Don’t let the friendly website notifications about cookies fool you – it’s a good idea to delete them (and your browser history too).
Though cookies allow web browsers to load frequently-visited
pages a lot quicker, they can pose a real security threat – as Yahoo discovered
just a year or so ago. The incident saw hackers break into Yahoo systems and
steal proprietary code related to its use of cookies. From there it was a
relatively straightforward process to forge cookies and – ultimately – access
as many as 32 million user accounts without a password.
Web history can also prove problematic, in more ways than
people realize. For example, there are ‘active logins’, when a person signs
into an account and then navigates away to a different site – though doing so
leaves them still logged into the first.
Additionally, a user’s browsing history details not only
which sites they have visited, but also the files they downloaded. Don’t
forget, this also covers auto-complete suggestions in search and in the URL bar
too.
If all this has shown you why it’s a good
idea to clear your history and cookies, here’s when you should
do it.
Of most importance is when using a public or shared
computer. Anyone who logs on after you could potentially see your entire
history – or worse, log into your online shopping or banking accounts. Deleting
your history and cookies, and logging out of all accounts, will prevent this.
Secondly, clearing your history helps prevent websites from
tracking you and following you around the web – whether this is to glean more
information on your likes and interests, or to sell you products via
remarketing banners or search ads.
For all the speed benefits of cached pages, they could cause
bugs or errors. If, for example, a new feature has been introduced to a site
that changes the way it functions, there could be a disconnect between that and
your cached version – making it ‘buggy’.
Also, browsers that have downloaded many cookies may (somewhat
counter-intuitively) become slower. With each new cookie downloaded, that’s
another file for the browser to search through in order to find the right one.
Regular clean-ups should ensure that computer processing isn’t excessively
drained when rifling through too many cookies.
Finally, cookies will need to be cleared if you change login
credentials, to prevent the site from trying to log you in with (what is now)
an incorrect password or username.
How to clear browsing history and cookies on DESKTOP COMPUTERS
Chrome:
- Open
Chrome.
- In
the top right corner of the browser, you will see three dots which
indicate a settings menu.
- Click
on “More tools” and then select “Clear browsing data”.
- This
will open a dialog box to delete your browsing and download history,
cookies, cached images and files, saved passwords and more. Select
the appropriate time frame and select “Clear data”.
- Exit/quit
all browser windows and re-open the browser.
Microsoft Edge:
- Launch
Microsoft Edge.
- From
the three dots on the top right corner of the browser window, select
“Settings”.
- Open
the hamburger menu (three stacked bars) by Settings and select “Privacy,
search, and services”.
- Under
Clear Browsing Data, select “Choose what to clear”.
- In
the dialog box select the appropriate time frame and what you want to
clear. Select “Clear Now”.
- Exit/quit
all browser windows and re-open the browser.
Microsoft Internet Explorer:
- Launch
Internet Explorer.
- Go
to the gear icon on the upper left and select “Internet Options”.
- On
the General tab, check the box next to “Delete browsing history on exit”
or click the Delete button to instantly get rid of history, passwords,
cookies, cached data and more.
- Exit/quit
all browser windows and re-open the browser.
Firefox:
- Open
Firefox on your computer.
- In
the upper right-hand corner of the browser, click the “menu bars,” which
look like three parallel lines, and click the “Privacy and Security” tab.
- Scroll
down to get to “History”.
- Click
the “Clear History” button to select the time frame and what items you
would like to clear. Select “Ok”.
- Exit/quit
all browser windows and re-open the browser.
Safari:
- Open
Safari.
- Select
“Preferences” from the dropdown Safari menu.
- Click
on “Privacy,” then on “Manage Website Data.”
- Click on “Remove all” from the dropdown menu.