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I'm looking for a browser extension like Cookie Time that works for Firefox Quantum. Cookie Time can remove unaccessed cookies after a specified timeframe. It will not delete recently accessed cookies. It can keep track if a cookie is recently used or not, and how long it has been since they were last used. This avoids manually fiddling around with whitelisting. I used to set it to delete cookies that haven't been accessed in around one week, but it currently doesn't work with Firefox Quantum.

Screenshot of Cookie Time's settings and features:

I've tried Cookie AutoDelete (which is what Firefox suggested as a replacement extension) but it doesn't work the same way:

  1. It can't detect recently used/accessed cookies. It only tracks if a cookie is from a closed tab and when that tab is closed. Its Automatic Cleaning feature won't remember cookie timestamps after browser restart even if 'Clean Cookies from Open Tabs on Startup' is disabled. It's probably designed to remove cookies within a browser session as it is supposed to be configured in seconds as supposed to Cookie Time's weeks or months.

  2. It will delete all cookies from all closed tabs (except those manually whitelisted), and will attempt to delete after every tab close or browser restart. It doesn't touch cookies from tabs that haven't been opened yet (such as those made before extension installation). It doesn't track the time a cookie was last accessed. Cookie Time doesn't check if a cookie is from a closed tab, only cookie access times as seen in its settings configuration above (screenshot from a freshly installed Cookie Time). Cookie Time detects if a cookie is recently used or not, and how long it has been since they were last used. No tab closing or opening in the equation at all.

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  • why doesn't Cookie AutoDelete work with setting the autodelete-time to 10080 minutes (= 7 days) and disabling cleaning at startup...?
    – DJCrashdummy
    Apr 19, 2018 at 7:23
  • @DJCrashdummy I've searched and don't see a setting for it to detect and only delete unaccessed cookies. AFAIK it will auto delete a cookie unless it is whitelisted, regardless if it has been recently accessed. I've looked at its github issues list and found a case where this is an issue. This wouldn't happen with Cookie Time as it won't touch those recently accessed cookies.
    – galacticninja
    Apr 20, 2018 at 2:29
  • you can also try Forget Me Not which has more advanced options, but i doubt it is what you are looking for...
    – DJCrashdummy
    Apr 25, 2018 at 16:00
  • thanks for clarifying the differences to and your problem with Cookie AutoDelete! - well, i'm not an expert at cookies, but just a hint: IMHO the workflow regarding privacy of Cookie AutoDelete is even better than Cookie Time if you think about 3rd-party-cookies...
    – DJCrashdummy
    Apr 26, 2018 at 9:50
  • @DJCrashdummy I agree. I can see how CAD may be better if you would like to protect your privacy. In my case, I don't like having to repeatedly log in to sites that I frequently use, so I would prefer Cookie Time's implementation of cookie expiration. I disable third party cookies from being set anyway.
    – galacticninja
    Apr 26, 2018 at 14:22

1 Answer 1

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I still don't get it what your problem with Cookie AutoDelete is... and it seems nobody else does.

Please simply read at least the short description and settings carefully:
it deletes cookies which are not used by an open tab (after a definable time!) and you can whitelist other ones, you wish to keep forever.

So, once again:

  • enable the Automatic Cleaning and set the Delay to 604800 seconds (= 7 days). - sorry for initially suggesting it in minutes... i guessed wrong.
  • and additional disable Cleaning on StartUp, else all (not whitelisted) cookies will be deleted at browser start.

Although the delay is intended as a grace period for accidental closing a tab, I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work for a longer period (or at least to try it)...

And this is the only point which may be a problem for your use case: I have no idea if the grace period continues counting after Firefox is closed and opened again. and if yes, is it just counting down while firefox is running or are time-stamps used to delete cookies at clearly defined times...

So if the longer grace period causes problems in conjunction with closing & opening the browser, it may be worth a bug-report/feature-request at https://github.com/Cookie-AutoDelete/Cookie-AutoDelete/issues.

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  • I've tried Cookie AutoDelete, but it doesn't work like Cookie Time at all. See the edits I made to my question. CAD's Automatic Cleaning feature won't remember cookie timestamps after browser restart (clean on startup disabled). CAD is apparently designed to remove cookies within a browser session as it is supposed to be configured in seconds as supposed to CT's weeks or months.
    – galacticninja
    Apr 26, 2018 at 7:09
  • Also, CAD doesn't touch cookies from tabs that haven't been opened yet (such as those made before extension installation time). CT doesn't detect tab opening and closing, only cookie access times, as seen in its settings configuration (the screenshot in my post is from a freshly installed CT). Notice that CT detects: if a cookie is recently used or not, and how long it has been since they were last used. No tab closing or opening in the equation at all.
    – galacticninja
    Apr 26, 2018 at 7:15
  • @galacticninja at this point i can't help you any further, but as already mentioned maybe a github-issue with a feature request and clearly defined suggestions to make Cookie AutoDelete at least work better across browser sessions may be partly an option.
    – DJCrashdummy
    Apr 26, 2018 at 9:53

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