How to Enable Cookies in Internet Explorer

Since you are searching for information on how cookies are enabled in Internet Explorer, you have (some) knowledge about its uses. For those who might have heard about it or could be confused as to what cookies are and how they work, let's make this process as simple as possible. A cookie (not the one you can eat) is a piece of information that contains a unique identifier. Any website you visit, this unique identifier is sent to your browser. It saves itself as a file on your laptop/computer, recognizes you as a unique user, and tracks what you use on the web.

In terms of where the cookies are being stored or saved in your computer, the answer is, your hard drive. Each platform gets a different filename when the cookies are stored. So on a Windows machine, the cookie data/information will be stored in *.txt files. While you surf the web, most of the cookies are useful and some (session cookies) are lost after you close a particular web browser. The later cookies come in handy as they remember your specific webpage choices and can help you navigate through the site conveniently. Certain sites leave cookies (persistent cookies) on your computer in order to recognize once you revisit the site.

What is cookie technology? When you use variety of services over the Internet, like free e-mail accounts, e-commerce, and online forums sites, these cookies come in handy. Let's say you wish to make an online purchase. Without these cookies, that particular website won't have the tools necessary to track the items you want for shopping (virtually). This information was about what good things a cookie can do. Now let's look at how malicious they can get. Malicious cookies track which other sites you may be going through on the web. For example, you are on a particular webpage and you see ads on all sides of it. But those ads are not placed by the website you are visiting as of now. You may find the same ads being displayed on various other sites. What makes these Internet cookies malicious is that the advertising company sends them on your computer to track your browsing habits over a range of sites. Due to these reasons, it is necessary to know how cookies are enabled in Internet Explorer. Instead of letting such websites store your information and use it later on, why not just enable it? And if you surf the web on a regular basis, enabling cookies in Internet Explorer can definitely help you save some time.

Enabling Cookies in Internet Explorer 8.0

• Open Internet Explorer 8 and click on the menu "Tools".
• In the same menu, choose "Internet Options". This will open a new window.
• Here, select "Privacy" tab which is on top of the window.
• You will see an up and down slider which may be on "Medium High".
• Move it and go down, till you see "Accept All Cookies".
• Now select the "Default" button which is on the right side of the window, just below the slider.
• Click on "Apply" as it will save your work.

Enabling cookies in Internet Explorer 8.0 is possible; on a per-site basis. Follow the steps given below to do so.

• In the same window, just below the slider, you will see a "Sites" tab.
• Click on it and enter the website(s) url in the space provided.
• Now you can either choose "Allow" or "Block" cookies from the sites you mentioned there.
• If you move the slider button to "Accept All Cookies" or "Block All Cookies", per-site rules will be ignored.
• If you choose "Accept All Cookies" or "Block All Cookies", the "Sites" button option will have higher priority than your privacy preferences.

These were the steps on how to enable cookies in Internet Explorer 8.0. Apart from the information given to you in this article, you can also read another Buzzle article on how to allow cookies. Remember, the cookies which you are looking to enable are the "Third-party" cookies which are set by the advertisers. You want to steer clear of them and enabling cookies on any browser, not just Internet Explorer can help you.