Cookie Policy

This page lists every cookie ForgeFile may set on your device, what each one does, how long it lasts and how to reject or change consent. Most cookie policies are unreadable legalese — ours is the opposite. We aim for a one-screen scan that answers your real question: what is on my machine, why and how do I turn it off?

Last updated: June 2026

What cookies we use

We group cookies into four categories. Only the first category sets cookies before you give consent — the others wait until you accept them on the consent banner.

Strictly necessary
Purpose: Keep you signed in, prevent cross-site request forgery, remember your dark or light theme and record your cookie consent decision. Without these the product does not function.
Examples: ft (theme preference, 365 days), ff_cookie_consent (consent decision, 365 days), XSRF-TOKEN (CSRF guard, session), laravel_session (session ID, session)
Duration: session to 12 months · Provider: first-party (ForgeFile) · Consent required: no (GDPR Article 5(3) exemption)
Analytics
Purpose: Count visits, see which pages perform well, find broken funnels. Data is aggregated and IP addresses are truncated before storage.
Examples: if enabled in the consent banner we may load Google Analytics 4, which sets _ga, _ga_* and _gid. None of these are loaded by default.
Duration: up to 24 months · Provider: Google LLC · Consent required: yes
Marketing
Purpose: Measure the effectiveness of paid campaigns and show relevant ads on partner platforms. No uploaded files or document content are ever shared with ad networks.
Examples: if enabled, advertising pixels such as Meta Pixel (_fbp) or Google Ads (_gcl_au) may be loaded. None are loaded by default.
Duration: up to 13 months · Provider: Meta, Google · Consent required: yes
Preferences
Purpose: Remember non-essential choices stored alongside the consent record, such as which optional cookie categories you selected.
Examples: ff_cookie_prefs (per-category opt-ins saved when you use "Customize" on the consent banner)
Duration: up to 12 months · Provider: first-party (ForgeFile) · Consent required: yes

How we got your consent

Visitors from the EU, UK, EEA and Switzerland see a cookie consent banner on first visit. Nothing beyond strictly necessary cookies is set until you accept either everything or a specific category. Visitors from regions without explicit consent rules — for example most of the US — see a smaller notice instead and can change their choice from the footer at any time. Your decision is stored in the first-party ff_cookie_consent cookie and respected for 12 months unless you change it.

How to manage cookies

You have three independent paths to manage cookies, and you can use any combination of them.

  1. Re-open the consent banner. Use the "Cookie settings" link in the site footer to change which categories you accept. Changes take effect on the next page load.
  2. Browser settings. Every modern browser lets you block, delete or whitelist cookies per site. Look under Privacy and security in Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge. Clearing cookies will sign you out of ForgeFile.
  3. Opt-out tools. For platform-level opt-outs, install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, use the Meta ad preferences page, or visit youronlinechoices.eu and youradchoices.com to manage advertising cookies across the web.

What happens if you reject cookies

The product still works. Sign-in, file upload, translation, transcription, OCR, file conversion, language switching and dark mode all depend only on strictly necessary cookies, which are exempt from consent. What you lose is analytics — we no longer see your visit in aggregate — and marketing — ads on third-party platforms are no longer measured. Your theme preference is itself a strictly necessary cookie, so dark mode is remembered either way.

Frequently asked questions

Does ForgeFile work if I reject all cookies?

Yes. Core features rely only on strictly necessary cookies, which are exempt from consent. Rejecting analytics and marketing cookies blocks tracking but does not block the product.

Which cookies does ForgeFile set?

By default only strictly necessary first-party cookies: ft (theme), ff_cookie_consent (consent record), XSRF-TOKEN and laravel_session (security and sign-in). Analytics (_ga, _ga_*, _gid) and marketing (_fbp, _gcl_au) cookies are listed by category but are only set after you opt in on the consent banner. We update this page when a new third-party script ships.

How do I change or withdraw cookie consent?

Open the "Cookie settings" link in the footer, clear cookies in your browser, or use opt-out tools like the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Changes take effect on the next page load.

Third-party cookies and your choices

Analytics and marketing cookies are set and read by the third parties named above under their own privacy and cookie policies. ForgeFile does not control those cookies and is not responsible for the practices of those third parties. Choosing which cookies to accept or reject is your decision, and you are responsible for the choices you make here and in your browser.

For details on what we do with the data these cookies collect, see our Privacy Policy or our Data Deletion page if you want everything removed.