Bug 200075 – Cookies deleted repeatedly and logged out of every website

• Status: RESOLVED
• Resolution: DUPLICATE
• Component: New Bugs

[Kurian Thampy]

Since macOS 10.14, I have been unable to use Safari as it repeatedly deletes cookies for every website every few minutes and logs me out.

1. I upgraded macOS from 10.13 to 10.14.
2. I continued to use Safari with old websites I was logged into from macOS 10.13.
3. New websites I visited in Safari got logged out within minutes. I could see some of their cookies disappear in real-time in the Storage inspector.
4. I removed all website data and cleared all history in Safari. I was still logged into the old websites from 10.13! These cookies were undeletable through Safari.
5. I manually deleted all Safari data files from my user profile. The old websites were finally logged out.
6. I cannot stay logged into any website in Safari any more - cookies get deleted within minutes.
7. I enabled ITPDebug and tested logging into a single website. ITPDebug listed only 3rdpartytestwebkit.org, but the test website cookies were deleted anyway.
8. I tested logging into multiple websites (iCloud, Google, Microsoft, Reddit). ITPDebug listed various 3rd party domains, but cookies for the first party domains were deleted anyway.

1. It's not related to "Prevent cross-site tracking".
2. Safari in a new macOS user account (different user name) works fine.
3. I wiped the HDD and installed macOS from scratch. I created a user account with my old user name. Safari appeared to work fine.
4. After logging into iCloud, the cookies bug returned on the new macOS installation.
5. Safari Technology Preview always works fine. The bug seems to be related to the Safari.app data.
6. Repeatedly deleting all Safari data files sometimes fixes the bug temporarily. The first few websites visited within a few minutes of launching a clean Safari are remembered. Any websites visited after this brief window still have their cookies deleted.

[Kurian Thampy]

More reports:

https://www.reddit.com/r/osx/comments/afu0rv/since_macos_mojave_safari_logs_me_out_from/

https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOSBeta/comments/8t49sa/bug_safari_keeps_logging_me_out_of_websites/

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/341611/how-do-i-stay-logged-in-on-safari-12

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

I CC'ed some folks who may have ideas here. However, investigating an issue like this will almost certainly require a sysdiagnose. Please see <https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/profiles-and-logs/?platform=macos> for the instructions.

Once you have it, please report a bug via Apple's feedback assistant, <http://feedbackassistant.apple.com>.

[Kurian Thampy]

(In reply to Alexey Proskuryakov from comment #2)
> Once you have it, please report a bug via Apple's feedback assistant,
> <http://feedbackassistant.apple.com>.

I had submitted one already. I updated it with a new sysdiagnose from today just after the cookies for stackoverflow.com were deleted.

https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/feedback/6738815

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

Thank you!

rdar://problem/53298501

Still present. I created a new feedback with sysdiagnose and screen recording: FB17019493
But this should be fixed asap since this makes web inspector unusable.

[Qianlang Chen]

We believe this issue should be addressed in macOS 15.4 beta with the fix to bug 245491.

Please file new a bug if you still experience such symptoms on the new release. Thank you!

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 245491 ***

[Leo Natan]

The issue is still occurring on iOS 26.1 beta, Safari 25 on 15.whatever and macOS 26. It is definitely not fixed.

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

Thank you for following up. Are you certain that this is Web Inspector related still? Either way, could you please file a new bug with all the details and a sysdiagnose via Feedback Assistant, and post the number here?

[Leo Natan]

Hi Alexey, thank you for your reply!
This issue was closed as a dup of another, but I’m not sure they are related. I explicitly disable dev tools on my desktop Safari to avoid the second issue’s bug. But consistently every few days to hours, on desktop and mobile, Safari just loses cookies and I am logged out of websites. This has been going on for a while now, but seems to have gotten worse in the last few months. Would sysdiagnose catch relevant information, or should I enable some debug settings/defaults?
Thanks!

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

It is indeed hard to know if this bug from 2019 is truly the same.

A sysdiagnose should capture what's needed. Additionally, it would be good to know if all cookies are gone, or only session cookies.

[Leo Natan]

Could you please instruct me how to check, so that I can provide the information once the issue reproduces. Can I look directly in the cookie database? Thanks

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

I'd be checking in Safari settings, Privacy -> Manage Website data. It tells which websites have stored cookies.

[Leo Natan]

Just lost all logins in mobile Safari in 26.1 beta. Website data shows there is still data, but all websites are logged out. 

Sysdiagnose from iOS here:
FB20473008