What Are Cookies and Why You Should Delete Them?

What are cookies and why you should delete them? If you are a long-term macOS user, you must know the ways to use your computer for performing various work and entertainment tasks. But are you handling all these tasks effectively? There’s a huge difference between performing a task and then doing it productively. 

One of the most important aspects of improving your system performance and productivity is clearing cookies and cache files. Internet cookies and cache files can eat up a lot of space on a hard disk. The procedure to clear cookies on macOS or Windows computers can be different, but the impact they have on the system’s performance is similar. 

 

What are cookies and why you should delete them

 

Let’s first understand what cookies are and why you need to clear them from your computer. 

 

What Are Cookies?

 

The pieces of data and small files that websites store into your computer with the objective of improving loading times are known as cookies. These details help your computer identify the website next time you visit. Cookies allow web developers to offer users more convenient and personalized website visits. 

The server creates the data stored in cookies upon connection. This data is assigned a unique ID exclusive to you and your computer. When cookies are exchanged between your network server and computer, this ID is read by the server, and information is shared based on the data stored in it. 

But the question is, where are cookies stored on mac or Windows? In MacBook computers, cookies are stored in the preference section of the web browser. There’s a slight variation in the physical location where different web browsers and operating systems store cookies.

On Windows devices, all the cookies are stored in a comprehensive folder called Cookies. You may open File Explorer and type in the following in the address bar:

 

“C:\Users\YouUserName\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default”

 

What Are Cookies Used for?

 

Websites utilize HTTP cookies to optimize and streamline your web experiences. If you visit a website, log in to your account, and then leave the site, you will not have to log in again on your next visit. However, without cookies, you will have to log in to your account again when you revisit the site. 

 

 

If you visit an eCommerce site, add some items to your shopping cart, and accidentally close the site without saving cookies, you will have to rebuild the cart. However, there are events when keeping cookies is not always recommended.

Let’s see how cookies are intended to be used.

 

Personalization

 

Have you ever noticed similar items to whatever you have shopped for recently appearing in ads on your screen? Personalized advertising is the topmost way cookies are used to give users a more customized experience. 

 

Session Management

 

Cookies stored in your computer let websites recognize you through your unique ID that records your email ID as an identifier. The information is provided based on your individual preferences. 

 

Tracking

 

eCommerce websites track your shopping history by using cookies. The websites suggest other items based on previously viewed or purchased records while you continue shopping. You may be interested in the article : The 2021 Complete road map to remote monitoring user activities

 

Why Do You Need to Delete Cookies?

 

 

While cookies help the web pages load faster, they also consume a certain space on your computer. Storing so many cookies and cache on a computer makes you counterproductive, and it becomes essential to delete cookies and cache files periodically. 

Moreover, if your browsing history contains websites that you are not going to revisit in the near future, erasing the cookies makes sense. Erasing them will help you to make more space as well as to speed up cookie processing time while protecting data about your browsing history. 

In simple terms, it can also be said that cookies are chunks of your personal information stored on a computer, which sometimes makes it vulnerable to security threats. While storing cookies, always make sure to read out all the information carefully to understand how the website will store, use, and process your personal information. 

Deleting cookies in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer is an easy task, but it may vary slightly. Not only computers, but you must clear cookies and cache from your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other digital devices as it also helps to free up space and make the device run faster. 

 

Conclusion

 

I hope you this article on “what are cookies and why you should delete them” was useful for you. As you can see, there are benefits to knowing what the cookies are and how you should deal with them. Even if you are not that tech-savvy and have not considered this particular aspect of using a computer or a smartphone, you should rethink your stance after reading this article.

And when you do, get in the habit of clearing both cookies and the cache for better performance and security improvement while using your devices.