400 Bad Request. Request Header or Cookie Too Large is the error you have come across if you are reading this article and now you need a solution. There are many reasons why you would see this error pop up. Luckily, we have multiple solutions to make this inconvenient error go away.  We think that method 3: clear cookies from your cache is the safest bet. The others may work, but this is almost a surefire way to get the webpage to load and stop throwing the “400 Bad Request. Request Header or Cookie Too Large” error. 

The request header or cookie too large error is the computer’s way of telling you that the cookies are too large for that domain or a cookie is corrupted. When you visit a website and the cookie is too large, you will see the error “400 Bad Request. Request Header or Cookie Too Large”. 

The culprit behind the “400 Bad Request. Request Header or Cookie Too Large” error is caused by the Nginx web server. It can happen if the website using that software may not allow cookies over a certain size limit. Additionally, the cookies that are stored in your browser may be corrupted. If this is the case, the website will deny access to it and you will get the error. 

If you are still seeing the error message, then it may be time to fix it if you really need to get onto a certain website. We have a few methods that you could use to fix the error: 

Try to force the website to reload
Attempt to access it in private browsing mode
Delete cookies from your cache

Method 1: Try to Force the Website to Load

Forcing the website to load is an option that many users have had success with, but it may just be a matter of luck. You can do this by simply pressing CTRL + F5 for Windows or Command + Shift + R for Mac. 

Method 2: Attempt to Access it in Private Browsing Mode

If you didn’t have luck with method 1, then this method may help. When you choose to access a website in private browsing mode or incognito mode, it doesn’t use cookies or store them after you have visited the website. Here’s how to access private mode for each browser: 

For Internet Explorer

Click on the gear icon | Select Safety | Click on InPrivate Browsing

You can also click CTRL+SHIFT+P on your keyboard for quicker access. 

For Chrome, Linux, Windows

Press CTRL+Shift + n

For Firefox

Click the Menu in the upper right corner and Select New Private Window

Mac  users should  Shift + ⌘ + P

Method 3: Delete Cookies From Your Cache

When you visit a website, it saves the information from it into its cache and cookies. The cache remembers certain parts of the webpage and helps it load the content faster.  You can clear these out to solve the loading issue on most websites. Here is how you do that for each browser you are using: 

Chrome

• Open Chrome
  Click the three dots at the top right of the page
  Click on More tools
  Click Clear browsing data
  Choose to delete everything from All Time
  Check the boxes next to Cookies and other site data and Cached images and filesClear dataInternet ExplorerClick on Tools
  Click on Safety
  Choose Delete browsing history
  Choose the data you want to remove and click DeleteFirefox
• Click on the Menu button
  Choose Settings
  Click on Delete browsing data
  Choose site data, cookies, cached images, and filesDelete browsing dataAfter you clear this information, some settings will be deleted. If you were signed into a website, you will need to re-sign in. Some websites may also seem slower because it has to reload the pictures and other content again.

  Final Thoughts

  Well, we hope that you were able to get back on your website without seeing “400 Bad Request. Request Header or Cookie Too Large”. We know how much of a headache it is to constantly see errors pop up. Luckily the above methods are the easiest to perform compared to some other methods for more complicated errors.

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