Cookies are small pieces of data, stored in text files, that are stored on your computer or other device when websites are loaded in a browser. Learn more about how cookies are used on WordPress.com.
If you can’t preview your posts, pages, or themes on your site, you may need to enable third-party cookies in your web browser.
Each browser has its own settings to configure third-party cookies. Here’s how to allow third-party cookies for your particular browser:
- Mozilla Firefox: Under Preferences → Privacy & Security, setting “Enhanced Tracking Protection” to “Standard” or “Strict” will allow third-party cookies.
- Google Chrome: Under Settings → Privacy and Security → Cookies and other site data, choosing “Allow all cookies” will allow third-party cookies.
- Apple Safari: The cookies’ settings are managed under Safari → Preferences → Privacy.
- Microsoft Edge: Ensure that “Block third-party cookies” is not enabled under Settings → Site permissions → Cookies and site data.
You may not wish to enable third-party cookies for all sites. In that case, it is possible to enable third-party cookies for WordPress.com only. Each browser has special settings to allow third-party cookies for specific domains (sometimes called setting an exception). You will need to add exceptions for the following domains:
[*.]wordpress.comexample.wordpress.com(where the “example” part is your full WordPress.com site name that you can find at My Site → Upgrades → Domains).- If you have a custom domain (for example, acustomdomain.com), you will also need to allow cookies from that domain.
Alternatively, you can enable third-party cookies for all sites. In doing so you will not need to add any exceptions.
When you have your own custom domain for your site, the cookie used to store your login information becomes a third-party cookie because while the cookie originates from the ‘wordpress.com’ domain, your browser is asked to read it when you visit your own domain.
As an example, let’s assume the following:
- Your dashboard URL is
example.wordpress.com/wp-admin/ - Your site url is
acustomdomain.com
When you try to preview a draft post you are editing, we’ll open a new window with the draft post on your site. That window address will be something like http://acustomdomain.com/?p=xxxx&preview=true
Since you must be logged in to see draft posts, WordPress.com asks your browser for the login cookie.
Because the preview page comes from the acustomdomain.com domain, and the login cookie is from the wordpress.com domain, browsers that don’t have third-party cookies enabled will not send the required information, and previewing a page or post won’t work.
