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Banner comes back after “Reject”

Should a cookie banner remember when a visitor clicks “Reject”?

Short answer

It shouldn’t. If the banner asks again on the next page, the “no” isn’t saved. Asking until people give in is a dark pattern. France’s regulator says to remember a refusal for about six months.

Why it matters

Asking again until people give in is a deceptive design pattern regulators call continuous prompting. France’s CNIL recommends remembering a refusal for about six months, and the EU’s Digital Omnibus proposal would make that the rule.

How to fix it

  1. Store the refusal the same way you store consent, in your consent tool’s cookie or local storage.
  2. Keep it for about six months before asking again, unless your purposes or vendors change.
  3. Check that the consent cookie isn’t blocked, cleared on load or set on the wrong domain.
Steps for OneTrust
  1. Click Accept, then reload the page.
  2. If the banner comes back, look for “OptanonConsent” and “OptanonAlertBoxClosed” cookies.
  3. If they are missing, something is clearing cookies.
OneTrust docs, checked October 2026
Steps for Cookiebot
  1. Click Accept, then reload the page.
  2. If the banner comes back, look for the “CookieConsent” cookie in your browser.
  3. Make sure the Cookiebot script is on every page of the same domain.
Cookiebot docs, checked October 2026
Steps for Usercentrics
  1. Click Accept, then reload the page.
  2. If the banner comes back, check your browser storage for “uc_settings”.
  3. Make sure the same Usercentrics script loads on every page.
Usercentrics docs, checked October 2026
Steps for Didomi
  1. Click Agree, then reload the page.
  2. If the banner comes back, look for the “didomi_token” cookie in your browser.
  3. Make sure the Didomi script loads on every page of the same domain.
Didomi docs, checked October 2026
Steps for CookieYes
  1. Click Accept, then reload the page.
  2. If the banner comes back, look for the “cookieyes-consent” cookie in your browser.
  3. If it is missing, a cache plugin or script is clearing cookies.
CookieYes docs, checked October 2026

The law behind this rule

EUEDPB Guidelines 03/2022: deceptive design patterns
EUCNIL cookie guidelines and recommendation (2020): remember a refusal, about 6 months suggested
EUGDPR Art. 4(11), 6 & 7: valid consent

A plain summary, not legal advice.