Cookie 6 User Manual

Simple View

Introduction

Simple View

The Simple view gets you up and running as fast as possible, but only has minimal options. You set it up as follows:

  • Select which browsers you would like to manage.
  • Use the slider to select which data you want removed and how 1often.

Cookie will scan and remove all data not related to your browser bookmarks (in all enabled browsers) according to your settings. A handy Clean Now (trash can icon) button is included to instantly remove all selected data. 2Global Pause/Enable Cookie buttons are also included.

1. The timer icon will be colored when your settings include removal while your browser is running. I generally don't recommend this, as it can cause issues on some websites.

2. The Pause/Enable buttons are useful for quickly disabling/enabling Cookie, without having to manually change any settings. When Cookie is disabled, the menuBar icon will be a dull gray color.

Browser Selection

Along the left side of the window you will see a vertical list of all compatible browsers.

  • Enabled browsers will have a brightly colored icon, and be displayed under the Protected heading.
  • Disabled browsers will have a faded icon, and be displayed under the Disabled heading

Click on any browser to toggle it between enabled and disabled. All enabled browsers will be managed according to your settings.

Settings

All removal settings are determined by the Privacy level slider. The closer to the right the slider is, the more aggressive your privacy settings will be.

Advanced View

Introduction

The Advanced view can seem daunting at first look, but it's really quite easy once you get the hang of it. You can completely customize how your cookies are managed. Custom removal schedules and selective removal of data is easy to configure once you understand how Cookie works. First lets look at how the Interface is layed out.

User Interface

The first thing you will likely notice is the Play and Pause buttons at the top of the window. These are handy global Enable and Disable buttons, used to quickly enable or disable ALL Cookie automatic removals. (which are configured on the Removal Options tab. These options are also included as menu options in Cookie's menubar.

Directly below the Enable/Pause button is a status bar. You will find useful information on the current state of your browser cookies there.

Then to the left is the sidebar with all your installed browsers. Enabled browsers are displayed under the Browser heading, and Disabled browsers under the Disabled heading.

Now, below the status bar is where you configure Cookie on the various tabs:

Websites tab

this is where you check favorite websites you want to KEEP cookies for.

Unwanted Data tab

here you tell cookie what to remove.

Removal Options tab

here you tell cookie when to remove your previous selection.

Timer Options tab

here you tell cookie what to remove when the timer fires.

To the right of the tabs, you will find some useful buttons. First up is the View button, which enables you to quickly change to the Simple View. You most likely won't use this - but is a quick way to switch to the Simple view if you find the Advanced view too overwhelming. Next to the View button,is a button to quickly access Preferences.

You can gain quick access to useful actions in the Websites view by right clicking (control clicking) to reveal the contextual menu. A contextual menu is also available in the browser sidebar to adjust icon size - and for enabling/disabling of browsers.

Now you know your way around Cookie, you need to customize how it runs, it's easy, and is done like so:

  • Select favorite websites to keep cookies for on the Websites tab.
  • Select removal data on the Unwanted Data tab.
  • Choose removal schedules on the Removal Options tab.
  • Configure timer removal data on the Timer Options tab.

Websites Tab

Advanced View

On the Websites tab, you will see a list of all websites which store cookies in all of your enabled browsers grouped together. You can filter the list by browser using the browser sidebar. You can further filter cookies by type, using the Show: button dropdown. The search bar allows to to filter by name

For each domain name in the list you will see a number in brackets - this indicates how many cookies are related to that website. If you see a Red colored number in brackets - this indicates how many of the cookies are tracking cookies. A Blue color indicates whitelisted cookies, and a Green color indicates Browser Extensions. To view individual cookies, click the small triangle icon to expand the website. Once expanded you can see exactly what types of cookie and any attributes they may have that are stored in the website. You will also see a number of icons to the left of the window:

Below the domains, you will find some manual removal buttons, and some handy shortcut buttons:

A 3check in the Heart icon column

indicates the website is a Favorite.

A circle in the Bulls eye icon column

indicates the website contains Tracking Cookies.

