Bypass cookie banners by toggling “reader view” in your browser

Nota bene: bypassing cookie banners does not mean ignoring financial contributions organizations need to exist.

TL;DR

Toggle reader view of your browser to dismiss cookie banners. On Firefox, the shortcut is ⌥⌘R.

Summary

• Rejecting all cookies is tedious
• The reader view alternative takes 1 click to bypass the cookie banner

Sometimes cookie banners take almost half of the screen.

cookie banner in pink frame

And disabling unwanted cookies needs two or three clicks, sometimes more — just to access one article.

Example on that website from the screenshot above:

Rejecting all cookies is tedious

1. Click “Manage my cookies” (see previous screenshot), you land on “Privacy settings.”

privacy settings, and “Reject all” in pink frame

2. Click “Reject all” (once you’ve found it - it is hard to see sometimes.)

There is a quicker way to access the page you want without accepting cookies.

The reader view alternative takes 1 click to bypass cookie banners

You can toggle the reader view of your browser to bypass cookie banners.

1. Toggle reader view by pressing keys ⌥⌘R (on Firefox), or click the button to the right in the navigation bar:

navigation bar with reader view button in pink frame

Done. You can read your article, or see your page. The page looks like this in the reader view:

reader view

Hey, I’m writing a book to explain how platforms and applications get away with what they promise they will do (and don’t do); and what impact your usage has on your well-being. You can sign up here to get an email when the book is out.