How can a cookie be removed in JavaScript?

To remove a cookie in JavaScript, the correct method involves setting an expiration date in the past. When a cookie's expiration date is set to a time that has already occurred, the browser recognizes that the cookie is no longer valid and will delete it from the user's storage. This is a standard approach for cookie management, as it effectively instructs the browser to reclaim that space.

While there are methods that might seem logical, like overwriting the cookie with an empty value or setting it to "null," these do not actually remove the cookie from the browser's storage. These actions may simply clear the value but will not change the cookie's expiration date, which means the cookie will still persist until it reaches its predefined expiration.

The notion of calling a delete method on the cookie object is also not applicable in standard JavaScript cookie manipulation, as the cookie API does not provide a delete method. Instead, manipulating cookies primarily revolves around setting new cookies with specific attributes, including expiration, to manage their lifecycle effectively.

Thus, setting an expiration date to a date that has already passed is the recognized and correct method to remove cookies in JavaScript.