Websites say cookies are blocked

This article describes how to troubleshoot problems that involve websites reporting that cookies are blocked or disabled. For more information on cookies, see the Cookies article.

Check cookie settings

Firefox can be set to not accept cookies. To turn on cookies:

3.5/3.6:

1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click on the ToolsFirefoxEdit menu, and select Options...Preferences....
2. Select the Privacy panel.
3. Set Firefox will: to Use custom settings for history.
   
   
4. Make sure Accept cookies from sites is check marked.
5. Make sure Accept third party cookies is check marked.
   • Disabling third party cookies can cause problems with some websites. Enable this setting to rule it out as a cause for your problem.
6. Click Exceptions....
7. Make sure the site you're trying to access isn't listed.
   • If it is listed, click on its entry, then click Remove Site.

3.0:

1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click on the ToolsFirefoxEdit menu, and select Options...Preferences....
2. Click the Privacy icon.
3. Make sure Accept cookies from sites is check marked.
4. Make sure Accept third party cookies is check marked.
   • Disabling third party cookies can cause problems with some websites. Enable this setting to rule it out as a cause for your problem.
5. Click Exceptions....
6. Make sure the site you're trying to access isn't listed.
   • If it is listed, click on its entry, then click Remove Site.

3.5/3.6:

Clear history for that site

The cookies and temporary data already stored on your computer may be causing the problem. Delete them, then test for your problem:

1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click on the History menu and select Show All History to open the Library window.
2. At the top right corner, type the name of the website you wish to forget in the Search History field, and press EnterReturn.
3. In the resulting list, right-clickhold down the Ctrl key while you click on the site you wish to forget, and select Forget About This Site.
   
   
   While this screenshot is for Windows, it will look similar on your operating system.
4. Close the Library window.

3.0:

Clear cookies for that site

The cookies for the site with problems that are already stored on your computer may be causing the problem. Delete them and then test for your problem:

1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click on the ToolsFirefoxEdit menu, and select Options...Preferences....
2. Select the Privacy panel.
3. Click Show Cookies.... The Cookies window will appear.
4. In the Search: field, type the name of the site whose cookies you want to remove. The cookies that match your search will be displayed.
5. Select the cookie(s) in the list to remove and click Remove Cookie.
   • Pressing CtrlCmd+A will select all the cookies in the list.
6. Click Close to close the Cookies window.
7. Click OK to close the Options windowClick Close to close the Preferences windowClose the Preferences window

Clear all cookies and the cache

If deleting cookies for the site with the problem did not fix the error, clear all the cookies stored on your computer and clear the Firefox cache:

3.5/3.6:

1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click Tools, then select Clear Recent History....
2. In the Time Range to clear: drop-down, select Everything.
3. Click the arrow next to Details to display the list of items that can be cleared.
   
   
   While this screenshot is for Windows, it will look similar on your operating system.
4. Select both Cookies and Cache.
5. Click Clear Now.