A circle in the Puzzle icon column

indicates the website contains Browser Extensions.

A circle in the Snow Flake icon column

indicates the website contains Whitelisted Cookies.

3. If a dash is displayed instead of a check mark - this indicates that not all cookies under the website are favorites! This is most commonly seen when ALL is selected in the browser sidebar. For example you may have the website cookierocks.com marked as a favorite in Safari, but not in Firefox.

Favorites

Your 4CHECKED websites will never be removed automatically by Cookie. You can remove them manually only by using the Remove button on the Websites tab. You can also only manually select a favorite if you already have a cookie on your computer from previously visiting the website.

4. If favorite is displayed without the triangle indicator, and is a dull gray color - this indicates that the cookie is a favorite, but is NOT currently stored in the browser.

Tracking Cookies

These are cookies which have been identified as one's which may track your browsing habits. They are conveniently RED colored for easy identification. You can completely customize how Cookie identifies tracking cookies in the Tracking Cookie Editor. This is accessed by way of contextual menu, or by clicking the shortcut icon.

Browser Extensions

You very rarely want to remove browser extensions as they are needed by any extension's you may have installed. Any adblockers or password managers etc... that you use in your browser would see unexpected results if you happened to remove any corresponding cookies.

Whitelisted Cookies

You very rarely need to whitelist a cookie, but it is a useful feature. In some cases Cookie gets it wrong, and flags a cookie as a Tracking cookie. This can cause sometimes login issues for you, but is easily fixed by whitelisting any offending tracking cookies. You add individual cookies to the whitelist via the contextual menu. Alternatively you can by manually editing definitions in the Tracking Cookie Editor.

Shortcut Icons

The shortcut icons are the group of icons at the bottom right of the Websites tab. Clicking on any of the icons will reveal handy shortcuts.

Unwanted Data Tab

Unwanted Data View

The Unwanted Data tab is where you tell Cookie what it can remove. Cookie can not remove anything unless you allow it first. You can select Unwanted data and apply it globally to all your enabled browsers, or if you prefer for each individual browser.

If a dash is displayed instead of a check mark for any settings - this indicates that not all browsers have this particular setting checked. This can occur, when you choose to configure browsers individually, rather than globally.

Tracking Cookies

these are any cookies which Cookie determines as a cookie which tracks you.

Non-Favorites

any cookies which are UNCHECKED as favorites on the Websites tab.

Cache

the cache stores files used by sites you visit to help speed up browsing if you re-visit the site again at a later date. Images, style sheets and video files are a few things stored in the cache.

History

your browser history.

Favicons

the small icons which display in your browser next to the website address in the url bar, and sometimes also on any browser tabs.

Webpage previews

these are snapshots which browsers periodically take of webpages you visit. Safari uses these in Tab expose.

Form values

any text you fill out on a webpage is stored as a form value.

Downloads

everything you've chosen to download to your computer from your browser. For example; app updates, torrent files, movies etc.

Website preferences

any website specific options. For example; autoplay settings, page zoom, microphone and camera access.

Other search engines

some browsers save custom search engines (if available) for each site you visit.

While tracking cookies, and non-favorites are removed per website, all other data types are not... For example you can not only remove history and cache for a particular website and not others. It is all websites, or no websites. This is true for cache, history, favicons, webpage previews, form values, downloads, website preferences and Other search engines.

Removal Options Tab

Removal Options View

This tab is where you tell Cookie when you want the data you previously selected removed. Once again, all these options can be configured globally or on a per browser basis.

On Quit

Cookie will remove your unwanted data from ALL browsers when you Quit Cookie.

On Browser Quit

browser data will be removed whenever you quit one of your enabled browsers. For example, if Unwanted data has been selected for Firefox, and Firefox is Quit, Firefox data only will be removed.

Every x minutes while Browser is Open

I don't generally recommend using ths option as it can cause issues on some websites. But some people may find it useful. Timers when set, will only run while an enabled browser is open and will run independent to all other browser timers even if multiple browsers have timers set. Timers are also configured independently to regular removal options.

When computer wakes from Sleep

Cookie will remove your unwanted data from ALL browsers when you wake your computer.

