How to disable Cookies

Updated at: Feb 19, 2022

Disabling cookies is very similar to the process of enabling them - simply follow the guides to enable cookies and at the step where you choose the actual cookie setting for web browser, you can make sure they are set to "disabled" instead of "enabled".

You might not want to completely disable cookies

"Normal" cookies (technically known as "First-Party Cookies") are often required by websites to work at all, so disabling cookies from the site you are visiting directly may cause a lot of websites to break.

The steps to enable cookies are different in each web browser; but most browsers these days give you a fair amount of control over which cookies are accepted.

Why not: block Third-Party cookies, but allow the rest?

Blocking Third-Party cookies but allowing "normal" First-Party cookies is a good balance to strike. (Most) websites should continue to work normally using their own cookies, but tracking cookies placed by Third-Parties such as Social Media and Ad companies will be blocked, thus helping preserve your privacy.

The Cookies in Chrome interface lets you "Block third-party cookies" thus allowing "normal" cookies to still be created.

Similarly the Cookies in Firefox gives you Standard, Strict, and Custom cookie settings.

Most web browsers have controls like this, which let you choose the settings that work best for you.