How to Restore Default Settings After Importing Custom Privacy Preferences

Custom privacy preferences can be imported into Internet Explorer by clicking Import on the Privacy tab of Internet Options and opening an Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) file. This article describes how to restore the default Internet Explorer privacy settings after you import custom settings for the Internet, Local intranet, or Trusted sites zones.

For information about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) syntax for Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) files, please see the following Microsoft Web site: For additional information about the default Internet Explorer privacy settings, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
To remove customized privacy settings that were imported and restore the default Internet Explorer privacy settings:

1. In Internet Explorer, click Tools and then click Internet Options.
2. On the Privacy tab, click Default (if it is available), and then click Edit.
   
   Note The Default button is not available if an Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) file was imported with no p3pCookiePolicy element that specified zone="internet" or with only an alwaysReplayLegacy element (see below) and your privacy settings were at Medium (the default privacy level) prior to the importation.
3. Under Managed Web sites in the Per Site Privacy Actions dialog box, click each Web site that per-site privacy actions were imported for, and then click Remove.
   
   Note This step may be necessary if per-site privacy actions were imported by using the MSIESiteRules element.
4. Click OK twice, and then run Regedit.exe.
5. Delete any keys for Local intranet sites that exist in the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\P3P\History
   Note This may be necessary if an Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) file was imported that specified an action of "prompt" for Local intranet sites, and the user changed this setting to accept or reject by using the prompt for cookies on specific sites. For additional information about this issue, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
   302831 Unable to Remove Per Site Privacy Actions for Local Intranet Sites
6. Delete the following DWORD value from the registry (if it exists):
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\LeashLegacyCookies
   NOTE: The LeashLegacyCookies DWORD value will only exist if an Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) file was imported with the alwaysReplayLegacy element. This setting allows all legacy cookies (cookies that existed when Internet Explorer 6 was installed) to be sent in the Internet zone. If this element is not specified, legacy cookies are sent only in the first-party context (that is, they are leashed) for the Internet zone.
7. Delete both of the privacy GUIDs for the Local intranet and Trusted sites zones (if they exist) under the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones
   The Local intranet zone key is named 1, and the Trusted sites zone key is named 2. For first-party cookie settings, the GUID is a binary value that is named (AEBA21FA-782A-4A90-978D-B72164C80120). For third-party cookie settings, the GUID is a binary value that is named (A8A88C49-5EB2-4990-A1A2-0876022C854F).
   
   Note For the Local intranet (1) and Trusted sites (2) zones, there are no GUIDs for cookie settings by default so they will only exist if an Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) file was imported with a p3pCookiePolicy element that specified zone="intranet" or zone="trustedSites". Internet Explorer does not allow you to customize settings for the Restricted sites (4) zone by importing an Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) file, and customized settings for the Internet (3) zone are removed (except for the LeashLegacyCookies DWORD value as noted above) when you click the Default button on the Privacy tab.

Note The preceding steps do not restore cookies that are deleted or per-site privacy actions that are removed when importing an Internet Explorer Privacy Preferences (.xml) file with the flushCookies or flushSiteList elements. The flushCookies element deletes all cookies when customized privacy settings are imported, and the flushSiteList element deletes all per site decisions when customized privacy settings are imported.

For additional information about privacy settings, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: