# Cookies aren't cleared when exiting the browser **URL:** \ **Category:** Desktop Support\ **Tags:** privacy, windows, bug, browser\ **Created:** [May 11, 2025, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699 "2025-05-11T22:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meivyn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brave/user_avatar/community.brave.app/meivyn/32/202655_2.png) [@Meivyn](https://community.brave.app/u/Meivyn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/1 "2025-05-11T22:01:48Z")
**Description of the issue:** Cookies aren’t cleared when the Shields option “Forget me when I close this site” is turned on. **How can this issue be reproduced?** 1. Open the browser, then log in to GitHub. 2. Turn the Shields option “Forget me when I close this site” on. 3. Exit the browser. 4. Launch it back, then go to GitHub. 5. Still logged in. **Expected result:** Cookies should be cleared. **Brave Version( check `About Brave`):** Version 1.78.97 Chromium: 136.0.7103.93 (Official Build) (64-bit) **Additional Information:** Been having issues with cookies being either cleared when they shouldn’t, or not cleared at all since I started using Brave a couple of months ago. Note that it’s also possible to reproduce the issue with a fresh install of Brave Beta. ---
**Author:** ![Mattches](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brave/user_avatar/community.brave.app/mattches/32/25189_2.png) [@Mattches](https://community.brave.app/u/Mattches)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/2 "2025-05-12T19:12:05Z")
@Meivyn I think this is because you’re closing the browser, rather than the tab itself. I just tested this on my end – closing the browser does not clear site data when `Forget me when I close this site` is enabled. However, if you close the tab itself, the site data will be cleared. Note that it does take a very short amount of time to actually clear after closing the tab – I believe this is to prevent users from _accidentally_ closing a site and subsequently clearing all the data immediately. So there is a short gap between closing the site and the actual data being deleted. ---
**Author:** ![Meivyn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brave/user_avatar/community.brave.app/meivyn/32/202655_2.png) [@Meivyn](https://community.brave.app/u/Meivyn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/3 "2025-05-12T20:21:31Z")
My goal is to clear all cookies on exit/when closing tab but for sites on the whitelist. Is there a way to achieve that? I’ve read that the On Exit settings of Chromium would ignore the whitelist. It seems weird to me that the tabs aren’t considered as closed when the browser itself is closed. Is this intended? ---
**Author:** ![Mattches](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brave/user_avatar/community.brave.app/mattches/32/25189_2.png) [@Mattches](https://community.brave.app/u/Mattches)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/4 "2025-05-12T20:46:23Z")
I think this is the intended functionality of the Chromium engine, yes. I believe that if you change the `On startup` settings of the browser you’ll get the desired behavior, as any open tabs will be closed/cleared each time you relaunch the browser. ---
**Author:** ![Meivyn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brave/user_avatar/community.brave.app/meivyn/32/202655_2.png) [@Meivyn](https://community.brave.app/u/Meivyn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/5 "2025-05-12T21:02:04Z")
I don’t want to clear the tabs though. I am a tab hoarder so I have like 500 tabs opened in multiple groups (waiting patiently for Brave to support workspaces) but I do not want the cookies to be saved between sessions. Does Brave allow us to do that? Otherwise I guess I’d have to rely on an extension. I’m almost certain that I’ll still have issues with cookies though regardless, I noticed that cookies from the whitelist were cleared up after a reboot despite all clearing options being off. I’ll provide more details once I’m getting the issue again. ---
**Author:** ![Mattches](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brave/user_avatar/community.brave.app/mattches/32/25189_2.png) [@Mattches](https://community.brave.app/u/Mattches)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/6 "2025-05-12T21:51:04Z")
@Meivyn Unfortunately, until this gets implemented in the browser, the _exact_ functionality you want is not available: > > > \## Description > > As it is now, any data type that is checked in the \`Clear bro…wsing data --\> \[On exit\]\` will have \_all data\_ of that type removed upon closing the browser. While this is the intended function, we should implement a function similar to what Microsoft Edge does, where site exceptions can be added to a "Do not clear" list. Data on this list is ignored when the browser runs "clear on exit": > > !\[image\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3299098/85903585-82d53680-b7bb-11ea-8677-61d71c6d3792.png) > > This would help users maintain login data for sites they regularly visit and not have to re-authenticate every time data is erased. Additionally, this helps with support, since clearing browsing data often resolves issues with bad cache data -- having the ability to suggest users do this, but without sacrificing specific data they know they want would be very useful and appreciated by users > > > \## Miscellaneous Information: > > Original thread that bought this to my attention (again): > https://community.brave.app/t/delete-all-cookies-on-exit-except-allowed-list/137872/5 For now, I think the best solution here would be to ensure that you close the tab in which you have `Forget me when I close this site` enabled on, or to use a browser extension as you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Meivyn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brave/user_avatar/community.brave.app/meivyn/32/202655_2.png) [@Meivyn](https://community.brave.app/u/Meivyn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 8:53am UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/7 "2025-05-29T08:53:00Z")
Yeah so after a reboot, cookies got cleared once again. Considering what you said, I’d assume that it isn’t supposed to clear everything unless I’m closing all tabs manually (and it also cleared whitelisted domains). Everything in “On Exit” is turned off in the Chromium settings. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/brave/original/3X/1/8/182067f3480d1a5e7aea5ae3131b116ca1ef7918.png) [@system](https://community.brave.app/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2025, 8:53am UTC](https://community.brave.app/t/cookies-arent-cleared-when-exiting-the-browser/617699/8 "2025-06-28T08:53:44Z")
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