Microsoft Edge tests removing the Third-Party Cookie Switch

Microsoft is changing how cookie settings work in Microsoft Edge. In the latest Edge Canary version, the browser no longer shows the familiar toggles that let users globally allow cookies or block third-party cookies.

What changed in Edge’s cookie settings

In the current stable version of Edge, users can still turn on “Allow sites to save and read cookie data” and separately choose to block third-party cookies. These options appear at the top of the page and control cookie behavior. In Edge Canary, both switches are gone.

Instead, cookie behavior is now presented through defaults and site-specific rules. Users can still decide which sites are allowed or blocked, but Edge no longer presents cookies as something controlled by a single global switch. The settings page now focuses on per-site permissions and exceptions rather than broad cookie controls.

For users, this changes how cookie decisions are made:

• There is no longer a clear on-or-off choice for third-party cookies.
• Users now manage cookies site by site instead of using one rule for everything.
• Edge appears to rely more on built-in behavior rather than user-defined master settings.

This does not mean Edge disables or blocks cookies by default. Instead, it changes how cookie choices appear in settings.

Microsoft has recently shown that Canary tests around settings do not always stay experimental. Earlier, Edge tested removing the toggle that controlled whether extensions could be installed from other sources. That control later disappeared from the released version of the browser.

Because of that pattern, the cookie changes now visible in Canary are important. They change a privacy settings page that many users regularly visit.

These changes currently appear only in Edge Canary and may still be part of testing. Microsoft has not explained the reasoning behind the new layout, and this could change before reaching stable versions.

While testing the updated cookie settings, we also noticed an issue with InPrivate browsing in Edge Canary. In our testing, new InPrivate tabs no longer showed the usual disclaimer screen, and websites failed to load.

This behavior appears limited to Canary and does not look like a confirmed change to how InPrivate browsing works.