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Sven R. Author

Level 1

143 points

Safari removed cookies reappear

I go to Preferences > Security > Show Cookies, then I select some (using the filter e.g. "__u" to catch all Google analytics cookies, or just manually Cmd-clicking), click Remove. Cookies seem gone, close preferences, when I reopen it right away, the cookies are still gone. But a few minutes later, they magically all come back, resurrected from the digital dead.

Without visiting any of those sites.
Top-sites disabled (and none of the sites were top sites anyway)
Cookie file not locked.

I know I can delete the Cookies.plist file to get rid of ALL of them for good. Problem is I don't want to get rid of all of them. Is this a known bug in Safari? I've seen [people|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10596345] [reporting|http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100820122246AAJDPJc] the [same problem|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10880559] going back several versions, but no good explanation or fix for Safari itself. Any ideas?

And if it's known, why does Apple not fix it?

Safari 5.0.1

MacBook Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 2.1 GHz, 4 GB RAM

Posted on Oct 14, 2010 3:01 PM

32 replies

Oct 24, 2010 6:58 PM in response to Klaus1

Klaus, I believe that in order for that to work, you have to allow at least one Google cookie on your machine to save that preference 😉

In the meantime, after fighting this for a day or two, suddenly the mysteriously resurrecting cookie has managed to stay dead.

mmsden

Level 1

14 points

Dec 5, 2010 5:22 PM in response to Sven R.

I am having the same problem as Sven R. Go to Preferences>Security>Show Cookies. Whether I remove all or just remove some, makes no difference. Within minutes the are all back!. This is another example of Apple not living up to its rep. Why have this feature if it doesn't work!!?

If anyone has a solution I would love to know.
Thanks

Dec 12, 2010 5:37 PM in response to Sven R.

Yes, this issue has been around for awhile.
I have had cookies return before I even leave the Show Cookies area.
Try this.
Delete all the cookies you want. Click Done. Then immediately quit Safari.
See if the cookies stay gone.

Feb 7, 2011 1:51 AM in response to Tom Murray2

I suspect that, along with Safari no longer recording a history of Google searches when the search is from Google homepage, this is a new "trick" from Apple.
I've only recently upgraded from Safari 3.2.1. Deleted Cookies never returned until the upgrade. (Safari 3.2.1 also recorded Google homepage searches in history.)
Firefox is looking more and more like the sensible way to go. Even Apple's own geniuses don't like Safari. My local genius advised me to download and use Firefox years ago. His advise is looking sage. The only reason I haven't switched is because it's something new to learn to use and my, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thinking. But with no search history and perpetually reviving cookies (which invoke a Monty Python-esque scene of a corpse that refuses to die). Ahhhh

cStu

Level 5

6,805 points

Feb 7, 2011 3:58 AM in response to Klaus1

Just turn them off:

Removal/prevention of Google cookies:

http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

read the fine print after opting out:

If you delete this opt-out cookie, you will have to opt out again.

cStu

Level 5

6,805 points

Feb 7, 2011 6:42 AM in response to Sven R.

The Safari Cookies plugin recommended above is useful in that you can build up a favourites library and delete other cookies, but I still have the problem with cookies reappearing, so ...

What does seem to work is the tip to delete the cookies and then quit safari, so the combination of that and the plugin means that the situation becomes workable.

That Flash flusher is good too - thanks for that - I tried that first and then saw that Safari Cookies deals with those as well in a separate tab.

Feb 7, 2011 11:19 PM in response to cStu

Plan A ...
I set Safari Preference to 'Never' accept cookies. After this, within a minute or so, there was a Google Cookie in the Cookies pane!

Move on to Plan B ...
I tried to delete Cookies.plist file in User/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist, but that was as indestructible as the Cookies it preserves. This is one formidable antagonist.

Plan C ...
I found this info on how to stop Safari adding new items to Cookies.plist file.
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20031026012426123 (webpage title = "Create Safari cookies that expire after each session")
I've locked my plist file. (Can't see a padlock on the file icon, but 'Get Info' indicates it's locked.)
Not sure if this will work, if it doesn't .... I'll be baaackk ...