At Login

As above, Cookie will remove your unwanted data from ALL browsers at Login (as long as you have configured Cookie to open at Login in Preferences).

The Pause/Enable Automatic Removal buttons are important buttons. You can use them to quickly disable/enable ALL running timers and removal schedules

Timer Options Tab

Timer Options View

The Timer Options tab, is very similar in appearance to the Removal Options tab. This may seem a little confusing at once. But Cookie is designed this way, so that you can completely customize your removal schedules.

For example, you may want to remove all data on browser quit, but remove only tracking cookies every 15 minutes while your browser is running.

To correctly set a timer, you need to:

Timers can be configured globally across ALL browsers, or per browser. Also, any options you set on this tab, are ONLY fired if you have also chacked the option "Every X minutes while Browser is open" on the Removal Options tab.

Tracking Cookie Editor

Tracking Definitions View

Most users will never need to use this feature of Cookie, but it does has it's uses. Upon opening, you will see 2 tabs:

  • Tracking Cookies
  • Whitelist

The Tracking cookies tab holds stores all of Cookie's tracking cookie definitions. You can edit this as you please, if you find Cookie's list inadequate. Export/Import and restoration of defaults is possible from this tab.

On the Whitelist tab you will find any custom whitelist definitions you may have created. You can manually add or remove as required.

Preferences

General

General Preferences View

The General tab contains some useful all purpose options for configuring Cookie:

Notifications

Display Notifications

Notifications are posted via macOS notification center whenever:

  • Cookie is paused or enabled
  • A browser is enabled/disabled
  • Data is removed

iCloud

Sync favorites, settings and preferences

handy for setting up multiple installs of Cookie across your various computers..

Dialog Warnings

Reset All Warnings

removal warnings will again be shown before any data removal.

Global Hotkeys

Global hotkeys are special key combinations you can use from within any application to run special Cookie actions. For example you may be browsing in Safari, and be interested in quickly favoriting a new site. You could press your Show Cookie hotkey to bring up the Cookie window and check the site as a favorite. There are 3 available global hotkeys you can configure for some of Cookie's most useful actions:

Show Cookie

quickly show Cookie's main window.

Enable/Pause Cookie

quickly toggle Cookie - useful if you want to quickly disable any running timers to favorite a new site.

Remove All Unwanted Data

quickly remove data from all enabled browsers.

Display

Display Preferences View

The General tab includes options for showing Cookie in the MenuBar, and starting automatically when you restart your computer:

Show Cookie in Menubar

an icon will be added to the right side of your system menubar (the system menubar is the bar running across the top of your screen). In this menu you can easily access all of Cookie's useful actions.

and Hide Dock Icon

this will remove the icon from the macOS Dock. It also disables the regular Cookie menu's (the menu's next to the Apple icon at the top left of your screen.)

MenuBar Icon

Choose an icon to show in the menubar

At Login

5Open Cookie at Login

set Cookie to open when you restart your computer

and Hide

this will prevent Cookie's main window from opening at login

5. Make sure you don't add Cookie to Login Items in System Preferences, as it conflicts with Cookie's startup mechanism. A known issue is that Cookie's window may show at login even if you have chosen to hide it.

Advanced

Please be cautious when changing any settings on the Advanced tab.

Advanced Preferences View

On the Advanced tab, you will find some power features, which can drastically alter some of Cookie's core behaviours:

User Interface

Use Advanced View

you can easily switch between the Simple View and the Advanced View.

Setup

Open Setup Window

open the setup window to run through setup again.

Favorites

Never remove Browser Extensions

this option is checked as default. When unselected, any 6browser extensions you have will need to be manually favorited.

Synchronize with Browser Bookmarks

with this option 7checked, any favorites you currently have will be overwritten by your browser bookmarks. This can be a handy option for those that don't want to manually manage favorites. Your favorites will also be kept up to date with any changes you may make to your bookmarks within the browser. Favorites will be applied individually to browsers, so for example, any bookmarks you have in Safari will not be carried over to Firefox and vice versa.

