Will Reinstalling Windows Delete All Cookies & History?

The Windows installation process erases all browser data

Reinstalling Windows normally erases everything on the computer's hard drive, including any cookies and history saved by a web browser. If you want to keep the system's Internet data, you can save it before performing the reinstallation or choose another method of restoring the computer. While a reinstallation erases the data, it may not be a secure method of keeping your personal information from others.

Process

A Windows re-install reformats the computer's hard drive, erasing all the information stored on the drive in the process. When booting to the new operating system, no cookies or history files will be accessible. If you are performing the reinstallation before selling the computer or otherwise transferring ownership, formatting alone may not be a completely secure method of erasing passwords and other personal browser information, as a file recovery utility could still access them. Consider using a third-party program such as Sure Delete or Eraser to completely remove browsing data.

Saving Cookies and History

If you want to keep your cookies and history, you can save them to an external hard drive or other storage media before performing a fresh install. After installation, reinstall the web browser if necessary. Drag the saved files back to their original location on the hard drive to make them usable on the new operating system. Files will often only work with the same version of the web browser that created them.

Data Locations

Each web browser stores personal data in a different location. To access and save the data for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, open the "AppData\Local" folder in the user's root directory. Chrome data is in the "Google\Chrome\User Data" folder, while Firefox information stores in the "Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles" folder. Internet Explorer keeps its cookies in the "Cookies" folder of the user's root directory, but does not have manually extractable history data. You may need to activate Windows' hidden folders feature to see these locations.

Non-Destructive Options

Depending on your purpose in reinstalling Windows, you may want to consider some other, non-destructive methods of system recovery that do not erase the drive's cookies or history data. Windows' built-in System Restore utility can make repairs to Windows by restoring the computer to an earlier date. Installing Windows to a new disk partition gives the benefits of a fresh install without erasing any hard disk data. Windows includes a disk partitioning tool as a part of the Computer Management program.

References

• Windows: Create and Format a Hard Disk Partition
• Windows: System Restore

Resources

• PCWorld: Eraser
• PCWorld: Sure Delete