How to Get Rid of Unwanted Cookies from Internet Explorer

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We’ve talked some about cookies (the kind which are saved on your computer, not the kind which you eat, although look at the bottom of this post for a great cookies-that-you-eat recipe!)

Some of the most frequently asked questions which we get regarding cookies are “how can I find out what cookies are lurking on my computer?” and “how can I get rid of them?”

Well, part of the reason this is such a confusing topic for users with Internet Explorer is that different versions of IE store cookies in different locations, and that can be influenced further by what version of Windows you are using.

Further, where IE used to store all cookies in a single file called, oddly enough, “cookies.txt”, IE now stores cookies as individual files, in a “cookies” folder.

So, the way to find all of the cookies currently residing on your hard drive is to first close IE, and then search using your favourite file management software for a folder called “cookies”. It is often, but not always, found in the Windows directory.

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Once you find it, list the contents of that folder, and be prepared to be amazed at the mass of cookies from places you are sure you’ve never been, all there waiting on your hard drive. Then delete as you wish, but take care not to delete something which you really want (such as the cookie to your favourite bookseller which contains all of your preferences).

If you want to stop accepting cookies, you can disable cookie acceptance in more recent versions of IE by doing this:

Click on ‘Internet Options’
Click the ‘Security’ tab
Highlight the ‘Internet’ zone (selected by default)
Select security level ‘High’ for this zone
Click on ‘OK’

Ok, now we promised you a cookie recipe. You can’t do better than the Best Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe on the Internet!

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8 thoughts on “How to Get Rid of Unwanted Cookies from Internet Explorer

  1. Please get into my facebook and youtube. Those are the only websites i want I do not know what website came on. I am not familiar with a website that come on while i was surfing, but now i cannot get int facebook or youtube.

  2. I’ve watched some adult entertainment some times and tracking cookies are now attached to my computer and I am unable to delete it. I was wondering if their is a way to delete it with a free program online

  3. Dear Writer,

    I am a middle school teacher in California of the U.S. and some people are commenting that cookies are viruses.NOT TRUE.I have had cookies on my school computer while i was looking up porn. Cookies ARE NOT viruses!I teach computer and 3D arts to the students and they recieve cookies when they look at gay porn,lesbian porn,and/or straight NORMAL porn.

    HOW THE FUCK DO I GET RID OF THIS SHIT?!IT’S FUCKING PISSING ME OF LIKE HELL!!!STUPID BITCHES NEED TO HELP ME!!!

  4. Why don’t disabled people learn to deal with the impotant things maost to work on improvivng their skills. Like healthcare could have somedrastic changes to cost tax persons less.

  5. i need help im tryin to get to MYSPACE but it wont allowed me it would say server cannot found but i could visit any sites but not MYSPACE…. what advice can there be for us to do

  6. It’s best not to leave ANY cookies in your PC as these can be read by others. We use security software here to prevent most of them getting into the PC.
    Sorry Ron Hamilton, If your bank can read their cookie, so can other websites – potentially.
    Internet Cleanup (was by Ontrack)
    SpyBlocker (Kurland)
    Clean Disk Security – Overwrites those index.dat files on the fly (Solway)
    Anon2004 (Anonymizer)
    Internet Sweeper (Emory)
    The careful use of these, along with other anti-malware software like:
    Spybot S&D (Kolla)
    AdAwareSE (Lavasoft)
    Spyware Blaster (Javacool)
    SpyWare Guard (Javacool)
    Antivirus is a must, we run:
    AVGFree v7 (Grisoft)
    Nortons (Symantec)
    AntiTrojan oftware:
    A Squared (emisoft)
    Digital Patrol (ProtoAntivirus)
    Trojan Hunter (Mischel)
    Spyware Killer (Anonymizer)
    Total System Sweeper (Anonymizer)
    Evidence Eliminator (Robin Hood)
    All these are checked daily for updates, which take some 7 minutes.
    We are on an ADSL connection, but if we were dialup would take around 30 minutes of on-line time daily.
    There are some 80+ malware items released on the internet daily, and it’s important to keep these out, since your machine may become a server for the malware, if infected.

  7. Can you send your email with HTML links like before? It is easier to get to your site.

    Thank you

  8. The problem is not cookies, it is unwanted cookies. I do not want to delete a number of cookies, such as the one from my bank. So…the question is…how do I keep my chosen cookies safe while deleting the remainder?

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