6. Browser Extensions are generally required by any extensions you may have installed, and should not really be removed - except perhaps after uninstalling an unwanted extension. Luckily Cookie retains them by default, whether they are marked as favorites or not. Often, stubborn to remove cookies are in fact browser extensions. You can easily identify them as they will have an indicator showing in the puzzle column.

7. Synchronizing with Browser Bookmarks, while potentially a good option when you have few bookmarks - may not be the best option if you have many bookmarks. You may be better off manually selecting just a few favorites in Cookie.

Background App

Run Cookie in the background

this is an advanced feature only really for power users. When checked Cookie will run with 8no Dock icon, and no system menuBar.

8. The only way you can access Cookie's window will be by double clicking the app icon (usually in the Applications folder) or by global hotkey. Likewise, the only way to access preferences will be by the system global Preferences hotkey of ⌘, once you have Cookie's window open.

Sandbox

Remove All Sandbox Permissions

after clicking this Cookie will lose all permission to access any data on your computer. You will be prompted for permission the next time Cookie needs 9access.

9. Under rare conditions, Cookie's permissions can become corrupted - you will know this is happening, because you will be continually asked for permission to access certain folders. Resetting Permissions should fix this error.

Safari

Learn More...

clicking this will open an info page in you browser, with instructions to on how activate10 Safari.

https://sweetpproductions.com/products/cookieapp/scripts/en.htm

10. Safari has been disabled in the Mac App Store version of Cookie, but can easily be activated by following the instructions here. This button is not necessary in the Trial version of Cookie

App Store version

Differences to regular version

Apart from the obvious difference in the place you purchase cookie, the App Store version functions mostly the same as the regular version of Cookie. There are a few important differences:

Licensing

Both versions use a different licensing scheme which is currently not compatible. If you want to switch from one version to the other, no problem - send me an email at [email protected]

Beta versions

The regular version has access to beta versions from the Updates tab in Preferences.

Cache removal

The regular version can optionally perform a deeper Safari cache cleaning. The ability is enabled by giving Cookie Global Access, or by giving Safari access to the /private/var/folders location. Both of these options are presented when first 11enabling Safari.

Because of App Store restrictions, this is disabled by default in the App Store version. But you can easily enable it by 12running the following command in Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app:

defaults write com.sweetpproductions.CookieApp removePrivateVarFolder -bool true

11. You can easily enable or disable a browser by right clicking (control clicking) any of the browsers in the browser list.

12. To run a terminal command, you only need to open Terminal.app, copy and paste the command, then press ENTER

Safari Search History Removal

The regular version can remove Safari Search History. To enable this feature in the App Store version you will need to download and manually 13install the following script: https://sweetpproductions.com/products/cookieapp/scripts/Safari_Script.dmg

13. you can find the link with more info about how to install the script at https://sweetpproductions.com/products/cookieapp/scripts/en.htm Click the INSTALL HELPER SCRIPTS? button at the top of the page.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Safari doesn't show in the browser list

Safari had to be disabled from a default installation of Cookie (Mac App store version only) to pass through review for the Mac App Store. There is now an extra step required to get Safari showing in Cookie. You will need to download and install the helper scripts from the following link:

https://sweetpproductions.com/products/cookieapp/scripts/en.htm

Cookie doesn't show any Safari cookie data

MacOS Mojave introduced new security policies, which now require that Cookie has Full Disk Access before it can view, and remove any Safari data. What you need to do is this:

  • Open System Preferences
  • Open the Security & Privacy tab
  • Open the Privacy tab
  • Open the Full Disk Access section
  • Add Cookie to the list

Alternatively, click this link to open System Preferences:

com.sweetpproductions.cookieapp://openSysPrefs

Cookie isn't removing anything automatically

There are 2 possibilities here, Cookie could be disabled, or your browser removal settings may not be configured correctly.

1. If Cookie is disabled

your system menuBar icon will be a dull gray color, and the Pause Button will be activated (in Cookie's main window). Simply re-enable Cookie through:

  • the dropdown system menuBar
  • the File menu
  • or in the main window
2. If Cookie is enabled

open the Unwanted Data tab and check:

  • your Unwanted data options
  • also check your browser removal options on the Removal Options tab, and possible the Timer Options tab if the issue is timer related.

