Remove cookies from Mac

Document created by parche Employee on Jul 25, 2017Last modified by jgolomb on Aug 12, 2019
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A cookie is a piece of data left on your browser after you visit a website.  Websites can scan your cookies to see information about your previous visit.  Many cookies are legitimate and required for some websites. Malwarebytes for Mac and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac do not remove cookies since they are not considered malicious.  If cookies are of any concern to you and your privacy, follow the instructions in this article to remove cookies from your Mac computer.


Note: Removing cookies also deletes the personal preferences you have set on some websites, such as login information.



Delete cookies in Safari

  1. Open Safari.
  2. Close all tabs.
  3. In the menu bar, click Safari, then click Preferences.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Click the box next to Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  6. In the menu bar, click Develop.
  7. Click Empty caches.
  8. Click Safari > Preferences.
  9. Click the Privacy tab, then click Manage Website Data....
  10. Click the website you want to remove from Safari, then click Remove.

    • To remove all websites, click Remove All.
  1. Click Done when you have finished deleting websites from your Privacy preferences.


Delete cookies in other browsers

To see instructions on removing cookies in a different browser, click your browser below:


Note: If your browser is not listed, refer to your browser's help documentation.


Delete Flash website data

If you have Adobe Flash Player installed on your computer, Adobe Flash Player may have website data stored on your Mac computer.  To delete Adobe Flash Player's website data, go to the Website Storage Settings.


To verify you have Adobe Flash Player on your computer, do the following:

  1. From the Finder menu bar, click Go.
  2. Click Utilities.
  3. In the Search box, type Flash.
  4. If you find the Flash Player.plugin on your Mac, Adobe Flash Player is installed.


Cookies are stored on your computer anytime you visit a website that requires cookies.  You can repeat the instructions in this article when you want to remove cookies from your Mac.