Chrome can delete one site's cookies and stored data in a few clicks. What it can't do is empty one site's cached files: every cache control it has works on all sites at once.
Short answer: for cookies and storage, open chrome://settings/, find the site and delete it. For the site's cached files, a hard reload (Ctrl+Shift+R) skips the cache for one load; no Chrome button or menu deletes them for one site only.
Method 1: Chrome settings
Deletes the site's cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB, Cache Storage and service workers, and removes the permissions you gave it.
- Paste
chrome://settings/into the address bar. The long way: Settings, Privacy and security, Site settings, View permissions and data stored across sites.content/ all - Type the site's name into Filter sites on page at the top right.
- Click the trash icon on the site's row, then Delete.
Worth knowing before you click:
- Sites are grouped by domain. The trash icon on a group deletes the domain and every subdomain under it; open the group to delete just one, such as
www.example.com. - Chrome deletes by host, so every port and scheme on that host goes with it. Deleting
localhostclearslocalhost:3000andlocalhost:8080together. - The cached files stay. When we tested it in Chrome 151, the site's scripts and images still loaded from the cache afterwards, even in a new tab.
- Tabs you already have open keep their sessionStorage.
Method 2: the site information icon
The same deletion, started from the page you're on.
- Click the icon to the left of the address. Its tooltip reads View site information.
- Choose Cookies and site data, then Manage on-device site data.
- Click the trash icon next to the site, then Done.
The dialog also lists Data from embedded sites, such as a video player or a sign-in provider, so you can remove those too. A cookie set for the whole domain (.example.com) gets its own row: deleting www.example.com alone leaves it behind.
Method 3: DevTools, for the tab you're debugging
- Open DevTools on the site: F12, or Ctrl+Shift+I (Cmd+Option+I on Mac).
- Open the Application panel and select Storage.
- Under Clear site data, tick what should go (Cache storage, IndexedDB, Local and session storage, Unregister service workers, Cookies) and click Clear selected.
DevTools works on the exact origin, so localhost:8080's storage survives a clear on localhost:3000. Tick Third-party cookies to include cookies from embedded sites. Chrome 151 and earlier show the same options with a single Clear site data button. The HTTP cache isn't on the list.
What about the cached files?
Chrome keeps one HTTP cache for every site, and none of its buttons empty just one site's share of it:
- Hard reload (Ctrl+Shift+R or Shift+F5; Cmd+Shift+R on Mac) fetches the page and its files fresh for that one load. Nothing is deleted, and requests the page makes after it has loaded use the cache again.
- Empty Cache and Hard Reload (right-click the reload button while DevTools is open) empties the entire cache, for every site and all time, then hard-reloads. Cookies and storage stay. More in Empty Cache and Hard Reload, explained.
- Delete browsing data with Cached images and files ticked empties the cache for every site in the time range you pick.
Chrome's extension API can do what the buttons can't: chrome.browsingData takes a list of origins for the cache, so an extension can remove one site's cached files and leave the rest warm. It matches each file by its own address, so files the site pulls from a CDN on another domain stay cached.
Side by side
| Data | Settings | DevTools | Empty Cache | Cache |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cached files | Not cleared | Not cleared | every site | Cleared |
| Cookies | Cleared | Cleared | Not cleared | Cleared |
| localStorage | Cleared | Cleared | Not cleared | Cleared |
| IndexedDB | Cleared | Cleared | Not cleared | Cleared |
| Cache Storage | Cleared | Cleared | Not cleared | Cleared |
| Service workers | Cleared | Cleared | Not cleared | Premium |
| Reloads the tab | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Scope | whole host | this origin | every site | this origin |
Settings also covers the site information icon (Method 2). Cookies belong to a host, not a port or origin, whichever route you use.
Localhost: one cookie jar for every port
localStorage and IndexedDB are kept per origin, so localhost:3000 and localhost:8080 each have their own. Cookies ignore the port: every app you run on localhost reads and overwrites the same cookies (RFC 6265 (opens in a new tab) says so plainly). When you move between local projects, that means:
- A session cookie from one app can sign you in to another, or break it. Clearing cookies for one port clears them for all of them.
- Chrome's settings delete by host, so deleting
localhostthere also wipes every other port's storage. DevTools clears by origin and leaves the other ports' storage alone. - To keep two local apps fully apart, run one on
localhostand the other on127.0.0.1. They are different hosts, with separate cookie jars.
In one step
CacheSweeper is our extension for this job. Click its toolbar icon or press Ctrl+Shift+X on any site and it clears that site's cached files, cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB and Cache Storage, reloads the tab and, with per-origin scope on (the default), leaves every other site's cache and storage alone. All of that is free. Premium adds sessionStorage in every open tab, service worker unregistering and an optional reload that bypasses the cache. On localhost, when another port you've had open shares the cookies it just cleared, the summary card says so.
See exactly what it clears on the features list, or compare Free and Premium.