose some of their functionality.

For example, if working on a website requires authorization, then every time you go to a new page you will have to do the following:

The user enters a name and password into the login form located on the site and sends them to the server.
The server receives them and checks them for correctness, after which it returns the page requested by the user to the browser. But along with its code, the browser receives a cookie with a session identifier. As a rule, they will be stored in the browser for some time, during which the user will be able to work with the site without re-authorization.
When requesting other pages of the site from the server, the browser, along with the request code, also sends a cookie with a session identifier. The server checks the identifier against its database and, under favorable circumstances, returns the code of the requested page.

And in the online store you won’t be able to buy anything at all, because without cookies it won’t work "virtual shopping cart" for storing purchases.

What is noteworthy is that the development of the cookie standard began precisely for the implementation of a shopping cart in a package intended for online commerce. This happened in the early nineties of the last century by the authors of the now forgotten Netscape browser. The standard was then revised to try to limit the use of cookies to collect personal data about browser users.

Cookies can also be used to store settings that the user has made on the site. For example, you can set the number of answers that will be shown and the size of snippets. This data will be stored in your browser and applied every time you make a search.

In general, cookies are necessary and useful in most cases. But controversy still rages over the fact that third-party Cookies pose a threat to user privacy. Where do these third-party cookies come from and what are they? The fact is that when loading (rendering) a web page, data can be loaded not only from the server where the site is actually located, but also from third-party servers.

Examples of such things can be visit counters, block loading scripts contextual advertising, various images not stored on the main site. And all this wealth, when downloaded, can transfer its own cookies to the browser, which in this case will be called third-party. It is they who are usually feared in terms of privacy violations.

However, in the settings of some browsers Loading of third-party cookies can be allowed, because by default it is blocked for security reasons. In this regard, in various Internet browsers you can find approximately the following set of options:

Completely disable cookies.
Clear all cookies when exiting the browser.
Prohibition or restriction on the use of third-party cookies
Creating a “white” and/or “black” list of sites from which cookies will either be allowed or blocked.
Some browsers even have a manager to clear these records for individual sites.
Setting limited expiration times for cookies.

Regarding the last point. The fact is that there are cookie records that are deleted themselves when your session with a particular site ends. However, site developers have the opportunity to specify the lifetime of these records, after which they will be cleared. Such cookies are called persistent and it is precisely the limitation of their lifespan that is discussed in last point. They are usually stored in separate file, which may be called cookies.txt.

Now let's dispel a few myths with which cookies have become overgrown:

Cookies do not identify a specific person (you), but individual browsers. When you open a page of the same site in another browser, you will be asked to log in again, because there will be no cookies indicating that you previously logged into this browser. If several people use the browser, then again this technology will not differentiate between them.
Cookies are not programs (they are ordinary text fragments), so they cannot be sources of infection of your computers with viruses, and they themselves cannot be viruses.
They also have nothing to do with windows popping up spontaneously in the browser. These things are disabled in various browser settings.

Now let's list what is really cookies can do:

They can be used to track which pages you visited, and the retention period for this data can be quite long. The intelligence services of the world's most democratic country were once accused of using cookies to spy on them and obtain sensitive data in this way.
If the traffic transmitted from your computer to the Internet is not encrypted, then attackers can intercept it and, among other things, read the cookie (intercept or replace it). This most often happens when using WiFi without encryption.
Cookies can also be set by programs in languages such as JavaScript, embedded in the text of pages, or other scripts running in the browser (i.e., without receiving this data from the server).
At the moment there are alternative solutions to this technology, but cookies still remain the best option according to the totality of opportunities available to them

How to clear, enable or disable cookies?

There are times when you need to clear cookies left by you after an Internet session. For example, if you logged in to some sites, but at the same time worked from someone else's computer(at a party, at work, in an Internet cafe, etc.). If you leave cookies, then another user may well log into the same site and get into your account without meaning to.

By the way, on many sites now, when entering your login and password, you can check the “Someone else’s computer” checkbox so that authorization information is not saved in cookies. Well, also, all modern browsers have an “Incognito” mode or private travel on the Internet, when no traces of your presence remain on the computer.

In addition, cookies may need to be cleared if problems occur. problem opening any pages. Of course, the first step will be, but if this does not help, then you will have to go further and follow the steps described below.

In (up to version 12.16) you need to select the items “Settings” - “ from the top menu of the “Opera” button General settings" In the window that opens, go to the “Advanced” tab, and then select “ cookie».
Here you can enable or disable the acceptance of cookies in general or only from the site you are visiting (i.e., third-party records will not be accepted). There is also a manager that will allow you to delete or change cookie records for each of the sites you visit individually.
If you want just clear cookies, then select “Settings” - “Delete personal data” from the top menu of Opera, and on the tab that opens you can clear either all cookies or only those received in the last browser session:
IN new Opera(with a version number higher than 12.16) you will need to select “Other tools” - “Clear browsing history” from the “Opera” button menu:
On the tab that opens, just check the “Delete cookies and other site data” box and click on the “Clear” button located below:
In and just press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Delete, then in the window that opens, check the “Delete cookies and other site data” box and click on the “Clear history” button located below.
Yes, you can also select the period of time for which cookies will be cleared using the method described above.
You will need to press the key combination Ctrl+Shift+Delete, or select “Journal” - “Delete recent history” from the top menu of the “Firefox” button.
In the window that opens, just check the box “ Cookies", select the period for which they need to be cleaned, and click on the "Delete now" button.
To clear cookies, you can press the key combination we are already familiar with: Ctrl+Shift+Delete.
Then you need to check the “Cookies” line and click on the “Delete” button located below.