If you're a web developer or QA engineer, you probably had EditThisCookie pinned to your toolbar for years. And then one day it stopped updating — or stopped loading entirely. The reason is Manifest V3 (MV3): Chrome retired the old Manifest V2 extension platform, and cookie editors that weren't rebuilt for MV3 got left behind.
Here's how to keep editing cookies in Chrome today — the built-in way, a faster MV3-native option, and one thing even current tools still get wrong.
Why MV3 killed a lot of cookie editors
Manifest V3 changed how extensions run in the background (persistent background pages → service workers) and tightened several APIs. Extensions that weren't migrated stopped receiving updates and, for many users, stopped working. Cookie editors were especially affected because they lean on background scripts and the chrome.cookies API.
If your old editor throws an error or vanished from your toolbar, MV3 is almost always the cause.
Option 1: Chrome DevTools (no install)
DevTools has a built-in cookie editor:
- Right-click the page → Inspect
- Open the Application tab
- Sidebar → Storage → Cookies
- Select the domain
- Double-click a row to edit name, value, domain, expiry, or flags
It works, but it's slow for repeated use: no search, no filtering by cookie type, no one-click export, and every edit is several clicks deep in a small panel.
Option 2: CookieJar (MV3-native)
CookieJar is a free, Manifest V3 cookie editor built as a direct alternative to EditThisCookie.
The core workflow:
- Click the toolbar icon
- See every cookie for the active page, sorted by domain and auto-labeled (Login / Tracking / Analytics / Functional)
- Click a cookie to edit its value, expiry, or flags — takes effect immediately
- Export or import as JSON or Netscape (
cookies.txt)
Coming from EditThisCookie
| EditThisCookie habit | CookieJar |
|---|---|
| Popup with all cookies | Click the toolbar icon |
| Inline edit a value | Click a cookie, edit directly |
| Export to file | JSON or Netscape (cookies.txt) |
| Import from file | Supported |
| Delete a single cookie | One click |
| Built for current Chrome | ✅ MV3-native |
The part even current tools still miss: Partitioned cookies (CHIPS)
Here's the thing that tripped me up, and it's not in most cookie editors — or in the DevTools list at a glance.
Modern Chrome partitions many third-party cookies by the top-level site you're on. This is CHIPS — the Partitioned attribute. A cookie set by embed.example.com while you're on site-a.com is a different stored cookie from the one the same embed sets on site-b.com. They're isolated on purpose.
Most cookie tools were written before CHIPS existed, so they show an incomplete list — the partitioned cookies are simply absent, and you end up debugging against a picture that's missing rows. If you've ever cleared "all" cookies for a site and a tracker somehow survived, a partitioned cookie is often why.
CookieJar lists cookies across partitions and groups them by their partition (top-level site), so you can see and delete partitioned cookies too — not just the unpartitioned ones. (Editing partitioned cookies is read-only for now — viewing and deleting them works today.) For anyone testing cross-site embeds, ad/analytics behavior, or Partitioned cookie setups, seeing the full set is the difference between a real repro and a confusing one.
Why this matters for testing
- Auth flows: flip session state without creating throwaway accounts
- New vs. returning user: clear specific cookies while keeping the rest
- Login loops: nuke a stale session cookie in two clicks
- Cross-site embeds: finally see the partitioned cookies legacy tools hide
-
Flag verification: confirm
Secure/HttpOnly/SameSiteat a glance
HttpOnly cookies can be viewed and deleted but not edited — a browser security rule, not a tool limitation. Same as EditThisCookie.
Install
CookieJar is free and needs no account. Your cookie data never leaves your device — cookies are read and edited locally in your browser, and their contents are never uploaded, sold, or shared.
→ Install free: https://dev-tools-hub.xyz/extensions/cookiejar/?utm_source=devto&utm_campaign=edit-cookies-chrome
Chrome Web Store: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/mv3-cookie-editor-manager/lhngfkchfepfjjdfhimconagoejemofg
What do you use to edit cookies now that EditThisCookie is gone — DevTools, or something else? And had you noticed the partitioned-cookie gap?
Built by S-Hub — minimal, MV3-native Chrome extensions.
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