How to Clear Cookies on Android Browsers, and Why You Should
You can protect your privacy on Android by deleting cookies from your browser. How to do it in Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Vivaldi.
Cookies aren’t always the delicious answer to a more convenient online browsing experience. In some cases, they can slow down your device and put your personal information at risk.
If you want to stay safe while browsing the web, you need to understand how cookies work on Android and what they do. By learning how to clear cookies on an Android phone, you can prevent or even solve some common problems and protect your privacy. Let’s start.
What are cookies and why should you delete them?
Cookies are text files stored by websites that store information about your visit and they work similarly on PC and Android. Cookies track the information you have configured on each page, including:
- Individual access data
- User’s browsing preferences
- Tailored advertising
- shopping tendencies
While cookies are generally harmless and offer some convenience, companies like Facebook and Twitter, along with advertisers, can use them to track your browsing activity. The decision to delete your cookies depends heavily on the websites you visit.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if a website you’re visiting is safe. Usually you want to avoid accepting cookies from third party or unencrypted websites. Third-party cookies are generated for companies that do not own the website you are visiting. These are usually created via scripts and are usually used for advertising purposes.
Unencrypted websites do not protect the information exchanged between you and the site. Here, accepting certain cookies can make your activity on the website visible to anyone who has access to those cookies.
If you have already consented to cookies in these cases, don’t worry as you can delete them to be safe. In some cases, deleting cookies can fix errors you encounter while browsing the web. Luckily, clearing your cookies on Android is a simple process. Let’s take a look at how to clear cookies in some of the best web browsers for Android.
Remember that deleting cookies will sign you out of all your online accounts in this browser. You’ll need to manually log back into your accounts on websites afterward.
How to clear cookies in Chrome on Android
To clear cookies on the Google Chrome app for Android, follow these steps:
- In Chrome, tap the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner.
- Beat settings.
- Choose privacy and security.
- Beat Clear browser data.
- Check the box next to Cookies and Website Data.
- Beat delete data bottom right of the screen.
How to clear cookies in Vivaldi on Android
You can clear cookies on Vivaldi for Android with the following steps:
- Next to the URL bar, tap the Vivaldi icon.
- Beat settings.
- Choose privacy and security.
- Beat Clear browser data.
- Check the box next to Cookies and Website Data.
- Beat delete data.
How to clear cookies in Opera on Android
How to clear cookies on Opera for Android by following these steps:
- In Opera, tap the profile icon at the bottom right of the screen.
- Tap the settings cog in the tab that opens from the bottom.
- Beat privacy.
- Choose Delete data… Then check the box next to Cookies and Website Data.
- Beat DELETE DATA bottom right of the screen.
How to clear cookies in Firefox for Android
To clear cookies in Firefox for Android, follow these simple steps:
- In Firefox, tap the three-dot menu icon in the bottom-right corner of the browser.
- Beat settings.
- Choose Clear browser data.
- Check the box next to Cookies.
- Beat Clear browser data.
Clearing Cookies: Part of staying safe online
Cookies do not usually pose a threat to Android devices. But cookies on unencrypted websites or third parties can slow down your device or reveal your personal information. To be on the safe side, you should delete cookies every six months.
If you really want to stay safe while surfing the web on your phone, you can use guest mode and incognito mode. These are two methods to reduce your online footprint and make it harder to track you.