Local Storage vs Session Storage vs Cookie Storage

development

If you're like me you always need to lookup the difference between local storage, session storage and cookies.

This post is for those's that are always reaching for that comparison.

Local Storage

Stores data with no expiry date
Cleared only via JavaScript or clearing browser cache
Storage limit is the largest of the 3 as b ig as 5MB
Not supported by older browsers IE7 or lower
Works on same-origin policy. So, data stored will only be available on the same origin.

Stores data only for the duration of the session, when the user closes their browser the data is lost
Top-level browsing context, therefore it's unique to each browser tab
Storage limit is larger than cookies at 5MB
Not supported by older browsers IE7 or lower

Stores data that can be transferred to the server via headers
LocalStorage and SessionStorage can only be accessed on client-side
Expiry is set on creation of the cookie
Storage limit is smallest at 4kb
Cookies can be made secure making client side unable to read the contents. This is important for authentication to store user tokens.

Mar 16, 2019

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