Reject cookie tracking on every site, browser and phone

Refuse cookie banners properly, undo past 'Accept all' taps, and block the same ad tracking in your browser and phone settings.

You'll learn to refuse cookie banners properly (even ones that hide the reject option), undo past "Accept all" taps, and set up your browser and phone so the same tracking is blocked when a banner tricks you. Setup takes about 30 minutes.

Why bother

Many cookie banners in Europe run on the ad industry's Transparency & Consent Framework, which had 953 registered ad-tech vendors at the end of 2025. One tap on "Accept all" can give consent to every partner a site lists, often hundreds, and those partners can recognise you across other sites that use them. France's CNIL fined Google €150 million and Facebook €60 million (announced January 2022) because refusing took several clicks and accepting took one. Many banners still bury the reject option behind a second layer, a faint link or pre-ticked boxes.

Before you start

Time: about 30 minutes once, then a few seconds whenever you see a banner.
What you need: the phone and computer you browse on, and access to your passwords or passkeys, because one optional step signs you out of websites.
Checked on (October 2026): Chrome on desktop and Android (current Google Help), Safari on iOS 18 to iOS 26 and on macOS, Firefox desktop (version 135 and later), Brave, Samsung Internet. Menu names can differ slightly by version, phone maker and country.

Steps

1 Look for the reject option on the first screen

When a banner appears, don't tap the big coloured button by reflex. A refusal can be labelled Reject all, Decline, Refuse, Necessary only, Only essential, Continue without accepting or Disagree. It is sometimes a grey button, small text, a link in the paragraph, or a link outside the banner box (often in a corner).

Find the refusal option and tap it.
If there is a close X, don't assume it means "no". On some sites it does, on others it only hides the banner. Prefer an explicit reject option.

What you should see: the banner closes and the page loads normally.

2 When there's no reject button, refuse in the settings layer

If the first screen only offers Accept all and something like Manage options, Settings, Customise, Preferences or More options:

Tap that second option, not Accept all.
Switch off every purpose that is switched on. Watch for boxes that are already ticked; pre-ticked boxes are not valid consent in the EU, but many banners still use them.
Look for a tab or section called Legitimate interest. Many banners keep ad and profiling purposes switched on here even after you refuse consent. Tap Object all or switch each one off.
Open the Vendors or Partners tab if there is one. Use Reject all or Object all there too. This list is where the hundreds of ad partners appear.
Tap Save and exit, Confirm my choices or Reject all. Avoid the brightly coloured Accept all that is often placed right next to it.

What you should see: the banner closes. If you reopen the settings (Step 4), every purpose and partner should show as off. Items marked "strictly necessary" usually can't be turned off; regulators have flagged sites that mislabel tracking this way.