Cookie cutting made easy

How do I remove unneeded browser cookies?

You may know “cookies” are small text files that are used by your Web browser to manage visits to certain sites. One thing they do, beneficially, is save passwords so you don’t need to reload them on every visit.

You can find tools to view and review those files by opening up the Tools and Options menu choices within most browsers.

Other cookies really only benefit Web advertisers, and can be deleted with no negative consequences to you. But how do you tell which are which?

We recommend using some of the handy available Web utilities that let you look at the cookies and decide which stay and which go.

One recommended utility is Karen Kenworthy’s free Cookie Viewer. It works with Internet Explorer and Firefox cookies, and presents all data in a fairly simple way. You can see when the cookie was created, by whom, when it expires, and more. The program also lets you delete any cookies you don’t want. Get it here: http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ ptcookie.asp.