### [How to Find Which Cookies Your WordPress Site Is Using](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-find-which-cookies-your-wordpress-site-is-using/)

**Published:** October 1, 2026
**Author:** Alvin Collin

**Content:**

TL;DR:

A scan shows which services your site runs, but only a real visit shows the cookies it actually sets. So you need both. Run WPConsent’s free scan or the free plugin’s Scanner to find your services. Then open your site in a private window, click Accept All, and check your browser’s developer tools. The free Cookie Inspector helps you document each cookie.

You added Google Analytics. Maybe a contact form, an embedded video, a Facebook pixel for ads, or other third-party services to your WordPress site.

Now your [cookie banner](https://wpconsent.com/what-is-cookie-consent-wordpress-guide-beginner/) is asking you to list the cookies your site uses, and you have no idea what that list should say.

Maybe you’ve already scanned your site with a tool you found, hoping for answers.

It gave you names like `_ga` and `fr`, but you don’t know what they mean, whether the scan found everything, or if you can trust it.

The reliable way to find out which cookies your WordPress site uses is to use **both a scan and a fresh visit**.

The scan shows which services and known cookies your site may use. A fresh visit, with everything accepted, shows which cookies are set during that visit.

The visit finds the cookies. The scan tells you what they are.

We’ll walk through both methods, starting with the fastest.

Key Takeaways

- A scan matches known services to their known cookies, and it doesn’t watch your site live.
- Only a real visit, with every category accepted, shows you the cookies actually set.
- Checking while logged in misses cookies, because some plugins skip tracking for admins.
- WPConsent’s free Cookie Inspector documents the cookies your own pages can read, and labels the ones you saved from your scan. Your browser’s tools also show cookies from other domains and cookies hidden from scripts.
- Tracing some cookies back to the script that set them is a paid feature. Finding them is free.

---

## Find Out Which Services and Cookies Your Site Uses With WPConsent

[WPConsent](https://wpconsent.com/) is a free cookie consent plugin for WordPress. It gives you two ways to see which services your site runs, and the cookies they’re known to set.

The free online scan tool needs no install but only checks your homepage. The Scanner in the free plugin checks your homepage, pre-selected pages, and any pages you pick.

Use the table of contents below to jump to any section of the article.

- [Method 1: Run a Free Scan, No Install Needed](#htoc-method-1-run-a-free-scan-no-install-needed)
- [Method 2: Choose Which Pages to Scan With the Free WPConsent Plugin](#htoc-method-2-choose-which-pages-to-scan-with-the-free-wpconsent-plugin)
    - [Run a Scan on Your Homepage and Pre-Selected Pages](#htoc-run-a-scan-on-your-homepage-and-pre-selected-pages)
    - [Add More Pages and Scan Again](#htoc-add-more-pages-and-scan-again)
    - [Save What the Scan Found](#htoc-save-what-the-scan-found)
    - [What Paid Plans Add to Your Scan](#htoc-what-paid-plans-add-to-your-scan)
- [Confirm What Cookies Actually Get Set](#htoc-confirm-what-cookies-actually-get-set)
    - [See Website Cookies Using Browser Tools](#htoc-see-website-cookies-using-browser-tools)
    - [Document Your Cookies With the Cookie Inspector](#htoc-document-your-cookies-with-the-cookie-inspector)
- [What to Do With Your Cookie List](#htoc-what-to-do-with-your-cookie-list)
- [FAQs: How to Find Which Cookies Your WordPress Site Is Using](#htoc-faqs-how-to-find-which-cookies-your-wordpress-site-is-using)
- [Start Your Cookie List With a Free Scan](#htoc-start-your-cookie-list-with-a-free-scan)

### Method 1: Run a Free Scan, No Install Needed

The fastest way to start is [WPConsent’s free online scan tool](https://wpconsent.com/scan/).

