# Computer question: What are "cookies"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-what-are-cookies/161350>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 14, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-what-are-cookies/161350 "2003-03-14T15:26:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-what-are-cookies/161350/1 "2003-03-14T15:26:13Z")

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In the course of netsurfing, lately, I’ve several times encountered the term “cookies” – in context, it refers to some kind of computer feature but it’s not clear (to me) what.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-what-are-cookies/161350/2 "2003-03-14T15:33:24Z")

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[Cookie Basics](http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cookie1.htm)

Hope this helps.