Tutorials References Exercises Videos Menu
Free Website Get Certified Pro

PHP Tutorial

PHP HOME PHP Intro PHP Install PHP Syntax PHP Comments PHP Variables PHP Echo / Print PHP Data Types PHP Strings PHP Numbers PHP Math PHP Constants PHP Operators PHP If...Else...Elseif PHP Switch PHP Loops PHP Functions PHP Arrays PHP Superglobals PHP RegEx

PHP Forms

PHP Form Handling PHP Form Validation PHP Form Required PHP Form URL/E-mail PHP Form Complete

PHP Advanced

PHP Date and Time PHP Include PHP File Handling PHP File Open/Read PHP File Create/Write PHP File Upload PHP Cookies PHP Sessions PHP Filters PHP Filters Advanced PHP Callback Functions PHP JSON PHP Exceptions

PHP OOP

PHP What is OOP PHP Classes/Objects PHP Constructor PHP Destructor PHP Access Modifiers PHP Inheritance PHP Constants PHP Abstract Classes PHP Interfaces PHP Traits PHP Static Methods PHP Static Properties PHP Namespaces PHP Iterables

MySQL Database

MySQL Database MySQL Connect MySQL Create DB MySQL Create Table MySQL Insert Data MySQL Get Last ID MySQL Insert Multiple MySQL Prepared MySQL Select Data MySQL Where MySQL Order By MySQL Delete Data MySQL Update Data MySQL Limit Data

PHP XML

PHP XML Parsers PHP SimpleXML Parser PHP SimpleXML - Get PHP XML Expat PHP XML DOM

PHP - AJAX

AJAX Intro AJAX PHP AJAX Database AJAX XML AJAX Live Search AJAX Poll

PHP Examples

PHP Examples PHP Compiler PHP Quiz PHP Exercises PHP Certificate

PHP Reference

PHP Overview PHP Array PHP Calendar PHP Date PHP Directory PHP Error PHP Exception PHP Filesystem PHP Filter PHP FTP PHP JSON PHP Keywords PHP Libxml PHP Mail PHP Math PHP Misc PHP MySQLi PHP Network PHP Output Control PHP RegEx PHP SimpleXML PHP Stream PHP String PHP Variable Handling PHP XML Parser PHP Zip PHP Timezones

PHP setcookie() Function

❮ PHP Network Reference

Example

The following example creates a cookie named "user" with the value "John Doe". The cookie will expire after 30 days (86400 * 30). The "/" means that the cookie is available in entire website (otherwise, select the directory you prefer).

We then retrieve the value of the cookie "user" (using the global variable $_COOKIE). We also use the isset() function to find out if the cookie is set:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<?php
$cookie_name = "user";
$cookie_value = "John Doe";
setcookie($cookie_name, $cookie_value, time() + (86400 * 30), "/"); // 86400 = 1 day
?>
<html>
<body>

<?php
if(!isset($_COOKIE[$cookie_name])) {
    echo "Cookie named '" . $cookie_name . "' is not set!";
} else {
    echo "Cookie '" . $cookie_name . "' is set!<br>";
    echo "Value is: " . $_COOKIE[$cookie_name];
}
?>

</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The setcookie() function defines a cookie to be sent along with the rest of the HTTP headers.

A cookie is often used to identify a user. A cookie is a small file that the server embeds on the user's computer. Each time the same computer requests a page with a browser, it will send the cookie too. With PHP, you can both create and retrieve cookie values.

The name of the cookie is automatically assigned to a variable of the same name. For example, if a cookie was sent with the name "user", a variable is automatically created called $user, containing the cookie value.

Note: The setcookie() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag.

Note: The value of the cookie is automatically URLencoded when sending the cookie, and automatically decoded when received (to prevent URLencoding, use setrawcookie() instead).

Syntax

setcookie(name, value, expire, path, domain, secure, httponly);

Parameter Values

Parameter Description
name Required. Specifies the name of the cookie
value Optional. Specifies the value of the cookie
expire Optional. Specifies when the cookie expires. The value: time()+86400*30, will set the cookie to expire in 30 days. If this parameter is omitted or set to 0, the cookie will expire at the end of the session (when the browser closes). Default is 0
path Optional. Specifies the server path of the cookie. If set to "/", the cookie will be available within the entire domain. If set to "/php/", the cookie will only be available within the php directory and all sub-directories of php. The default value is the current directory that the cookie is being set in
domain Optional. Specifies the domain name of the cookie. To make the cookie available on all subdomains of example.com, set domain to "example.com". Setting it to www.example.com will make the cookie only available in the www subdomain
secure Optional. Specifies whether or not the cookie should only be transmitted over a secure HTTPS connection. TRUE indicates that the cookie will only be set if a secure connection exists. Default is FALSE
httponly Optional. If set to TRUE the cookie will be accessible only through the HTTP protocol (the cookie will not be accessible by scripting languages). This setting can help to reduce identity theft through XSS attacks. Default is FALSE


Technical Details

Return Value: TRUE on success. FALSE on failure
PHP Version: 4+
PHP Changelog: PHP 5.5 - A Max-Age attribute was included in the Set-Cookie header sent to the client
PHP 5.2 - The httponly parameter was added

More Examples

Example

Several expire dates for cookies:

<?php
$value = "Hello world!";

// cookie will expire when the browser close
setcookie("myCookie", $value);

// cookie will expire in 1 hour
setcookie("myCookie", $value, time() + 3600);

// cookie will expire in 1 hour, and will only be available
// within the php directory + all sub-directories of php
setcookie("myCookie", $value, time() + 3600, "/php/");
?>
<html>
<body>

...some code...

</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »

Example

To modify a cookie, just set (again) the cookie using the setcookie() function:

<?php
$cookie_name = "user";
$cookie_value = "Alex Porter";
setcookie($cookie_name, $cookie_value, time() + (86400 * 30), "/");
?>
<html>
<body>

<?php
if(!isset($_COOKIE[$cookie_name])) {
    echo "Cookie named '" . $cookie_name . "' is not set!";
} else {
    echo "Cookie '" . $cookie_name . "' is set!<br>";
    echo "Value is: " . $_COOKIE[$cookie_name];
}
?>

</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »

Example

To delete a cookie, use the setcookie() function with an expiration date in the past:

<?php
// set the expiration date to one hour ago
setcookie("user", "", time() - 3600);
?>
<html>
<body>

<?php
echo "Cookie 'user' is deleted.";
?>

</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »

Example

Create a small script that checks whether cookies are enabled. First, try to create a test cookie with the setcookie() function, then count the $_COOKIE array variable:

<?php
setcookie("test_cookie", "test", time() + 3600, '/');
?>
<html>
<body>

<?php
if(count($_COOKIE) > 0) {
    echo "Cookies are enabled.";
} else {
    echo "Cookies are disabled.";
}
?>

</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »

❮ PHP Network Reference