iOS 10.3 Safari cookies won't delete

None of the methods suggested by Apple resolve this issue. The problem is that the cookies are saved in a locked state and will persist forever. I have used the SQLite command interpreter to inspect the backup files on my Mac and every cookie which cannot be deleted is stored in one of the tables. After using the "Erase All Content and Settings" on my iPad yesterday, followed by restoring from a backup, each and every one of the cookies was restored. An additional "bonus" behavior, once which results in apps occupying a specific row and column on the home screen being launched automatically after power up, was also restored; the bits responsible for this errant behavior are also being stored in the backup. Groovy.

My guess is that Apple has changed the behavior of persistent cookies without notifying developers; cookies that were once removable are now permanent.

I had the same problem with cookie databases (on OS X), but there is a way to remove them (use at your own risk, I assume you are a Unix/Linux user). Using a terminal window, cd to ~/Library/Safari/Databases. Remove what you do not want there.

It worked for me. This is certainly a new Safari bug, I have never seen Safari not be able to remove all cookies after a pass or two...

Thanks. I am reluctant to nuke anything there since I don't have any information related to the directory and database stucture used by Apple for these iPad and iPhone backups. I failed to specify earlier that the problems I am having are with iOS, not mac OS. The iOS 10.3.1 update caused this problem for me and my wife as well.

Having the skills is one thing, but reverse engineering Apple's backup structure for iOS devices is another. It is distributed among more than 100 subdirectories, each having one or more SQLite tables; the tables are so normalized that it is difficult to know which records to delete. I can't locate the top-level schema I would use to map everything.

Thanks

I saw this problem as well on my iPhone. Go into settings, then select Safari. Near the bottom I selected Clear History and Website Data. This then greyed out, but when I selected Advanced, then Website Data, I could still see data left by the original Clear. This is a bug (or a very interesting feature). I was able to click Edit however, and delete the individual databases.

Good Luck!

I have the same problem in iOS 10.3.1. Going into edit (Safari>Advanced>Website Settings>Edit) and manually deleting each does not solve the problem. Yes, they appear to go away after doing this. But, come back to to this Advanced>Website Settings page a second later and they are all still there.

That method doesn't work. That was the issue raised in this thread. I have only been able to swipe left on each cookie and delete them one by one. I assume when they no longer show up they are actually gone?

Well, this is happening here, too. Not only on my iPhone SE with iOS 10.3.1 and BlockBear content blocker active, but also on my MacBook Pro, which runs El Capitan, with the latest Safari update (10.1 (11603.1.30.0.34)) and uBlock extension active. I'm used to manually remove cookies after a browsing session, and I've noticed a cookie left by a major Brazilian web portal, uol.com.br.

In iOS, it always shows something left by uol.com.br, although it has a 0 byte size information, even after deleting it, removing all data, etc...

In El Capitan, it shows uol.com.br as "database". When I remove it, Safari options says all is clean. But as soon as I click the "Manage Website Data" button again, there it is, as a zombie that refuses to die...

I'm thinking about leaving a feedback to Apple, since this seems to be a bug.

The method that fails to remove google cookies also fails in to remove uol.com.br cookies (or database, in Mac Safari). And thank you for pointing that additional information, especially the one about Resetting.

This is currently an unsolved emerging issue with Apple and is being worked on by site engineering.

You can restore the device in iTunes and this will remove all cookies and firmware but once the device is up and running again future cookies again will fail to delete.

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, as I stated previously, the cookies are stored in the SQLite files generated by the iTunes backup process; I located the cookies in the tables stored there and, as expected, the cookies were restored when I erased all data and subsequently restored my iPad. The same is true with my iPhone.

iTunes is not a solution, it simply restores the problem. It also restores the problem I have mentioned before in which apps located at a certain row and column on the home screeb launch automatically upon power-up. This problem was ocurring on mey previous iPad and when I restored from a backup to migrate to my new iPad Pro, the behavior migrated as well. There is a system setting out of reach that is causing this. I always close all apps prior to shutting down and use no third party launchers, etc... just pure Apple.

So, once again, iTunes backups are not the solution; misconfigured data is saved and misconfigured data is restored.

I will check this out daily to see if the Apple site engineers establish a work around or a fix and will keep you posted as this problem appears to becoming more frequent fromcustomers and it merely has to be esculated with no current solution.

I would envisage that this will only be resolved in a form of a future IOS software update.

OK so it's not just me then, tried all the advice and still no joy everything is still there? The worst one is ebay won't go away so hopefully this isn't a back door to my account I'm having to check it all the time to make sure no one has hacked it, come on apple for gods sake what happened to you? We used to be able to rely on iOS but now???

Great news! You are not alone. This is a cookie that cannot be removed unless Apple makes it possible. Don't waste your time as I did by following extreme steps to 'erase all content and settings.' Once you restore from iCloud backup, the cookie will be there. In fact, you could set up as a new device, abandoning your backup and within a few days, the little bugger will reappear, likely with a different title. It's not specific to your device. It is about IOS 10.3. Hopefully Apple will chime in soon with more information or a fix. Take care.

OK thanks for that, I'd already tried the reset thing and that didn't work either so glad to know the restore isn't worth trying, seriously don't know what's going on with apple these days? Maybe a change of manufacturer is on the cards coz they only seem interested in money these days, too many problems not enough fixes

I see this did not work for you, but it continues to work for me on iOS 10.3.1. Safari must be closed however to prevent possible reloads of cookies. Even hours after I have deleted the individual databases, the advanced menu shows Website Data is 0 bytes if Safari is closed out from the multitasking window before I use edit to remove the databases.

I see the same behavior on OS X (where I must go into the Library/Safari/Databases directory and delete everything to remove the databases. If Safari is still open, it can repopulate the databases, but if it is not, they will not come back (until you browse new windows and get new databases...).

Good Luck, I hope Apple fixes this bug (or evil feature) soon.