Most people say privacy matters — then they click “Accept all” just to make the pop-up go away. That’s the whole business model of cookie banners: offer the path of the least resistance, day-in, day-out and then sell this tracking data for money.
If you want them gone fast, invest 5 minutes and do two things:
- Hide/remove most banners
- Auto-click “Reject” when possible (so your preference is actually stored)
Step 1 — Install a blocker: uBlock Origin
Install uBlock Origin in your browser (Firefox / Chrome / Edge / Brave, doesn’t matter).
Why: it can block the scripts/elements that show cookie banners. Mozilla even points to this approach after removing their built-in cookie banner feature.
Step 2 — Enable cookie-banner filter lists
Open uBlock Origin → Dashboard / Settings → Filter lists → Annoyances and enable:
- AdGuard/uBO – Cookie Notices
- (Optional) EasyList/uBO – Cookie Notices
Click Apply.
This wipes out a large chunk of banners.
Trade-off: hiding a banner isn’t the same as rejecting cookies. Some sites will still default to tracking or keep asking. That’s why step 3 exists.
Step 3 — Auto-click “Reject all” (when possible)
Install a consent auto-responder extension such as:
- Consent-O-Matic (set it to “essential only / reject optional”)
It detects common consent popups and submits your preference automatically.
Quick troubleshooting
- Banner still there? Update uBlock filter lists.
- Site breaks or refreshes a lot? Disable one of the cookie-notice lists and keep only one enabled.
- Some sites block content until you consent/pay (“cookie walls”). Extensions can’t always bypass that.
Done: fewer banners, less clicking, and your default becomes “reject” when the site allows it.
I just wonder: Some Privacy Institutions, like the one below, are founded and sponsored in order to help citizens of the EU to protect their privacy. Why then do they offer detailed descriptions how to create cookie banners but not how to kill them by automatically rejecting cookies? Do you know why? Please let me know on 01ottjnxk@mozmail.com