I keep getting logged out of a site, but it is already a favorite

When you are removing Tracking cookies - Cookie sometimes gets it wrong, and you may need to whitelist a specific cookie. What you need to do is this:

Safari search history not being removed

The most likely cause of this will be due to not installing the required cookie removal scripts. This only occurs on the Mac App Store version of Cookie, as the trial version will prompt to install the scripts automatically. The Mac App Store has a very strict sand boxing policy which doesn't allow for automatic installation. You can download the scripts from the link below:

https://sweetpproductions.com/products/cookieapp/scripts/en.htm

Cookies still show in browser after removal

Not all cookies are created equal, and many cookies stored in your browser will in fact be what is known as session cookies. Cookie doesn't see these, and can't delete them. However, they are all removed when you restart your browser - hence the name session cookies, ie. they are only valid for the current browsing session. Cache cookies are similar, although they are removed when you remove cache via Cookie - they will still show in your browser as being present until a restart of the browser. The final discrepancy you may encounter may be localStorage cookies. Cookie can and does see all these cookies, and can also remove them - however they may still appear in your browser until after a browser restart

It is recommended to only remove cookies after your browser is quit to avoid any problems while browsing. Timers and removal ability whilst the browser is open are included for convenience - but they can have unintended results.

Firefox doesn't show any cookies

This can occur when using custom Privacy settings in Firefox. You can fix the problem like so:

  • Open Firefox Preferences
  • Go to Privacy & Security
  • Scroll down to the History section
  • Make sure to select Firefox will Remember History

Or if you are using the option: Use custom settings for history

  • Make sure Always use private browsing mode is unchecked.
  • And also make sure Clear history when Firefox closes is also unchecked.

Cookie is running but I can't quit or open preferences

This scenario will occur if you have checked Run Cookie in the background on the Advanced Preference tab. You can access Cookie's window by double clicking the app icon which will most likely be in the Applications folder (or by global hotkey). Likewise, the only way to access preferences will be by the system global preferences hotkey of ⌘, once you have Cookie's window open.

Cookie keeps asking to "access this path to continue"

Click Remove all Sandbox Permissions on the file open panel. You will need to re-enable any of your browsers, but will not lose any of your other settings.

You can also find an option to do this in Prefernces:

  • go to the Advanced tab
  • click Remove all Sandbox Permissions

Otherwise you need to reset Cookie:

  • (Force) Quit Cookie
  • backup your browser settings and favorites by making a copy of the following 14folder:
  • ~/Library/Containers/com.sweetpproductions.cookieapp/Data/Library/Application Support/cookieapp/
  • delete the following 14folder:
  • ~/Library/Containers/com.sweetpproductions.cookieapp
  • restart Cookie
  • move your backed up settings and favorites back to where they were removed from - replacing any files which may already be there
  • finish running through Cookie setup

14. Make you are looking in your User Library. It's actually hidden by default... but you can easily show it. If you are running macOS High Sierra, you enable it like so:

  • Open a Finder window and go to your User folder.
  • Right click (control click) and select Show View Options from the menu.
  • Check Show Library Folder

or if running on an older operating system, you can download and use my free DesktopUtility app to show the User Library. (Scroll down to More Awesome Apps - expand it, then scroll to near the bottom where you will find a download link for DesktopUtility)

Favorites keep being removed

Be sure to disable cookie removal in any system cleaning apps you may be running. For example CleanMyMac X, Onyx, CCleaner and many other system cleaner apps may be removing your favorites

How can I reset Cookie

This is actually a very simple process:

  • Quit Cookie
  • delete the following 14folder:
  • ~/Library/Containers/com.sweetpproductions.cookieapp
  • restart Cookie

Cookie is crashing

Please email me at [email protected] any crash logs you have so I can look for a fix. You will find any crash logs in the following 14folder:

~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports

For all other issues, or any problems - please check out the support forums or send me an email me at [email protected]