How to Enable Third-Party Cookies (All Browsers)

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Third-party cookies are a crucial part of the modern web experience, enabling services such as personalized advertising, social media integration, and cross-website analytics. However, due to privacy concerns, many browsers have started blocking third-party cookies by default. This can lead to broken functionality on certain websites that rely on these cookies to function properly. Fortunately, enabling third-party cookies is usually a straightforward process — once users know where to look.

TLDR

Third-party cookies can be enabled in all popular browsers via the privacy or site settings menus. The process differs slightly between Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and mobile browsers. Users concerned about broken site features or needing access to integrated third-party services may want to enable these cookies temporarily. Always consider enabling them only for specific websites rather than enabling them universally for improved privacy.

What Are Third-Party Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored by a browser that contain information about the user and their interactions with websites. First-party cookies are set by the website the user is actually visiting, while third-party cookies are set by domains other than the one the user is currently on. These are usually created by advertisers, analytics platforms, and embedded services like live chat widgets or video players.

Because third-party cookies can track users across multiple sites, they have raised privacy concerns, prompting many browsers to block them by default. Still, in certain use-cases — such as logging in using a third-party service — these cookies are necessary for full functionality.

Why You Might Want to Enable Third-Party Cookies

  • To allow websites to remember login sessions across services
  • To enable integrated experiences from third-party tools
  • To ensure ad-supported websites load correctly
  • To troubleshoot malfunctioning web elements

How to Enable Third-Party Cookies in Different Browsers

Google Chrome (Desktop)

  1. Open Chrome and click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
  2. Select Settings and navigate to Privacy and security.
  3. Click on Cookies and other site data.
  4. Select Allow all cookies, which includes third-party cookies.
  5. Alternatively, scroll down and add specific exceptions under Sites that can always use cookies.

Google Chrome (Mobile – Android/iOS)

  1. Open the Chrome app and tap the three-dot menu in the top-right (Android) or bottom-right (iOS).
  2. Go to Settings > Site Settings.
  3. Tap Cookies.
  4. Select Allow cookies. You may need to toggle a switch depending on your OS version.

Mozilla Firefox (Desktop)

  1. Click the hamburger menu in the top-right corner and select Settings.
  2. Choose Privacy & Security.
  3. Under Enhanced Tracking Protection, choose the Custom setting.
  4. Uncheck the box that says Cookies – Cross-site tracking cookies.
  5. This will allow third-party cookies to function again.

Mozilla Firefox (Mobile)

  1. Open the Firefox mobile app and tap the three dots in the menu bar.
  2. Go to Settings > Enhanced Tracking Protection.
  3. Switch from Strict to Standard or Custom.
  4. In Custom, ensure that third-party cookies are allowed.

Apple Safari (macOS)

  1. Launch Safari and click Safari > Settings in the menu bar.
  2. Go to the Privacy tab.
  3. Uncheck Prevent cross-site tracking.
  4. Also uncheck Block all cookies, if selected.

Safari restricts many third-party cookies at the system level through Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), so enabling them fully may not always be possible.

Apple Safari (iOS/iPadOS)

  1. Open Settings on your device.
  2. Scroll down and tap Safari.
  3. Toggle off Prevent Cross-Site Tracking.
  4. Toggle off Block All Cookies if it is active.

Microsoft Edge (Windows/macOS)

  1. Open Edge and click the three-dot menu.
  2. Select Settings > Cookies and site permissions.
  3. Click on Manage and delete cookies and site data.
  4. Toggle on Allow sites to save and read cookie data.
  5. Disable the Block third-party cookies option.

Microsoft Edge (Mobile)

  1. Open Edge and tap the bottom menu icon.
  2. Select Settings > Privacy and security.
  3. Tap on Cookies.
  4. Choose Don’t block cookies.

Opera

  1. Go to Settings and click Advanced.
  2. Click Privacy & Security > Site Settings.
  3. Click Cookies and site data.
  4. Select Allow all cookies.

Brave Browser

Brave has one of the strictest privacy settings by default. To enable third-party cookies:

  1. Click the menu icon and go to Settings > Shields.
  2. Set Trackers & ads blocking to Standard or Disabled.
  3. Alternatively, for specific sites, click the lion icon left of the address bar and toggle off Shields.

Risks of Enabling Third-Party Cookies

While enabling third-party cookies can resolve some functionality issues across websites, it does come with privacy concerns. These cookies allow external parties to track user behaviors across the web, building detailed profiles without explicit consent. Some potential risks include:

  • Behavioral tracking by advertising networks
  • Targeted and sometimes invasive advertising
  • Data breaches through third-party platforms
  • Reduced anonymity while browsing

To balance usability with privacy, most browsers allow users to create exceptions — enabling third-party cookies for specific websites while keeping them blocked elsewhere.

Using Exceptions Instead of Enabling Third-Party Cookies Globally

If you are only experiencing issues on a handful of websites, it’s more secure to add them as exceptions rather than enabling cookies across the entire internet. Almost all modern browsers support this:

  • In Chrome, you can add a site under Sites that can always use cookies.
  • In Edge, go to Allow sites to save and read cookie data and add exceptions.
  • In Firefox, you can manage permissions per site under Privacy & Security.

This approach keeps your overall web activity more private while still allowing selected websites to function correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)