Reading cookie expiration date

Solution 1:

It is not possible to get the expiration date of a cookie through Javascript; only key-value pairs are exposed through document.cookie.

Solution 2:

There are some who will find this contentious - but one solution is to create another cookie at the same time and store the time/stamp in it parallel with whichever original cookie is created. Update them both at the same time and that way you can easily get the time from your new cookie (Alternatively append the time/stamp in your source cookie).

The reason this would be contentious is that over the years the idea of storing cookies on a users PC isn't popular because you are taking up their space. However I really doubt a small timestamp cookie would be too horrific.

Its worth remembering that if a time has passed then the browser will not report that cookie available. The browser may show the cookie present but when JS tries to access it - it won't be able too.

Additionally I found that WebDeveloper toolbar in Firefox shows cookies that have passed but under Firefox > Privacy settings they are updated correctly.

Solution 3:

If you are using Chrome you can goto the "Application" tab (within Developer Tools) and find the item "Cookies" in the left sidebar. From there select the domain you are checking the set cookie for and it will give you a list of cookies associated with that domain, along with their expiration date.