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Identify Cookies Installed by Your Website on Your Browser

Last updated on November 29, 2024

Overview

Laws like the GDPR require checking and identifying cookies on your website to ensure compliance, and using tools like the GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin can simplify this process. The plugin helps you identify and manage the cookies your website installs in visitors’ browsers. There are various methods to check for cookies, and the GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin offers an efficient solution for ensuring your website meets legal requirements.

1. Identifying cookies using a free online tool

There are online tools that can help you analyze and list the cookies that a website installs on a computer. One such free online tool is CookieServe. Simply input the website’s URL into CookieServe for a quick scan, and it produces a detailed report of the cookies used within seconds. This method ensures efficient and accurate identification of cookies for website analysis.

2. Identifying cookies using the Developer Console

Utilizing the development console provides a straightforward approach to identifying cookies installed in your browser through a website. Below are the methods for identifying cookies set by a website on popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

Clear the cache and cookies to guarantee accurate results before checking a site’s cookies through the development console.

For Google Chrome

Step 1: To open the developer console, right-click on the page and click on Inspect.

Developer Console in Chrome
Developer Console in Chrome

Step 2: Go to the Applications tab within the developer console.

Step 3: Expand the Cookies dropdown under the Storage section. Click on each domain to see the cookies they installed.

Cookie List in Chrome
Cookie-List in Chrome

For Mozilla Firefox

Step 1: Right-click on the page and click on inspect

Step 2: Go to the Storage tab and select the Cookies drop-down menu to view the list of cookies installed by each domain on the site.

Cookie List in Mozilla
Cookie-List in Mozilla

For Safari

Step 1: Right-click on the page and click on Inspect Element to open the developer console. If you are using Apple macOS, you can use a two-finger click.

Step 2: Navigate to the Storage Tab in the developer console and click on Cookies.

Cookie List in Safari
Cookie-List in Safari

Identifying the cookies your website installs on a user’s browser is essential to complying with major cookie laws. If your website utilizes cookies, you can add a cookie compliance banner.