There is no account and no plugin to set up first. It checks your homepage for tracking services and lists the [tracking cookies](https://wpconsent.com/what-are-tracking-cookies/) each one is known to set.

To use this tool, go to [wpconsent.com/scan/](https://wpconsent.com/scan/). Paste your site’s URL and click **Scan Site**.

![WPConsent free scan tool page, where you paste your site's URL to find its cookies without installing a plugin](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-free-scan-tool-landing-1024x641.png)*Paste your site’s address and click Scan Site. No install needed.*

You will get a results page listing **Detected Services**, grouped by category. A red **Not blocked** label means that service runs before visitors consent. Checking your blocking is a separate job, covered at the end.

![WPConsent free online scan results listing the services detected on a WordPress homepage](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-free-scan-detected-services.png)*The free online scan lists each detected service and the cookies it’s known to set.*

It only checks your **homepage**, and only for services it already knows. For example, if your contact form or checkout page loads something the homepage doesn’t, this scan will not see it.

So how do you find the cookies on other pages?

### Method 2: Choose Which Pages to Scan With the Free WPConsent Plugin

For a fuller picture, [install the free WPConsent plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpconsent-cookies-banner-privacy-suite/) like you would any other plugin.

Using a different cookie banner plugin? The free scan tool and your browser’s developer tools work with any banner. The steps below use WPConsent’s own banner.

Want to switch? Turn off your other banner first, so visitors don’t see two. Our guide to [migrating from Cookiebot to WPConsent](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-migrate-from-cookiebot-to-wpconsent/) shows the order to do it in.

Once you have it set up, in your WordPress dashboard, open **WPConsent » Scanner**.

It works like the online scan tool, but you choose which pages it checks.

#### Run a Scan on Your Homepage and Pre-Selected Pages

Your homepage is always scanned. The first time you open the Scanner, WPConsent also pre-selects any published page with checkout, cart, contact, or videos in its title or slug.

On our test site, that meant the homepage and the Contact page were checked before we touched anything.

![wpconsent scanner select pages to scan after installing the free plugin.](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-scanner-select-pages-to-scan-1.png)*The first time you open the Scanner, your homepage and key pages are already selected.*

Click **Scan Your Website** and let it run.

![WPConsent scanner scan running in progress](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/scanner-scan-running-wpconsent.png)*A progress counter shows how many pages are left.*

When it finishes, you will see a summary like “We found 4 services on your website that set 26 cookies.”

![WPConsent scanner scan complete and summary shared](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/scanner-scan-complete-summary-wpconsent.png)*The summary shows how many services and cookies the scan matched.*

Once you close the popup, the full report breaks that number down service by service. Click **View Cookies** under any service to see the cookies it’s known to set.

![WPConsent scanner detailed report services](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-scanner-detailed-report-services-1024x695.png)*The Detailed Report breaks your scan down service by service.*

#### Add More Pages and Scan Again

Pre-selection only happens the first time you open the Scanner. Pages you create later aren’t added, and pages without checkout, cart, contact, or videos in their title or slug aren’t added either.

To add more pages, pick them in the **Select content to scan** dropdown. Then click **Scan Your Website** again.

If you run a store, check that your cart and checkout pages are in the list. They’ll be missing if you set up your store after your first visit to the Scanner.

These pages can load scripts the rest of the site doesn’t, like a payment provider. If they load nothing new, your count may stay the same.

Our guide to [WooCommerce cookie consent](https://wpconsent.com/woocommerce-cookie-consent/) covers the cookies a store adds.

Also add pages with embeds, like a map or a video, and landing pages built around an ad pixel.

On our test site, we added an event [page with a Google Maps embed](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-stop-google-maps-from-loading-before-consent-in-wordpress/). The scan picked up Google Maps as a new service, bringing the total to 5 services and 28 cookies.

![scanner overview map embed page wpconsent wordpress](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/scanner-overview-map-embed-page-wpconsent-wordpress.png)*Adding the event page with a map embed brought the scan to 5 services and 28 cookies.*

Keep in mind a scan lists every cookie a service *can* set, not what your site actually sets.