Feb 7, 2011 11:53 PM in response to cyderspace

After reading this page (How to clear the cache, cookies, history and more from Safari 5)
http://www.simplehelp.net/2010/06/14/how-to-clear-the-cache-cookies-history-and- more-from-safari-5/

Plan C 2.0 ...
I decided to remove all Cookies out of Cookies.plist via Reset Safari.
I unlocked the Cookies.plist file for this exercise:
I ticked only 'Remove all cookies' in the Reset Safari pane then clicked 'Reset'.
The Cookie.plist 'Date Modified' changed to the time of this operation, so I presume Cookies were removed. (I should have checked file size before and after, but didn't think of this until after, currently it is 4KB.)
I returned to Cookies.plist 'Get Info' and locked the file.

Sep 18, 2011 7:49 AM in response to Sven R.

I see it is nearly a year since the original post but this is giving me a real headache.

I am new to Macs and have Lion 10.7.1 and Safari 5.1

I use a domain name site called 123-REG to register domain names for my customers so I have many different logins for it.

It is impossible to log out of 123-REG using safari!

I have tried deleting all the cached cookies and doing everything else in this thread but still the first login I used comes back, making it it impossible for me to use Safari. I have to use Firefox instead, which does delete the cookie.

Seeing as this problem has been around for a long time isn't it about time it was looked at?

DonnaR

Level 2

152 points

Sep 27, 2011 4:23 AM in response to Sven R.

What worked for me was to quit all applications except Safari, then delete the cookies I didn't want. (It appears that other applications are somehow sharing the Cookies.plist file.) Once I did that, the cookies didn't come back even after I opened the other applications.

BTW, deleting cookies then quitting Safari quickly did not work for me.

swl10

Level 1

0 points

Sep 27, 2011 4:27 AM in response to Captain Slocum

I too am having this trouble and, working on a hunch stumbled across the following article:

http://www.twistermc.com/1270/webkit-bug/

I wonder if the people who, like me, are having this problem are running more than one WebKit application? The point is that these Cookies are likely getting stored at a lower-level in your system. Do you want "Reset Safari..." to also reset Chrome? I'm not sure if it does or not but if you have Chrome open then I can believe that the cookies reappear, Chrome may even cache them somewhere else causing them to re-populate the cookie cache next time it makes a request (affecting both browsers).

Maybe I'm missing the point at which this issue got 'fixed' but I think cookies are still being shared at an account level, rather than an application level.

Looks like you need to create separate logins if you really want to reset your identity on a Mac :-(

Or use a browser which has it's own HTTP stack built in, which probably means Firefox.

nukemac

Level 1

0 points

Sep 29, 2011 8:37 AM in response to swl10

This was the hint I needed. After I quit iTunes cookies finally seem to stay deleted. Previously they would reappear shortly after deletion. So behind-the-scenes cookie-sharing must be the problem; while sharing is taking place Safari can only pretend to delete cookies...

igirl1

Level 1

87 points

Dec 29, 2011 12:48 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Carolyn Samit wrote:

Hi Sven,

Try Safari Cookies Manager

This uses "SIMBL" - something I have been told in the forums is extremely evil and to never under any circumstances, install on your system.

Granted, an Apple-authorized plugin system for Safari wasn't available until version 5 in 2010. Maybe new developments in Safari since have made SIMBL obsolete? (So it's now bad - but once was not?)

I'd like to see a simple app for cookies that automatically deletes them all every 30 minutes - or 1 hour - or 2 - a set user time. As it is (unlike Firefox) they stay even if you quit Safari.

igirl1

Level 1

87 points

Dec 29, 2011 7:44 PM in response to igirl1

Just to be clear, I wasn't saying the recommendation was bad - just maybe dated - and no longer applies in 2011? I'm currently going through with cleaning out my system, Safari, extensions, cookies and excess programs. SIMBL in particular came up...

sxy_j_1

Level 1

0 points

Feb 29, 2012 9:27 AM in response to igirl1

Safari not deleting cookies when told to has been in every single physical installation of OS X I have ever used going back to at least Tiger, maybe before. It's still in 10.7.2 today amazingly. I sent a feedback report last night about it.

The problem with this is it is actually quite serious, because Safari is not obeying a privacy instruction by the user. It's just ignoring it. And that's not good.

Delete cookies has to *mean* delete cookies. And that's it they are gone.

Surpised this hasn't got more public attention.

BTW/Edit: There is no consistency for me with having iTunes open or not, other possible webkit apps present, or any other circumstance. As far as I am aware 99% of the time cookies are not deleted. Even if immediately quitting Safari after instructing it to delete them. It may be possible these 'deleted cookies' are not being actively used though. I'm not sure. Still it needs fixing.

Safari removed cookies reappear