How to Remove Computer Tracking Cookies

Cookies are the small text files saved in your browser that contain information on the websites you visit, including login details for your online account. Cookies can expedite your page load time, but they can also be used for tracking purposes. Websites that send cookies sometimes use the information it collects about your online browsing and shopping and sends the info back to the developers. Then you computer gets bombarded by targeted ads based on the info collected. Since it's hard to determine which cookie is a tracking one, you need to remove all of the cookies stored in your browser.

Instructions

Internet Explorer

1. Open the browser and click the "Tools" menu option.

2. Select "Internet Options" and click "Delete" under "Browsing history."

3. Check the "Cookies" option and clear all others. Click on "Delete" and then "OK" to close the "Internet Options" window (Internet Explorer 8).

   Click "Delete Cookies" and then "Yes" in the confirmation dialogue. Click "OK" to close the "Internet Options" windows (Internet Explorer 7).

4. Close the browser.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the browser, click the "Tools" menu option and select "Clear Recent History..."

2. Select "Everything" from the "Time range to clear."

3. Click the "Details" arrow, check "Cookies" option and uncheck all others.

4. Click "Clear Now" and then close the window.

5. Exit the browser.

Safari

1. Open the browser and click the "Safari" menu option.

2. Select "Preferences" and click the "Bookmarks" tab.

3. Click "Show Cookies" and then "Remove All."

4. Click on "Done" and close the browser.

References

• Microsoft Support: How to delete cookie files in Internet Explorer
• Mozilla: Delete all cookies
• Verio: How do I clear cache and cookies in Safari?