Our final scan gave us 5 services and 28 cookies. We opened the site in a private window, clicked **Accept All**, browsed the pages we’d scanned, and checked what the browser stored.

| Service | What the final scan listed | What the browser stored |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | `_ga`, `_gid`, `_gat`, and cookies from Google’s retired ga.js tracking code, like `__utma` and `__utmz` | Only `_ga` and `_ga_` cookies. No `_gid`, `_gat`, or `__utm` cookies. |
| WooCommerce Sourcebuster *(WooCommerce’s record of where shoppers came from)* | 7 `sbjs_` cookies | The same 7. These matched. |
| Google Maps | `OGPC` and `OGP` | `NID` and `SEARCH_SAMESITE`, on google.com. No `OGPC` or `OGP`. |

![DevTools cookie table showing NID and SEARCH_SAMESITE cookies on the google.com domain.](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-third-party-cookie-domain.png)*The map stored two Google cookies the final scan didn’t list.*

Some cookies matched, like the seven `sbjs_` cookies. Others, like `__utma`, were listed but never stored.

The final scan found Google Maps once we added the map page. But the browser still stored `NID` and `SEARCH_SAMESITE`, which the scan didn’t account for.

That’s why a scan is where your cookie list starts, not the list itself.

#### Save What the Scan Found

When you’ve scanned every page you need, save the results. To do this, scroll below the report.

Leave **Prevent known scripts from adding cookies before consent is given** checked. It’s on by default, and it stops those services from setting cookies until a visitor accepts your banner.

Then click **Automatically Configure Cookies** and confirm.

![wpconsent scanner configure cookies button](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-scanner-configure-cookies-button.png)*Leave script blocking on, then save what the scan found.*

This saves every ticked service in the report, and its known cookies, to your cookie settings. WPConsent uses them to [build your cookie banner](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-add-a-cookie-consent-banner-on-your-wordpress-website/) and your cookie policy page. The [Cookie Inspector](#htoc-document-your-cookies-with-the-cookie-inspector) also uses them to label the cookies it finds.

#### What Paid Plans Add to Your Scan

On the free plan, you can document anything the Scanner doesn’t match with the Cookie Inspector, [covered below](#htoc-document-your-cookies-with-the-cookie-inspector). You can also add a plugin’s cookies by hand, using free data from [CookieLibrary.org](https://cookielibrary.org/).

Paid plans detect more for you automatically, including cookies set by other plugins, such as WooCommerce, and scripts loaded inside Google Tag Manager.

On our test site, a paid-plan scan found 7 services and 35 cookies.

![WPConsent scanner pro detailed report](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/scanner-pro-detailed-report-wpconsent.png)*On paid plans, the report lists services from your plugins, like WooCommerce, next to your tracking tools.*

To keep your banner and cookie policy current, the paid plans also add scheduled scans that run automatically. You activate this with a toggle button and set the scan interval.

![The Auto Scanning tab showing the Scanner Settings panel with the Auto Scanning toggle switched off and the Scan Interval row greyed out below it](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsentwpconsent-scheduled-scans-step_02_auto_scanning_tab-1024x549.webp)*On paid plans, the Auto Scanning tab runs your scans on a schedule.*

Our docs show [how to set up automatic scheduled scans](https://wpconsent.com/docs/automatic-scheduled-scans/).

Our [WPConsent Free vs Pro guide](https://wpconsent.com/wpconsent-free-vs-pro/) compares everything each plan includes.

---

## Confirm What Cookies Actually Get Set

The scan lists what a service is capable of setting. Next, let’s confirm what actually got set on your site.

There are two ways to check, and the full list needs both.

Your browser’s developer tools show the cookies your browser receives during a visit. WPConsent’s Cookie Inspector is the faster way to label and document the cookies your own pages can read.

