# Can't Remember--clearing cookies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-remember-clearing-cookies/72158 "2001-07-12T00:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-remember-clearing-cookies/72158/1 "2001-07-12T00:03:17Z")
Can’t remember how to clear cookies in Netscape 4.7. Partial memory loss after my car accident? Lack of sleep? Too much _Mad_ magazine? Can’t recall… 😕 How do I **do** this??? ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-remember-clearing-cookies/72158/2 "2001-07-12T03:14:24Z")
Netscape 4.76 here. Make sure Netscape isn’t running, and look in c:\Program Files\Netscape\Users. If you’re not logging in as a particular user, the only one you’ll see there is Default. (Otherwise go into the folder named after your login.) There will be a file called ‘cookies.txt’, and there they are. Double-click the file to open it in Notepad, and delete anything after the first three lines. A note of caution: make sure to delete entire lines, not just pieces of them, or strange things may happen when you return to a cookied site. You can delete them all, or read down the list to find particular sites. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-remember-clearing-cookies/72158/3 "2001-07-12T04:19:01Z")
And while you’re there (following on from rjk) after you’ve cleared out cookies.txt, go into its properties and tick Read Only. Netscape will believe you have cookies turned on, consequently websites will believe the same, (meaning you can still access those sites that are set up not to load unless you allow cookies), but look ma, no cookies! Yours paranoidly… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-remember-clearing-cookies/72158/4 "2001-07-12T18:36:20Z")
I’m bumping this so I can find it this evening at home. 🙂