Troubleshoot why consent mode appears inactive after installing Cookease on Shopify, including correct testing locations, banner settings, and Google reporting delays.

<h2 data-pm-slice="1 3 []" id="isPasted">When this happens</h2>After installing and configuring Cookease on Shopify, you may use some Google reporting tools that show that consent mode is inactive.<hr>INFOIn most cases, this is caused by one of these two situations:<ul><li style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(41, 105, 176);">You&#x2019;re testing from a location where the Cookease cookie banner is not shown, so Consent Mode won&#x2019;t appear active.</li><li style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(41, 105, 176);">Consent Mode is working, but Google&#x2019;s reporting (GA4 / Google tools) hasn&#x2019;t updated yet.</li></ul><hr><h2 id="before-you-start-verify-the-cookease-banner-is-actually-showing">Before you start: verify the Cookease banner is actually showing</h2>Consent Mode can only be detected reliably when the cookie banner is shown to the visitor. If the banner isn&#x2019;t showing (for example, because you&#x2019;re testing from a location where it&#x2019;s disabled), most tools will report Consent Mode as not active.<h3 id="what-the-banner-should-look-like">What the banner should look like</h3>On your storefront, the Cookease cookie banner typically includes:<ul><li>Manage preferences</li><li>Accept</li><li>Optionally Decline (if enabled)</li></ul><hr>TIPIf you&#x2019;re not seeing the banner, test in a private/incognito window and refresh the storefront page.<hr><h2 id="step-1--test-from-a-location-where-the-banner-is-enabled">Step 1 &#x2014; Test from a location where the banner is enabled</h2>1. Open your storefront in a private window -&#xA0;Open a private/incognito browser window and visit your storefront homepage.2. Confirm the cookease cookie banner appears -&#xA0;Make sure you can see the Cookease cookie banner with Manage preferences and Accept (and Decline if you&#x2019;ve enabled it).<hr>NOTEIf the banner doesn&#x2019;t appear in your test session, Consent Mode checks will usually look &#x201C;inactive&#x201D; because no consent state is being collected from that visitor.<hr><h2 id="step-2--confirm-cookease-is-enabled-in-your-shopify-theme">Step 2 &#x2014; Confirm Cookease is enabled in your Shopify theme</h2>Cookease&#x2019;s banner settings live in your Shopify theme settings. Use the same path you&#x2019;d use to control banner options like the Decline button.1. Open Cookease in Shopify -&#xA0;In your Shopify admin, go to Apps &gt; Cookease, then select Enable Cookease in your theme.2. Review your banner related settings -&#xA0;In the theme settings area, confirm the cookie banner is configured the way you expect for your storefront. For example, you can control whether customers see a Decline option using Decline All Button set to Show or Hide.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cookease.gorgias.help/en-GB/how-to-show-the-decline-button-7260601">Show the Decline button</a><hr>WARNINGIf Cookease isn&#x2019;t enabled in the current published theme, the banner may not appear on your storefront&#x2014;causing Consent Mode tools to report &#x201C;inactive.&#x201D;<hr><h2 id="step-3--check-consent-mode-with-a-browser-tool">Step 3 &#x2014; Check Consent Mode with a browser tool</h2>You can use a consent debugging plugin (for example, Consent Mode Inspector) to verify whether Consent Mode is active and whether signals are being sent as expected.<h3 id="what-the-gcs-values-mean">What the &#x201C;gcs&#x201D; values mean</h3>Some tools show a <code>gcs</code> value representing the current consent status:<ul><li><code>G100</code>: <code>ad_storage</code> denied, <code>analytics_storage</code> denied</li><li><code>G110</code>: <code>ad_storage</code> granted, <code>analytics_storage</code> denied</li><li><code>G101</code>: <code>ad_storage</code> denied, <code>analytics_storage</code> granted</li><li><code>G111</code>: <code>ad_storage</code> granted, <code>analytics_storage</code> granted</li></ul><hr>TIPRun your test again after interacting with the banner (for example, selecting Accept or opening Manage preferences) to see whether the consent state changes.<hr><h2 id="if-the-tool-still-shows-issues">If the tool still shows issues</h2>If your consent checking tool shows errors or doesn&#x2019;t detect Consent Mode even when the banner is showing:<ul><li>Re-check that you completed all Cookease configuration steps in Shopify and that Cookease is enabled on the correct (published) theme.</li><li>Confirm you are testing from a location where the cookie banner is enabled.</li></ul><h2 id="why-google-reports-may-still-say-consent-mode-is-not-enabled">Why Google reports may still say Consent Mode is not enabled</h2>Even when Consent Mode is set up correctly, Google tools and reporting may continue to show that Consent Mode is not enabled for a period of time.<hr>NOTEGoogle&#x2019;s modeling and reporting may require time to &#x201C;learn&#x201D; from your data after installation. Based on real-world timelines, this often takes at least 4 weeks, and can take up to 10 weeks depending on traffic volume.<hr>Q. What&#x2019;s the most common cause?Either:<ul><li>Misconfiguration (Cookease not enabled in the published theme, banner not showing in the test session, or incomplete configuration), or</li><li>Google-side delay (reporting/modeling not updated yet).</li></ul><hr>Q. What should I do if everything looks correct but GA4 still doesn&#x2019;t reflect it?A. If your storefront shows the Cookease banner and your consent inspector tool shows valid consent states (for example, <code>G100</code> before consent and <code>G111</code> after Accept, depending on your setup), the remaining gap is usually Google reporting latency.In that case, allow time for Google&#x2019;s reporting to update as more traffic and consent interactions are collected.

Consent mode shows inactive

Cookease

Troubleshooting

Install and set up Cookease