Cookies are small text files placed on your device to store data that can be recalled by a web server in the domain that placed the cookie. This data often consists of a string of numbers and letters that uniquely identifies your computer, but it can contain other information as well. Some cookies are placed by third parties acting on our behalf. We use cookies and similar technologies to store and honor your preferences and settings, enable you to sign-in, provide interest-based advertising, combat fraud, analyze how our products perform, and fulfill other legitimate purposes described below. Microsoft apps use additional identifiers, such as the advertising ID in Windows, for similar purposes, and many of our websites and applications also contain web beacons or other similar technologies, as described below.

Our use of cookies and similar technologies

Microsoft uses cookies and similar technologies for several purposes, depending on the context or product, including:

• Storing your preferences and settings. We use cookies to store your preferences and settings on your device, and to enhance your experiences. For example, if you enter your city or postal code to get local news or weather information on a Microsoft website, depending on your settings, we store that data in a cookie so that you will see the relevant local information when you return to the site. Saving your preferences with cookies, such as your preferred language, prevents you from having to set your preferences repeatedly. If you opt out of interest-based advertising, we store your opt-out preference in a cookie on your device.
• Sign-in and authentication. We use cookies to authenticate you. When you sign in to a website using your personal Microsoft account, we store a unique ID number, and the time you signed in, in an encrypted cookie on your device. This cookie allows you to move from page to page within the site without having to sign in again on each page. You can also save your sign-in information so you do not have to sign in each time you return to the site.
• Security. We use cookies to process information that helps us secure our products, as well as detect fraud and abuse.
• Storing information you provide to a website. We use cookies to remember information you shared. When you provide information to Microsoft, such as when you add products to a shopping cart on Microsoft websites, we store the data in a cookie for the purpose of remembering the information.
• Social media. Some of our websites include social media cookies, including those that enable users who are signed in to the social media service to share content via that service.
• Feedback. Microsoft uses cookies to enable you to provide feedback on a website.
• Interest-based advertising. Microsoft uses cookies to collect data about your online activity and identify your interests so that we can provide advertising that is most relevant to you. You can opt out of receiving interest-based advertising from Microsoft as described in the How to access and control your personal data section of this privacy statement.
• Showing advertising. Microsoft uses cookies to record how many visitors have clicked on an advertisement and to record which advertisements you have seen, for example, so you don’t see the same one repeatedly.
• Analytics. We use first- and third-party cookies and other identifiers to gather usage and performance data. For example, we use cookies to count the number of unique visitors to a web page or service and to develop other statistics about the operations of our products.
• Performance. Microsoft uses cookies to understand and improve how our products perform. For example, we use cookies to gather data that helps with load balancing; this helps ensure that our websites remain up and running.

Some of the cookies we commonly use are listed below. This list is not exhaustive, but it is intended to illustrate the primary purposes for which we typically set cookies. If you visit one of our websites, the site will set some or all of the following cookies:

• MUID, MC1, and MSFPC. Identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. These cookies are used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes.
• ANON. Contains the ANID, a unique identifier derived from your Microsoft account, which is used for advertising, personalization, and operational purposes. It is also used to preserve your choice to opt out of interest-based advertising from Microsoft if you have chosen to associate the opt-out with your Microsoft account.
• CC. Contains a country code as determined from your IP address.
• PPAuth, MSPAuth, MSNRPSAuth, KievRPSAuth, WLSSC, MSPProf. Helps to authenticate you when you sign in with your Microsoft account.
• MC0. Detects whether cookies are enabled in the browser.
• MS0. Identifies a specific session.
• NAP. Contains an encrypted version of your country, postal code, age, gender, language and occupation, if known, based on your Microsoft account profile.
• MH. Appears on co-branded sites where Microsoft is partnering with an advertiser. This cookie identifies the advertiser, so the right ad is selected.
• childinfo, kcdob, kcrelid, kcru, pcfm. Contains information that Microsoft account uses within its pages in relation to child accounts.
• MR. Used to collect information for analytics purposes.
• x-ms-gateway-slice. Identifies a gateway for load balancing.
• TOptOut. Records your decision not to receive interest-based advertising delivered by Microsoft.

In addition to the cookies Microsoft sets when you visit our websites, third parties can also set cookies when you visit Microsoft sites. For example:

• Companies we hire to provide services on our behalf, such as site analytics, place cookies when you visit our sites. See opt-out links below.
• Companies that deliver content, such as videos or news, or ads on Microsoft sites, place cookies on their own. These companies use the data they process in accordance with their privacy policies, which may enable these companies to collect and combine information about your activities across websites, apps, or online services.

How to control cookies

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but provide controls that allow you to block or delete them. For example, in Microsoft Edge, you can block or delete cookies by selecting Settings > Privacy & Security  > Clear Browsing data > Cookies and saved website data. For more information about how to delete your cookies in Microsoft browsers, see Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer. If you use a different browser, refer to that browser’s instructions. .

Certain features of Microsoft products depend on cookies. If you choose to block cookies, you cannot sign in or use some of those features, and preferences that are dependent on cookies will be lost. If you choose to delete cookies, any settings and preferences controlled by those cookies, including advertising preferences, are deleted and will need to be recreated.

Additional privacy controls that can impact cookies, including the Tracking Protection feature of Microsoft browsers, are described in the How to access and control your personal datasection of this privacy statement.

Our use of web beacons and analytics services

Some Microsoft webpages contain electronic tags known as web beacons that we use to help deliver cookies on our websites, count users who have visited those websites, and deliver co-branded products. We also include web beacons or similar technologies in our electronic communications to determine whether you open and act on them.

In addition to placing web beacons on our own websites, we sometimes work with other companies to place our web beacons on their websites or in their advertisements. This helps us to, for example, develop statistics on how often clicking on an advertisement on a Microsoft website results in a purchase or other action on the advertiser's website. It also allows us to understand your activity on the website of a Microsoft partner in connection with your use of a Microsoft product or service.

Finally, Microsoft products often contain web beacons or similar technologies from third-party analytics providers, which help us compile aggregated statistics about the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns or other operations. These technologies enable the analytics providers to set or read their own cookies or other identifiers on your device, through which they can collect information about your online activities across applications, websites, or other products. However, we prohibit these analytics providers from using web beacons on our sites to collect or access information that directly identifies you (such as your name or email address). You can opt out of data collection or use by some of these analytics providers by clicking any of the following links: Adjust, AppsFlyer, Clicktale, Flurry Analytics, Google Analytics (requires you to install a browser add-on), Kissmetrics, Mixpanel, Nielsen, Visible Measures, or WebTrends.

Other similar technologies

In addition to standard cookies and web beacons, our products can also use other similar technologies to store and read data files on your computer. This is typically done to maintain your preferences or to improve speed and performance by storing certain files locally. But, like standard cookies, these technologies can also store a unique identifier for your computer, which can then track behavior. These technologies include Local Shared Objects (or "Flash cookies") and Silverlight Application Storage.

Local Shared Objects or "Flash cookies." Websites that use Adobe Flash technologies can use Local Shared Objects or "Flash cookies" to store data on your computer. To learn how to manage or block Flash cookies, go to the Flash Player help page.

Silverlight Application Storage. Websites or applications that use Microsoft Silverlight technology also have the ability to store data by using Silverlight Application Storage. To learn how to manage or block such storage, see the Silverlight section of this privacy statement.