Clearing Cache/Cookies on Exit

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1

I’ve been using Brave for about a year now, and while there are many things that I like about the browser, there are just as many things that are really frustrating me. One of which being that there is no direct support, and I have to make a community post which often goes unnoticed and unanswered…

Regardless, the reason I’m making this post is to report another issue to do with clearing cache/cookies when I exit Brave.

I have my settings set to:

  • On Start-up: Open the New Tab page
  • Continue running background apps when Brave is closed: False
  • Delete browsing data - On Exit:
    • Download History
    • Cookies and other site data
    • Cached images and files
    • Passwords and other sign-in data
    • Auto-fill form data

Delete browsing data is what’s important here, as it just doesn’t seem to work. Normally, after using my PC, I will close all windows and then shutdown. The next time I turn on my PC and open Brave (typically the next day), everything has retained information from before. All websites that I had previously logged into are still logged-in, they still have associated cache/cookies and my password manager extension is still signed-in. Why?

In order to clear my data, I’m forced to close Brave and re-open it. Which is even weirder, because sometimes I’ll do this in the middle of using Brave, and it just wont delete anything. I have to actually restart my whole PC, just to force Brave to clear cache/cookies.

Furthermore, quite often, tabs that I have pinned will just vanish the next time I open Brave. I’ve tried so many different things to replicate it, but each time a variable changes, it just doesn’t seem to be the cause. So I have no idea.

If anyone has any information on any of these issues, I’d greatly appreciate it, as Brave is a great browser, but these things are really killing my experience, honestly.

Thank you

2

@o_xerxes,
The clearing of data on exit should be working as you expect it to. Testing on my end, after I close the browser window (clicking the x on the top-right of the window) clears all data types that are checked in the On exit window.

Can you please tell me what version of the browser and Windows you’re using at this time?

3

Hi, Mattches thanks for your response,

I’m currently using version:

  • Brave, Version 1.73.105 Chromium: 131.0.6778.265 (Official Build) (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 Pro, version 22H2

However, this is an issue I’ve had for a long time, as I previously described in a post back in May, 2024; using Brave, version 1.65.126. I’d also like to mention, that since then, I’ve had a complete reinstall of my Windows OS, and I’m still having the issue.

I understand you’ve tested it, but as I’ve said in my post, this is not something that I can replicate easily or reliably. It seems to be very random, and just closing Brave as you’ve described doesn’t cause the issue 100% of the time, but is still common enough to notice.

However, it’s just about guaranteed to happen to me after I’ve shutdown my PC for the night.

My typical routine is:

  1. Shutdown all Brave browser windows I have open using the X in the top right of the window;
    • I have “confirm close” enabled, so I also accept that.
  2. Close what ever other remaining windows for other programs I have open.
  3. Finally, just press shutdown on my PC. (Start > Power > Shutdown)

My PC is generally shutting down 1-2 minutes after I’ve fully exited Brave.

Once I turn my PC back on the next day (or when ever it might be), it’s extremely common for Brave to retain all data from the previous session. I pretty much just expect it at this point, but it’s extremely frustrating. Each time I start up my PC, I have to launch Brave knowing I’m just going to close and re-open it again, in order to clear site/extension data.

I also noted that sometimes my pinned tabs will disappear the next time I open Brave. If I’m lucky, I can recover them though the history menu and “restore window”. A few times now though, they have been wiped with no reason, and no way to recover them.

I assumed this might be related to closing the “primary” window first, which contains all of my pinned tabs, and then closing other windows last. I’ve tested it briefly, and it seems maybe somewhat close to the problem, but I’m still uncertain. Regardless, for a long time now, I’ve always made it a point to close this primary window last, but I still occasionally lose my pinned tabs.

While I’m unsure how relevant this is to Brave, I think it could be worth mentioning this, just in case:

A long time ago, there was an issue on Chrome browsers, which would clear all pinned tabs if the Chrome browser was initially opened using a link from an external application. It was eventually fixed in an update and I never experienced it again. When I installed Brave however, while it is far less frequent and and doesn’t seem to have the same cause, I was immediately reminded of it again.

Apologies for the wall of text.

4

@o_xerxes ,

You wrote:

“All websites that I had previously logged into are still logged-in, they still have associated cache/cookies and my password manager extension is still signed-in. Why?”

What is your “password manager extension”?

Brave Browser Settings > Shields
Please add the status of:

  • Block scripts
  • Block cookies
  • Forget me when I close this site
5

@289wk

What is your “password manager extension”?

I use LastPass.

I’m sorry, but your answer is not a solution to my problem. Overall blocking cookies/scripts is not my objective, and neither is forgetting a site each time I close it. That would make browsing very difficult and tedious.

I’m trying to retain cache/cookies, only during the current session, and then forget it when my session is closed (Brave is closed/exited). Each time I start Brave, my cache/cookies should be cleared, as per my current settings.