What file stores user preferences and information when they visit a website?

A cookie is a small piece of data that a website sends to a user's web browser, which is then stored on the user's computer. When users visit the website again, their browser sends the cookie back to the server, allowing the site to remember their preferences and various user-specific information. This functionality is crucial for maintaining user sessions, auto-filling forms, and personalizing user experience.

Cookies are particularly useful for remembering login information, user preferences like language or theme settings, and for tracking user sessions across pages. This capability makes them a fundamental part of how the web maintains context and personalization.

In contrast, while session files and local storage also facilitate data storage for user sessions and preferences, cookies are specifically designed for sharing information between the website and the client browser for these purposes. Bookmarks, on the other hand, are used to save a direct link to a web page but do not store any user-specific information about their preferences or behavior on the site.