### See Website Cookies Using Browser Tools

Open a private or incognito window to see your site as a first-time visitor does.

This matters because some plugins quietly skip tracking for logged-in admins. Check while logged in, and their cookies never show up, so the count would be wrong.

Load your homepage and click **Accept All** on your [cookie consent banner](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-add-a-cookie-consent-banner-on-your-wordpress-website/). Any script your banner blocks will not set its cookie until you accept.

If you accept only some categories, cookies from the categories you declined won’t appear.

Now open your browser’s developer tools. In Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and choose **Inspect**.

Then open the **Application** tab and expand **Cookies** in the left sidebar.

**Note:** In Firefox, open the **Storage** tab instead. The rest of the steps work the same way.

![DevTools application cookies sidebar](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-devtools-application-cookies-sidebar.png)*Open the Application tab and expand Cookies.*

Click your site’s address to see a table of its cookies, one row each. Other entries, like `https://www.google.com`, hold cookies from embeds such as a map.

![DevTools cookie table domain column](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-devtools-cookie-table-domain-column.png)*The Domain column shows whether a cookie is first-party or third-party.*

Look at the **Domain** column. A cookie whose domain matches your own site is first-party. One whose domain points somewhere else is [third-party](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-block-third-party-cookies-on-your-wordpress-website/).

On our test site, `_ga` and `fr` showed up in the same table. `_ga` sat under our own domain, so it’s first-party. `fr` sat under Facebook’s, so it’s third-party.

The label comes from the domain, not the company. [Google Analytics](https://wpconsent.com/beginners-guide-to-google-analytics-cookie-consent-in-wordpress/) is a Google service, but its cookie can still count as first-party.

Check out this post to see in detail the [difference between first-party and third-party cookies](https://wpconsent.com/what-are-tracking-cookies/#aioseo-how-tracking-cookies-work-first-party-vs-third-party-28).

Click any row to see that cookie’s full value. The **Expires / Max-Age** column shows how long it lasts.

![DevTools single cookie details](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-devtools-single-cookie-details.png)*Click a row to see the cookie’s value.*

This method is free, but it labels nothing and saves nothing. You match each row name to a service, and write the list down by hand.

### Document Your Cookies With the Cookie Inspector

WPConsent’s free **Cookie Inspector** watches your site while you browse it, then helps you add each cookie it finds to your cookie list.

Before you start, run the Scanner and click **Automatically Configure Cookies**, as shown above. Cookies from those services then show up as already documented, so you only have to deal with the new ones.

#### Step 1: Start the Inspector

Go to **WPConsent » Scanner** and open the **Inspector** tab. Click **Start Inspector**.

![WPConsent cookie inspector start screen](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-cookie-inspector-start-screen.png)*Start the Inspector from the Scanner’s Inspector tab.*

The Inspector clears your site’s cookies (you stay logged in) and opens your homepage with a floating panel on the right.

![WPConsent cookie inspector panel homepage](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-cookie-inspector-panel-homepage.png)*The Inspector opens your homepage with a floating panel.*

The panel sorts cookies into lists.

- **Working Correctly** holds cookies already in your cookie settings.
- **Undocumented** holds the ones that aren’t yet.
- **Admin only cookies** are set when logged-in users open the WordPress admin, so regular visitors never see them.

With script blocking on, the panel shows **Opt-in mode**. Cookies from your saved services that loaded before you accepted the banner appear under **Needs Attention**.

If you’re building your cookie list, don’t worry about Needs Attention yet. That’s about blocking, not finding cookies. Our guide on how to [audit your WordPress site for cookie compliance](https://wpconsent.com/cookie-compliance-audit-wordpress/) covers it.

#### Step 2: Accept Your Banner

Click **Accept All** on your cookie banner. The scripts your banner was holding back start running, and their cookies appear in the panel.

