JavaScript unable to remove cookie from system

Question

JavaScript unable to remove cookie from system

I'm currently on an external website and attempting to use JavaScript to remove a cookie.

Here's what I tried in the console:

function deleteAllCookies() {
    var cookies = document.cookie.split(";");

    for (var i = 0; i < cookies.length; i++) {
        var cookie = cookies[i];
        var eqPos = cookie.indexOf("=");
        var name = eqPos > -1 ? cookie.substr(0, eqPos) : cookie;
        document.cookie = name + "=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT";
    }
}

deleteAllCookies()

This code is meant to make the document cookie expire in 1970.

However, when I then run:

document.cookie.split(";")

The cookies still appear to be intact. Any thoughts on why this might be happening?

PS: The code snippet above was sourced from a question on stackoverflow at Clearing all cookies with JavaScript

javascript cookies

Answer 1

Answer №1

The reason your cookie isn't getting deleted is likely because the new value you're setting must align with the path and domain of the original cookie in order for it to be successfully removed.

In simpler terms:

 document.cookie = name + "=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT;path=[something];"

The "something" value should match what the existing cookies are set to.

While JS debuggers may not provide specific details on the path and domain, you can easily identify which one is causing the mismatch by checking the values of the current cookies in your browser settings or a similar panel in Firefox/Safari/IE.

Please let me know if this explanation clarifies things for you.

Answer 2

The reason your cookie isn't getting deleted is likely because the new value you're setting must align with the path and domain of the original cookie in order for it to be successfully removed.

In simpler terms:

 document.cookie = name + "=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT;path=[something];"

The "something" value should match what the existing cookies are set to.

While JS debuggers may not provide specific details on the path and domain, you can easily identify which one is causing the mismatch by checking the values of the current cookies in your browser settings or a similar panel in Firefox/Safari/IE.

Please let me know if this explanation clarifies things for you.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Encountering a similar issue, I realized that the cookie had been assigned to an empty subdomain. For example, the cookie domain was ".example.com," while my website was located at "sub.example.com."

To resolve this, I included the correct cookie domain value:

document.cookie = name + "=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; domain=.example.com";

To identify the domain to which the cookie is set, you can inspect the Chrome browser's developer tools -> resources -> cookies section and review the domain information.

Answer 4

Encountering a similar issue, I realized that the cookie had been assigned to an empty subdomain. For example, the cookie domain was ".example.com," while my website was located at "sub.example.com."

To resolve this, I included the correct cookie domain value:

document.cookie = name + "=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; domain=.example.com";

To identify the domain to which the cookie is set, you can inspect the Chrome browser's developer tools -> resources -> cookies section and review the domain information.

Answer 5

Answer №3

Dealing with cookie removal can be a tricky process, as I found out during my own attempts to clear certain cookies from my browser. At times, using the standard method worked:

document.cookie = name + '=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT;path=/;';

However, there were instances where this approach was not effective. This led me to investigate further in the Chrome Inspector (specifically under the Application tab -> Storage sidebar -> Cookies) where I discovered that some cookies had been set with varying domains. For example:

.mydoamin.com
sub.mydomain.com

To address this issue, I developed a more universal solution by creating a function that could remove the cookie from all domains associated with it.

var deleteCookie = function(name) {
    document.cookie = name + '=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT;path=/;domain=.mydomain.com;';
    document.cookie = name + '=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT;path=/;domain=sub.mydomain.com;';
};

Answer 6

Dealing with cookie removal can be a tricky process, as I found out during my own attempts to clear certain cookies from my browser. At times, using the standard method worked:

document.cookie = name + '=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT;path=/;';

However, there were instances where this approach was not effective. This led me to investigate further in the Chrome Inspector (specifically under the Application tab -> Storage sidebar -> Cookies) where I discovered that some cookies had been set with varying domains. For example:

.mydoamin.com
sub.mydomain.com

To address this issue, I developed a more universal solution by creating a function that could remove the cookie from all domains associated with it.

