Quick privacy win: Clear cookies on your phone

October 9, 2024

By Kim Komando

There’s a question I find myself asking a lot with tech products and services: “Is it worth it?” I’m not just talking about money, though, yes, I’m hoping my new $1,200 iPhone will be worth it (eesh).

Privacy is a cost, too. With every “free” service you get, you’re handing over something in return.

Take your phone’s browser. It uses cookies — tiny bits of data — to do things like save your passwords and preferences. That comes at the cost of your privacy. If you want to clear ‘em, find your browser and follow the instructions below.

Most folks with an iPhone use Safari

• Open Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data.
• Apple will ask if you want to close or keep all your tabs. It’s up to you.

Kick cookies out of Chrome

Use Chrome on an Android? Let’s do this:

• Open Chrome, and at the top right, tap More.
• Tap History > Clear browsing data, then pick a time range.
• Check the boxes next to “Cookies and site data” and “Cached images and files.” Finally, tap Clear data.

On an iPhone:

• Open Chrome and tap the three dots in the bottom right, followed by Settings.
• Tap Privacy and Security > Clear Browsing Data. Check Cookies and Site Data, but uncheck the other items.
• Tap Clear Browsing Data > Done.

▶️ Bonus: If you want to clear everything and regain a little speed, make sure the option for Cached Images and Files is checked, then tap Clear Browsing Data and confirm your choice.

Clean up Firefox

I know some of you still use Mozilla Firefox (including my husband, Barry). Mozilla blocks tracking cookies by default, but there’s a caveat: First-party cookies, which are stored by the website you’re visiting. These let website owners collect analytics data, remember your language settings and so on, all to personalize your experience. 

On an iPhone:

• Open Firefox, tap the three horizontal lines in the lower right corner, then tap Settings.
• Scroll to the Privacy section and tap Data Management. 
• Tap Clear Private Data at the bottom, then tap OK to finish up.

If you use an Android, follow these steps:

• Open Firefox, then tap Menu > Settings. Select Clear private data under “Privacy & Security.”

On the following page, select Cookies and active logins > Clear Data.

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