![WPConsent cookie inspector after accepting banner](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsent-cookie-inspector-after-accepting-banner-1024x676.png)*Accepting the banner lets blocked scripts run, so more cookies appear.*

#### Step 3: Browse the Pages That Matter

The panel’s **Visit next** list links to pages worth checking, usually your checkout, cart, and contact pages. Click through each one. The panel keeps its list as you move.

If you run a store, do what a shopper would: add a product to your cart, then open the cart and checkout pages. Some store cookies are only set once there’s something in the cart.

![cookie inspector cart page wpconsent](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/cookie-inspector-cart-page-wpconsent.png)*Store cookies appear once there’s a product in the cart.*

On our test site, the two WooCommerce cart cookies showed up under **Working Correctly** because we’d already saved the WooCommerce service.

That service is detected on paid plans. On the free plan, these two appear under Undocumented, and you document them in the next step.

#### Step 4: Document Each Cookie

When you’ve finished browsing, the Cookie Inspector lists anything not yet in your cookie settings under **Undocumented**, for you to document.

On the free plan, that includes the two WooCommerce cart cookies from Step 3.

![WPConsent Cookie Inspector panel listing the two WooCommerce cart cookies under Undocumented](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/inspector-undocumented-woocommerce-cart-cookies-wpconsent-plugin.png)*On the free plan, WooCommerce’s cart cookies show up as undocumented*.

To document these cookies, click **Review Cookies** in the panel. WPConsent walks you through each undocumented cookie, one at a time.

For each one:

- Check **Detected On** to see which page it appeared on.
- Choose a **Category**: Essential for cookies the site needs to work (login, cart, security), Statistics for analytics, and Marketing for ads and tracking across sites.
- Pick a **Service** if you know it, or leave **No service (category only)**.
- Add a short **Description** of what the cookie does. Don’t recognize the name? Search it on [CookieLibrary.org](https://cookielibrary.org/), a free cookie library.
- Click **Save & Next**.

![inspector review cookies save next on WPConsent](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/inspector-review-cookies-save-next-on-wpconsent.png)*Pick a category, add a description, then click Save & Next.*

Not sure about one? Click **Skip — I’ll handle this later**. That drops it from this review, so add it later with **Add A Cookie** in **WPConsent » Settings » Cookies**.

Reviewing ends the Inspector session. To end it without reviewing, click **Stop** in the panel. It also switches itself off after 30 minutes.

⚖️ Good to know

The Inspector reads the cookies your site’s own pages can see. Cookies set by other domains, like Facebook’s `fr`, and cookies your server hides from scripts only show up in your browser’s tools.

You can spot the hidden ones by the tick in the **HttpOnly** column of your browser’s cookie table. Add both kinds by hand with **Add A Cookie** in **WPConsent » Settings » Cookies**.

It also runs while you’re logged in as an admin, so plugins that skip tracking for admins won’t set their cookies during the session. Run the private-window check too for the full list.

Finding and documenting cookies with the Inspector is free.

Sometimes you’ll spot a cookie and not know which plugin or script created it. On [paid plans](https://wpconsent.com/pricing/), the Inspector can show you the script behind some cookies. From there, you can block that script in a few clicks.

---

## What to Do With Your Cookie List

Once you have documented your cookies, head to **WPConsent » Settings » Cookies** to see them all in one place, organized by category.

![cookies configuration list wpconsent](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/cookies-configuration-list-wpconsent.png)*All your documented cookies, organized by category.*

Each entry fills the cookie tables your visitors see in your banner and cookie policy. So it’s worth checking that each description is clear and accurate.

To change a cookie’s details, open its category and click the pencil icon next to it.

![A cookie row in an open category with an arrow pointing at the pencil icon in the Actions column](https://wpconsent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/wpconsentwpconsent-managing-cookies-step_07_edit_icon-1024x187.webp)*Edit cookie information with the pencil icon.*

You can also add a cookie by hand with **Add A Cookie**, or remove one with the trash icon. Not sure what to put in each field? Our guide to [managing cookies](https://wpconsent.com/docs/managing-cookies/) explains what each one means and where your visitors see it.

