How to add a GDPR cookie banner to WordPress (free)

Omea Consent is a free cookie consent plugin for WordPress. Out of the box it shows a banner where Reject all is as easy as Accept all, sends Google Consent Mode v2 signals, and logs every choice as proof of consent. This guide takes you from a fresh install to a banner you can stand behind.

Before you start

• WordPress 6.0 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer.
• Administrator access (the plugin’s screens need the manage_options capability).
• A list of the tracking tools you use – Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Meta Pixel and so on. The scan will find most of them for you.

Set up Omea Consent step by step

1. Install and activate Omea Consent In your WordPress admin go to Plugins › Add New Plugin, search for Omea Consent, then click Install Now and Activate.
2. Open the setup checklist Go to Omea Consent › Settings. The Get your site compliant card at the top shows what is done and what is left.
3. Deactivate any other cookie banner If the checklist shows Another cookie banner is active, finish setting up Omea first, then click Deactivate on that row. Two banners confuse visitors and block scripts twice.
4. Match the banner to your brand On the Appearance tab pick a theme, button and link colours and a position. The live preview shows your unsaved changes; click Save changes when you are happy.
5. Scan your site Click Cloud scan in the checklist (your first one is free) or Scan locally. The scan fills the cookie table with every cookie, storage key and script it finds.
6. Move your tracking snippets into Scripts Under Omea Consent › Scripts click Add script, paste each tracking snippet and choose its category. It stays blocked until the visitor consents to that category.
7. Link your privacy policy and publish a cookie policy On the Policies tab choose your privacy policy page, then click Generate from scan to create a cookie policy draft. Review it and publish.

What works the moment you activate

You don’t have to configure anything for these – they are on from the start:

• The banner and the preferences window. Visitors can accept all, reject all, or choose per category (Necessary, Functional, Statistics, Marketing). After a choice, a small round cookie icon at the bottom left lets them change it.
• Google Consent Mode v2. Every consent type is denied before any Google tag loads and updated the moment the visitor chooses. See How to set up Google Consent Mode v2 on WordPress.
• Microsoft UET and Clarity consent signals, and HubSpot consent if the HubSpot plugin is active.
• The consent log. Every choice is stored on your own site with a consent ID, time, categories and banner version. See Cookie consent records: how to prove consent.
• Nothing is stored before a choice. The plugin writes its consent cookie only when the visitor chooses.

What the setup checklist checks

The Get your site compliant card on Omea Consent › Settings tracks six things:

Row	Done when
Banner is live	Always – it shows your theme and position, with a Change link.
Another cookie banner is active	Shown only if one of 18 known banner plugins (Complianz, CookieYes, Cookiebot, Borlabs Cookie and others) is active.
Scan your site	A scan has run.
Choose your privacy policy page	The page you picked is published.
Publish a cookie policy	The cookie policy page is published.
Consent signals are on / Consent log is recording	Always – they list what is active.

The card disappears when every row is done. You can also hide it with Hide.

Tip: Tracking code added by your theme or another plugin is not held by default. Either move it into Scripts, or turn on auto-blocking.

Next steps

• Block tracking scripts until consent
• Run a free cloud cookie scan
• Create a cookie policy page and cookie table
• Need pixels and conversions without code? See what Omea Consent Pro adds.