You can choose to delete existing cookies, allow or block third-party cookies, and set preferences for certain websites.

Understand cookies

Cookies are files created by websites you visit. By saving information about your visit, they make your online experience easier. For example, sites can keep you signed in, remember your site preferences, and give you locally relevant content.

There are 2 types of cookies:

  • First-party cookies: Created by the site you visit. The site is shown in the address bar.
  • Third-party cookies: Created by other sites. A site you visit can embed content from other sites, for example images, ads, and text. Any of these sites can use third-party cookies to personalize content and ads, and learn about actions you take on other sites.

Tip: Some sites may prompt you to accept or reject cookies.

There are other ways that sites can personalize content and ads. Features like ad topics and site-suggested ads in Chrome allow sites to show you personalized content. These features limit what sites and their partners can learn about you. Learn more about managing these features.

Delete all cookies

Important: If you delete cookies, you may get signed out of sites that remember you. Your saved preferences can also be deleted. This applies whenever a cookie is deleted.

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, select More More and then Delete browsing data .
  3. Select Basic or Advanced and then Cookies and other site data.
  4. Next to "Time range," from the dropdown menu, choose the browsing data time range you want to delete:
    • Last hour
    • Last 24 hours
    • Last 7 days
    • Last 4 weeks
    • All time
  5. Check other items you want to delete.
  6. To confirm, select Delete data.

Delete specific cookies

Change your third-party cookie settings

You can allow or block third-party cookies for any site.

Allow or block third-party cookies

Important:

Allow third-party cookies for a specific site

Important:

  • If you’re using your Chromebook at work or school, you might not be able to change this setting. For more help, contact your administrator.
  • In Incognito mode, third-party cookies are blocked by default.

If third-party cookies are blocked, some sites that rely on them may not work as expected. To allow third-party cookies for specific sites, you can add them to your exceptions list. Sites on this list can use third-party cookies in both regular and Incognito browsing modes.

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, select More More and then Settings.
  3. Select Privacy and security and then Third-party cookies.
  4. Under "Sites allowed to use third-party cookies," select Add.
  5. Enter the web address.
    • To create an exception for an entire domain, insert [*.] before the domain name. For example, [*.]google.com will match drive.google.com and calendar.google.com.
    • You can also put an IP address or a web address that doesn't start with http://.
  6. Select Add.

To remove an exception you don't want any more, to the right of the website, select Remove Remove.

Allow third-party cookies temporarily for a specific site

Important: In Incognito mode, third-party cookies are blocked by default.

If third-party cookies are blocked, some sites that rely on them may not work as expected. You can try to restore functionality for the site you’re on by temporarily allowing third-party cookies:

  • If you apply this setting in regular browsing mode, the site is added to your exceptions list. The site is allowed to use third-party cookies for 90 days or until you turn the setting off.
  • If you apply this setting in Incognito mode, the setting lasts only for the duration of your Incognito session.
  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. In the address bar, at the top left:
  3. To close the dialog box and reload the page, select Close Close. You can also select anywhere outside of the dialog box to close it.
    • When the page reloads, the address bar shows “Third-party cookies allowed,” or “Third-party cookies blocked,” depending on your settings.

Tip: This option is temporary and only applies to the site you’re on.

Allow related sites to access your activity

A company can define a group of sites that are related to each other. For example, a company might want to keep you signed in as you move between acme-music.example and acme-video.example.

If you allow third-party cookies: Related sites are allowed to access your activity to personalize content or keep you signed in across sites.

If you block third-party cookies: It often prevents this kind of connection between sites. You can block third-party cookies while you allow sites in the same group to improve your experience.

About embedded content

Sites you visit can embed content from other sites, for example images, ads, text, and even features — like a text editor or weather widget. These other sites can ask for permission to use info they’ve saved about you (often saved using cookies) in order for their content to function properly.

For example, imagine you normally compose documents on docs.google.com. While completing a task for school, you need to collaborate with other students on your school’s class portal that offers direct access to Google Docs. With your permission:

  • Google Docs can access its third-party cookies while you use your school’s site, allowing a connection between the site and Google Docs.
  • This may allow Google Docs to verify who you are, find your info, and save changes you make to your documents on the site.

In some cases, this info can be used to track your activity as you browse sites. You can decide when to allow embedded content to access your data for sites you trust.

Tip: The connection uses cookies and lasts for 30 days or as long as you remain active. You can stop allowing the connection anytime in Settings.

To allow or decline permission

When you browse a site that displays a prompt requesting permission for the embedded content to use information they’ve saved about you:

  • Select Allow to give the site access to information they’ve saved about you (using cookies)
  • Select Don’t allow to deny access

Tips:

Related resources

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