From there, three things keep your list working for you:

- **Rescan after major site changes.** A new plugin, embed, or ad script can add cookies you haven’t documented yet. After each rescan, click **Automatically Configure Cookies** again to save what’s new.
- **Keep your cookie policy page current.** If you use WPConsent’s cookie policy page, it lists the cookies saved in your settings, so it updates with your list. If you wrote yours by hand, make it match what you actually found. Our guide shows how to [create a cookie policy page in WordPress](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-create-a-cookie-policy-page-in-wordpress/).
- **Check that your banner blocks what it should.** Your list says what each cookie is. A [cookie compliance audit](https://wpconsent.com/cookie-compliance-audit-wordpress/) checks whether your banner holds back the ones that should wait for consent.

---

## FAQs: How to Find Which Cookies Your WordPress Site Is Using

### How do I know which plugin set a specific cookie?

Check the cookie’s name and domain first. Many follow a pattern, like `_ga` for Google Analytics or `_fbp` for the Facebook Pixel. If it’s still not clear, WPConsent’s Cookie Inspector shows you where each cookie was detected, and paid plans can trace some cookies back to the script that set them.

### Can I check my site’s cookies without installing a plugin?

Yes. WPConsent’s free scan tool at [wpconsent.com/scan/](https://wpconsent.com/scan/) checks your homepage with no install. Your browser’s developer tools work too, though you will check one page at a time by hand.

### Does every WordPress site use cookies?

Most do. A basic WordPress site may use very few cookies. Adding analytics, ads, forms, embeds, and other services can add many more.

### How often should I check my site’s cookies?

Check again any time you install a new plugin, ad script, or embed. Do a full pass every few months, too, even if nothing obvious changed. Plugin updates sometimes add cookies quietly.

### Why do the scanner and my browser show different cookie counts?

The scanner lists every cookie a matched service can set, so some will never appear on your site, like the old `__utma` cookie from Google’s retired ga.js tracking code. It can also miss cookies that other plugins set. Your browser only shows what a real visit set. The two lists overlap, but they won’t match exactly.

---

## Start Your Cookie List With a Free Scan

You now have a way to build a cookie list from both scan results and real visits, rather than relying on a scan alone.

Not ready to install anything? Start with the [free online scan](https://wpconsent.com/scan/), then use the plugin to check more pages.

Both the Scanner and the Cookie Inspector are in the free plugin. It’s the [best free consent plugin](https://wpconsent.com/best-wordpress-cookie-consent-plugins/) for a job like this, so start there.
**[Get WPConsent free and run your first scan →](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpconsent-cookies-banner-privacy-suite/)**

Want your list to stay current without checking by hand? Paid plans run your scans on a schedule and pick up cookies set by other plugins. 
**[See WPConsent pricing →](https://wpconsent.com/pricing/)**

---

## Additional Resources

Take your cookie list further with these guides:

- **[How to Audit Your WordPress Site for Cookie Compliance](https://wpconsent.com/cookie-compliance-audit-wordpress/)**: check that your banner is blocking what your list says it should
- **[How to Create a Cookie Policy Page in WordPress](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-create-a-cookie-policy-page-in-wordpress/)**: turn your list into a policy page visitors can read
- **[Cookie Policy vs Privacy Policy](https://wpconsent.com/cookie-policy-vs-privacy-policy/)**: which document your cookie list belongs in, and whether you need both
- **[How to Block Third-Party Cookies on Your WordPress Website](https://wpconsent.com/how-to-block-third-party-cookies-on-your-wordpress-website/)**: what to do with the third-party cookies you found

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**Categories:** Informational

**Tags:** CCPA, consent management plugin, cookie consent, cookies, find out cookies on your site, GDPR, scan for cookies, wpconsent, wpconsent scanner

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