document.cookie can't be set in Chrome

Question

I want to save a cookie using simple javascript. So I went to w3 and they have a ready made function to save a cookie. When I tried this code in firefox it worked exactly as expected, but in Chrome setting the cookie had no effect. I saw other questions on this site where the cookie was deleted because of a lack of expiredate, but I both set a date for a few days later and document.cookie never gets set. I walked through the code line by line in the debugger, but the value of document.cookie stayed an empty string even right after the line :

document.cookie = cname + "=" + cvalue + ", " + expires + ", path=/ ;";

I've tried this with and without a path and or expiration date, but nothing seems to have an effect. What should I do?

Some extra information about my files as requested by @AndrewL64: I made a 1 page html game. I have a index.html file, a mainstyle.css file and a main.js file for the script. In my script I use JQuery to manipulate the DOM elements. I put the code in the on page load event like this:

//==================On Page Load ===================================
$(document).ready(function () {

    $("#gameContainer").hide();
    $("#mainContainer").hide();
    //$("#startContainer").hide();
    $("#skillsContainer").hide();


    prepareGame();
    //startGame();

    /*var cookieName = "sp_str_cookie_save1";
    var saveString = "some value";
    setCookie(cookieName, saveString, 10);
    var cookieResult = getCookie(cookieName);*/
    const cname = "someCookie";
    const expires = "Thu, 2 Aug 2020 20:47:11 UTC";
    const cvalue = "someValue";

    document.cookie = cname + "= " + cvalue + "; " + "expires=" + expires + "; " + "path=/";

});

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 23 '19 at 22:22

1

I found the answer in another Stackoverflow question here. In short, some browsers don't set cookies when opening a html file locally. For example Chrome doesn't, but Firefox does. So test cookies in Firefox if you are working offline.

answered Feb 23 '19 at 22:22

SvG

39
6

Wow nice catch, that was my problem indeed. – cglacet Jul 06 '19 at 14:37

AndrewL64 · Answer 2 · 2019-02-23T22:05:17.100

0

The parameters should be separated with a semicolon and a white-space, not a comma.

Change your current code from this:

document.cookie = cname + "=" + cvalue + ", " + expires + ", path=/ ;";

To this:

document.cookie = cname + "= " + cvalue + "; " + expires + "; " + "path=/";

Check and run this JSFiddle which has the following Code Snippet and then check your browser cookies to see the new cookie added:

const cname = "someCookie";
const expires = "Thu, 2 Aug 2020 20:47:11 UTC";
const cvalue = "someValue";

document.cookie = cname + "= " + cvalue + "; " + "expires=" + expires + "; " + "path=/";

N.B. The above Code Snippet won't set the cookie since the snippet environment is just a sandbox and lacks the 'allow-same-origin' flag. Check the JSFiddle to see the above JavaScript add the cookie to your browser.

edited Feb 23 '19 at 22:05

answered Feb 23 '19 at 21:58

AndrewL64

15,794
8
47
79

Thanks for the comment. I tried the code in the fiddle and that worked. But when I added this exact code to my page, it didn't work. And I have no idea why, because again in Firefox my old code already worked. And even if the format isn't exactly right the document.cookie should still contain something right after it has been set. – SvG Feb 23 '19 at 22:06
@SvG That's weird. Can you post how you are currently adding the JavaScript to your webpage? – AndrewL64 Feb 23 '19 at 22:08
Can you try forcing a hard refresh of your webpage by using `Ctrl` + `F5` and see if the cookie is added or not? – AndrewL64 Feb 23 '19 at 22:10
I'm sorry it seems to be my own fault. Your question got me thinking and a found an answer in [this question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6232331/setting-cookies-using-javascript-in-a-local-html-file). If you test a website by locally opening the html file, some browsers don't set cookies. – SvG Feb 23 '19 at 22:16

document.cookie can't be set in Chrome

2 Answers2