var deleteCookie = function(name) {
    document.cookie = name + '=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT;path=/;domain=.mydomain.com;';
    document.cookie = name + '=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT;path=/;domain=sub.mydomain.com;';
};

Answer 7

Answer №4

My problem stemmed from setting the domain field unnecessarily, as it is only required if you modified it while setting the cookie. To resolve this issue, simply use the following code:

document.cookie = name + "=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/"

Answer 8

My problem stemmed from setting the domain field unnecessarily, as it is only required if you modified it while setting the cookie. To resolve this issue, simply use the following code:

document.cookie = name + "=;expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/"

Answer 9

Answer №5

Encountered a recent issue and wanted to share my solution here.

I've been using the following method to reset cookies:

 document.cookie = 'testcookie=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/;domain=domain;'

While this worked for some cookies, it failed for others. After some debugging, I realized that the cookies that failed to clear were not originally set with a domain.

So, if a cookie was initially set with a domain, you need to include the domain in the clear request. If it was not set with a domain, you should omit it.

In any case, I ended up using the following approach to clear cookies regardless of their initial setup:

 document.cookie = 'testcookie=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/;domain=domain;'
 document.cookie = 'testcookie=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/;domain=;'

This behavior applies to both Chrome and Firefox.

Answer 10

Encountered a recent issue and wanted to share my solution here.

I've been using the following method to reset cookies:

 document.cookie = 'testcookie=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/;domain=domain;'

While this worked for some cookies, it failed for others. After some debugging, I realized that the cookies that failed to clear were not originally set with a domain.

So, if a cookie was initially set with a domain, you need to include the domain in the clear request. If it was not set with a domain, you should omit it.

In any case, I ended up using the following approach to clear cookies regardless of their initial setup:

 document.cookie = 'testcookie=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/;domain=domain;'
 document.cookie = 'testcookie=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/;domain=;'

This behavior applies to both Chrome and Firefox.

Answer 11

Answer №6

One thing that really made a difference for me was ensuring that I deleted the cookie in the same context in which it was originally set.

If you initially set the cookie with a specific path (/) and domain (mydomain.com), then you must delete it using the same parameters.

If no path or domain was specified when creating the cookie, then deleting it without specifying these parameters is crucial.

The key takeaway is to ensure the cookie is deleted exactly as it was created.

I hope this explanation benefits others who may be struggling with this issue, like I did despite setting the correct path and domain values.

Answer 12

One thing that really made a difference for me was ensuring that I deleted the cookie in the same context in which it was originally set.

If you initially set the cookie with a specific path (/) and domain (mydomain.com), then you must delete it using the same parameters.

If no path or domain was specified when creating the cookie, then deleting it without specifying these parameters is crucial.

The key takeaway is to ensure the cookie is deleted exactly as it was created.

I hope this explanation benefits others who may be struggling with this issue, like I did despite setting the correct path and domain values.

Answer 13

Answer №7

How to clear session cookies in Internet Explorer 11?

Check out the link above for assistance.

To clear your cookies, simply execute the following JavaScript code:

document.execCommand("ClearAuthenticationCache")

I tested it and successfully cleared the cookie.

Answer 14

How to clear session cookies in Internet Explorer 11?

Check out the link above for assistance.

To clear your cookies, simply execute the following JavaScript code:

document.execCommand("ClearAuthenticationCache")

I tested it and successfully cleared the cookie.

Answer 15

Answer №8

While developing a browser bookmarklet to delete cookies from the current domain, I encountered a similar issue. The problem stemmed from not using the domain properly in my code. After troubleshooting, I arrived at the following updated bookmarklet:

javascript: (function(){document.cookie.split(";").forEach(function(c) { document.cookie = c.replace(/^ +/, "").replace(/=.*/, "=;expires=" + new Date().toUTCString() + ";domain=." + location.host.split('.').slice(-2).join(".") +";path=/"); }); })();

It's worth noting that by replacing "domain.com" with location.host.split('.').slice(-2).join("."), the script will consistently capture the main domain without subdomains. For example, converting mail.google.com to google.com. In handling cookie expiration, ignoring subdomains was crucial for my specific case.

