OMG cookies in my cache!

I still talk to people today about cookies as it relates to computers and there are still a lot of folks who think you have to get rid of them. You don't. In fact, your web browsing experience will be worse if you do. Here's why.

Cookies are small files that the web sites you visit leave on your computer to indicate that you have visited before. They are mostly anonymous bits of information that, when you pay a return visit to a web site you've been to before, it uses the data in the cookie to configure what you see on the site based on previous choices and preferences.

So what happens when you delete them? The best case scenario is that the web site behaves like it has never seen your visit before. It doesn't recognize your computer as a previous visitor. This might be a mild annoyance. The worst case is that the site won't even let you do anything because it doesn't recognize you as a valid visitor. This would be more common for work related sites.

So why do you keep hearing about how bad cookies are? Marketing. That's right. There is a whole industry built around the idea that your computer is riddled with unnecessary files that are making it slow and that a regular cleaning is paramount to keeping it functioning well. And it's all complete B.S. There is no definitive study that can prove that your computer runs any better post-cleanup. Unnecessary programs? Well that's another story.

But Karl, aren't there such things as malicious cookies? Yes there are. But they are rare, and are typically only a danger to you if you are visiting unscrupulous web sites and not regularly updating your web browser(s), operating system and security software. I have yet to meet one single person who fell victim to a malicious cookie file.

Meanwhile, here's a fun video about cookies in the case.