The Missing Cookies Problem
Browser cookies are small text files that websites use to remember your login status, your site preferences, and the items in your shopping cart. If you find that you are being forcefully logged out of every single website (like Gmail, Twitter, and Amazon) every time you close and reopen Google Chrome, your browser is likely configured to clear your cookies on exit. While this is a fantastic setting for privacy-conscious users or public computers, it is incredibly frustrating for a personal home desktop where you want your web sessions to remain persistent.
How to Disable the Clear on Exit Setting
You can easily instruct Google Chrome to keep your cookies stored on your hard drive permanently, ensuring you remain logged into your favourite websites.
1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the three vertical dots located in the top-right corner of the window.
3. Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
4. In the left-hand sidebar, click on Privacy and security.
5. Click on Site settings in the main pane.
6. Scroll down to the “Content” section and click on Third-party cookies (or “Cookies and site data” on older versions of Chrome).
7. Scroll down to the setting labelled Clear cookies and site data when you close all windows.
8. Click the toggle switch to turn this setting Off.
Checking for Conflicting Extensions
If you have verified that this setting is turned off but your cookies are still disappearing when you restart your computer, the culprit is likely a third-party extension. Privacy extensions, ad-blockers, and aggressive “system cleaner” applications (like CCleaner) often have their own built-in settings that automatically wipe browser data in the background. Temporarily disable your extensions one by one to identify which software is forcefully deleting your Chrome profiles.