Since updating my Safari (now 12.1) it is popping in a cookie called LegacyStorageTracker.db, which is stored in ~/Library/Safari/. I assume that the db means database.

Does anyone know the purpose of this cookie? What would be in the database? Does the cookie provide any benefit to me? It's always removed by my Cookie software when I close Safari but, if there's a benefit for me, I could instruct Cookie to leave it alone.

I haven't got LegacyStorageTracker.db anywhere on my MBP, nor can I find any helpful info about it by Googling.

Have you got any idea which of these check boxes deals with it?

So, its appearance with the Safari update may have been coincidental. I tried DuckDuckGoing it but got nada.


I assume "Non-Favorites" as it is not checked off as a favorite and would be gone with every Safari shutdown. Sometimes it is removed using "Remove Non-Favorites" at the bottom of the Cookie window - for example, when I am using "New Private Window" and the cookie is sitting there.

Also, I can close Safari and then restart it which will cause LegacyStorageTracker.db to appear in my Cookie window. However, if I go to Safari Preferences/Manage Website Data....it will not be in that list.

According to Cookie 5, LegacyStorageTracker.db can be found on my computer in ~/Library/SafariTechnologyPreview/LocalStorage. When I navigate there in Finder I find

• LegacyStorageTracker.db
• LegacyStorageTracker.db-shm and
• LegacyStorageTracker.db-wal

and when I open them, BBEdit identifies them as SQLite files. It appears Apple is taking advantage of the cookie machanism built into browsers to provide services to Safari. I haven't tested this, but I suspect that even if you deleted the files in ~/Library/SafariTechnologyPreview/LocalStorage they would be recreated the next time you opened safari. From my experimentation it doesn't make any difference what settings I have in Cookie 5, LegacyStorageTracker.db appears as a cookie any time Safari or Safari TP is open and does not appear as a cookie when the browser is closed. Be that as it may, I have flagged LegacyStorageTracker.db as a "keeper" in Cookie 5.

As far as both Cookie and Find Any File are concerned, LegacyStorageTracker.db does not exist on my MBP under any circumstances I can think of.

I've got a vague recollection of a Safari setting to block Local Storage items, but I can't even find it, let alone experiment with it.

Do you have any examples of what the services might be?

Not a clue!