How to Set, Read, and Delete Cookies in JavaScript 🍪

Managing cookies is something every web developer runs into — whether you're tracking sessions, saving preferences, or handling user auth.

But the document.cookie API? It's surprisingly low-level, and a bit of a mess if you're not careful.

So I put together a full guide that explains how to set, read, and delete cookies using plain JavaScript, with clean examples and a working demo.

Here’s a quick taste 🍪👇

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✅ Set a Cookie in JavaScript

document.cookie = "username=JohnDoe; path=/;";

✅ With expiration:

document.cookie = "username=JohnDoe; expires=Fri, 31 Dec 2025 23:59:59 GMT; path=/;";

---

🔍 Read a Cookie

console.log(document.cookie); 
// returns: "username=JohnDoe; theme=dark"

To extract a value, you’ll need a helper:

function getCookie(name) {
  return document.cookie
    .split('; ')
    .find(row => row.startsWith(name + '='))
    ?.split('=')[1];
}

❌ Delete a Cookie

document.cookie = "username=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC; path=/;";

Yep — just set the expiration date to the past.

Want the Full Guide with Examples and Security Tips?

I’ve covered everything — including:

1. js set cookie and javascript set cookie best practices
2. A reusable helper for reading cookies
3. How to delete cookie js reliably
4. Cookie flags (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite)
5. A complete working demo

👉 Read it here:
🔗 How to Read, Write, and Delete Cookies in JavaScript

Let me know what cookie issues you've run into — I'm happy to help or expand the article further!