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Accounts and sessions

Cookies

Also called HTTP cookie, browser cookies, session cookie, third-party cookies, cookie import, Netscape cookie format

Definition

Cookies are small named values that a website asks the browser to store and send back with later requests, which is how a site remembers a login, a basket or a preference between page loads.

Last updated 7 November 2026

How it works

A site sets a cookie with a Set-Cookie header (or from JavaScript, unless the cookie is marked HttpOnly). The browser stores it with the domain and path it belongs to and an expiry, and sends it back in the Cookie header on matching requests. A cookie with no expiry is a session cookie and disappears when the browser session ends; one with an expiry date persists. Attributes such as Secure and SameSite limit when it is sent.

A first-party cookie belongs to the site you are on. A third-party cookie belongs to another domain embedded in the page, such as an ad or analytics service, and is what lets one company recognise a browser across many sites. Browsers increasingly restrict those.

Why it matters when you run several accounts

Cookies are the most direct link between accounts. Sign in to two accounts in one browser and the site, and any third party embedded on it, can see the same browser behind both. Cookies are also credentials: a valid login cookie lets whoever holds it act as that account without the password, so cookie exports deserve the same care as passwords.

How SoftGlaze Browser handles it

Each profile keeps its own cookies in its own data folder, so nothing crosses between profiles. You can paste cookies into a profile (JSON, Netscape or Name=Value), and the cookie manager exports cookies from a running profile as JSON or Netscape, imports them, and shows totals, domains and cookies about to expire. Operators see cookie exports masked; revealing them takes the Manager role or above. Moving a profile to Trash can also wipe its cookies and cache from disk straight away.

Sources

  1. RFC 6265: HTTP State Management MechanismIETF
  2. Using HTTP cookiesMDN Web Docs

Outside sources were checked in November 2026. Browsers, standards and vendors' pages change, so details that depend on them are as of that month.

Related terms

  • SessionA session is the period during which a website recognises you as the same visitor, usually because the browser sends back a cookie holding a random session ID that the server links to your login.
  • Local storageLocal storage is the space a browser gives each website to keep data on your device between visits, most simply through the localStorage interface, where values stay until the site or the user removes them.
  • Browser profileA browser profile is a self-contained set of browser data (cookies, local storage, history, saved logins, extensions and settings) kept in its own folder, so two profiles on one computer don't see each other's sessions.
  • Cookie warmingCookie warming is browsing ordinary websites in a new browser profile before it is used for real work, so that it collects the cookies, cache and history an everyday browser would have.
  • Account linkingAccount linking is when a platform concludes that two or more accounts are run by the same person or device, by matching traces they share, such as cookies, device fingerprints, IP addresses, payment details or behaviour.

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See it in SoftGlaze Browser

Separate profiles, each with its own cookies, device values and proxy, on Windows. Try the app's screens in your browser first, or start the free trial; no card needed.

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