Site building · Website glossary

Cookie

Quick answer · What is Cookie?

A small item of data a browser stores and sends with matching requests according to its attributes and browser rules.

IN PRACTICE

Cookie: an example

A site uses a session cookie to associate requests with a signed-in session.

KEEP IN MIND

Cookies can have different purposes and lifetimes; one banner or label does not describe all actual behavior.

Put the idea to work

Frequently asked questions

What is a practical example of Cookie?

A site uses a session cookie to associate requests with a signed-in session.

Does one cookie label describe every cookie's actual behavior?

Cookies can have different purposes and lifetimes; one banner or label does not describe all actual behavior.

Which concepts should I read alongside Cookie?

Session: A way an application associates a sequence of interactions with an ongoing user or client context.
Browser cache: A browser's local storage of reusable web responses, governed by caching rules and validation behavior.