Disabling Cookies in the Browser Using Selenium
Method 1 — deleteAllCookies() (delete during test):
Java
// Delete all cookies from the current domain
driver.manage().deleteAllCookies();
// Delete a specific cookie by name
driver.manage().deleteCookieNamed("sessionToken");
// Delete a specific cookie object
Cookie myCookie = driver.manage().getCookieNamed("auth");
driver.manage().deleteCookie(myCookie);
Method 2 — Block cookies via ChromeOptions:
Java
ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
// Disable cookies entirely via Chrome preferences
HashMap<String, Object> prefs = new HashMap<>();
prefs.put("profile.default_content_setting_values.cookies", 2); // 2 = block all
options.setExperimentalOption("prefs", prefs);
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);
Method 3 — FirefoxProfile to disable cookies:
Java
FirefoxProfile profile = new FirefoxProfile();
profile.setPreference("network.cookie.cookieBehavior", 2); // 2 = block all
FirefoxOptions options = new FirefoxOptions();
options.setProfile(profile);
WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(options);
Cookie management methods:
Java
// Get all cookies
Set<Cookie> allCookies = driver.manage().getCookies();
for (Cookie c : allCookies) {
System.out.println(c.getName() + " = " + c.getValue());
}
// Add a cookie
Cookie newCookie = new Cookie("key", "value");
driver.manage().addCookie(newCookie);
// Delete all cookies
driver.manage().deleteAllCookies();
// Verify cookies cleared
System.out.println("Cookies after clear: " + driver.manage().getCookies().size());
// Output: Cookies after clear: 0
Practical use in test setup:
Java
@BeforeMethod
public void clearSession() {
driver.manage().deleteAllCookies();
driver.navigate().refresh();
}
Key method: driver.manage().deleteAllCookies() — removes all cookies for the current session. Use deleteAllVisibleCookies() in older Selenium RC APIs (Selenium WebDriver uses deleteAllCookies()).
When to clear cookies:
- ✓Between test scenarios to ensure clean state
- ✓Before login tests to avoid pre-existing sessions
- ✓To test "first visit" behavior
