Banner comes back after “Reject”
Short answer: It shouldn’t. When a banner closes on “Reject” but asks again on the next page, the refusal isn’t being stored, and people who said no are asked until they give in. EU regulators list continuous prompting as a deceptive design pattern, France’s CNIL recommends remembering a refusal for about six months, and the EU’s Digital Omnibus proposal would ban asking again sooner.
Should a cookie banner remember when a visitor clicks “Reject”?
After we clicked “Reject” and reloaded the page, the cookie banner asked again. People who say no are asked over and over.
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.
Check it yourself in two minutes
Open your site in a private window and click “Reject all”.
Reload the page, then open a second page of your site.
If the banner shows up again, your consent tool isn’t storing the refusal.
How to fix it
- Store the refusal the same way you store consent, in your consent tool’s cookie or local storage.
- Keep it for about six months before asking again, unless your purposes or vendors change.
- Check that the consent cookie isn’t blocked, cleared on load or set on the wrong domain.
How untick detects it
We click the banner’s own reject button and check that the banner closed. Then we reload the page in the same browser, as the same visitor. If the banner asks for consent again, the refusal wasn’t remembered, and the report shows the banner that came back.
Every finding comes with screenshots, the evidence we collected and a fix for your setup. How a scan works.
Questions people ask
Why would a banner forget a refusal?
Usually the consent tool only saves a choice when people accept, the consent cookie is blocked or set on the wrong domain, or the banner is re-initialised on every page load by a theme or tag manager.
How long should a refusal be remembered?
France’s CNIL recommends keeping the choice, including a refusal, for about six months before asking again. The EU’s Digital Omnibus proposal would make six months the minimum across the EU.
Can we ask again when our vendors or purposes change?
Yes. A new purpose or new vendor is a good reason to ask again. The problem is asking the same question on every page or visit.