Answer 16

While developing a browser bookmarklet to delete cookies from the current domain, I encountered a similar issue. The problem stemmed from not using the domain properly in my code. After troubleshooting, I arrived at the following updated bookmarklet:

javascript: (function(){document.cookie.split(";").forEach(function(c) { document.cookie = c.replace(/^ +/, "").replace(/=.*/, "=;expires=" + new Date().toUTCString() + ";domain=." + location.host.split('.').slice(-2).join(".") +";path=/"); }); })();

It's worth noting that by replacing "domain.com" with location.host.split('.').slice(-2).join("."), the script will consistently capture the main domain without subdomains. For example, converting mail.google.com to google.com. In handling cookie expiration, ignoring subdomains was crucial for my specific case.

Answer 17

Answer №9

Here are some key points to remember:

HTTP cookies cannot be accessed by your JavaScript code.
The SameSite attribute set to the value strict implies that cookies can only be accessed from the same domain (even with different ports).
When deleting a cookie, ensure you include all parameters seen in your browser's application panel under cookies (especially the SameSite attribute and secure flag).

// Refer to https://stackoverflow.com/a/2138471/1216281
export function getCookie(name) {
    var nameEQ = name + "=";
    var ca = document.cookie.split(";");
    for (var i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) {
        var c = ca[i];
        while (c.charAt(0) == " ") c = c.substring(1, c.length);
        if (c.indexOf(nameEQ) == 0) return c.substring(nameEQ.length, c.length);
    }
    return null;
}



export function deleteCookie(name, options = {}) {
    const {
        path = '/',
        domain = '',
        secure = true,
        sameSite = 'Strict'
    } = options;

    if (getCookie(name)) {
        const cookieOptions = [
            `path=${path}`,
            domain ? `domain=${domain}` : '',
            secure ? 'secure' : '',
            sameSite ? `sameSite=${sameSite}` : '',
            'expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT'
        ].filter(Boolean).join(';');
        // .filter(Boolean).join(';') is used to remove empty values, ensuring there are no extra semicolons in the cookie string.
        document.cookie = `${name}=; ${cookieOptions}`;
    }
}
``
`

Answer 18

Here are some key points to remember:

HTTP cookies cannot be accessed by your JavaScript code.
The SameSite attribute set to the value strict implies that cookies can only be accessed from the same domain (even with different ports).
When deleting a cookie, ensure you include all parameters seen in your browser's application panel under cookies (especially the SameSite attribute and secure flag).

// Refer to https://stackoverflow.com/a/2138471/1216281
export function getCookie(name) {
    var nameEQ = name + "=";
    var ca = document.cookie.split(";");
    for (var i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) {
        var c = ca[i];
        while (c.charAt(0) == " ") c = c.substring(1, c.length);
        if (c.indexOf(nameEQ) == 0) return c.substring(nameEQ.length, c.length);
    }
    return null;
}



export function deleteCookie(name, options = {}) {
    const {
        path = '/',
        domain = '',
        secure = true,
        sameSite = 'Strict'
    } = options;

    if (getCookie(name)) {
        const cookieOptions = [
            `path=${path}`,
            domain ? `domain=${domain}` : '',
            secure ? 'secure' : '',
            sameSite ? `sameSite=${sameSite}` : '',
            'expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT'
        ].filter(Boolean).join(';');
        // .filter(Boolean).join(';') is used to remove empty values, ensuring there are no extra semicolons in the cookie string.
        document.cookie = `${name}=; ${cookieOptions}`;
    }
}
``
`

JavaScript unable to remove cookie from system

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

Answer №5

Answer №6

Answer №7

Answer №8

Answer №9

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