Set up the age gate

For sites that sell or show alcohol, cannabis, vape, firearms or adult content. Visitors confirm their age before they see the site. The page behind stays blurred until they answer.

Set it up

1. Open GoConsent › Consent and scroll down to the Age gate card.
2. Under Age gate, choose Yes / No question or Date of birth. Off is the default. Date of birth is the FTC’s neutral age screen: it doesn’t reveal the age needed.
3. Set the Minimum age, from 13 to 25. It starts at 21, the usual age for alcohol, cannabis and vape in the US; 18 suits most adult content.
4. Set Remember for: how many days before asking again, up to 365. It starts at 30. 0 asks once per browser session.
5. Optional: add an Exit link, where the Leave this site button takes visitors who are too young.

What visitors see

• Yes / No question: “Are you 21 or older?” with Yes, enter and No, using your minimum age.
• Date of birth: “Please enter your date of birth”, with Month, Day and Year boxes and Continue. A date that doesn’t exist gets “Please enter a valid date.”
• A visitor who is too young sees “Sorry, you can’t visit this site” and can’t simply try again in the same browser session.
• The box shows your site name, links to your Privacy Policy and Terms if they’re published, and uses your banner’s button color. It works with a keyboard.

How the answer is stored

The age is worked out in the visitor’s browser. The date of birth is never sent to your server or saved. Only the answer is kept, in one cookie, goconsent_age, for the days you chose. GoConsent adds it to your cookie list as strictly necessary while the age gate is on.

Who skips the gate

• Your policy pages stay readable, so anyone can read the rules first.
• Signed-in users who can write or edit posts skip it, so you won’t see it while logged in. To test it, open your site in a private window.
• Search engines and link previews (Google, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn and others) aren’t blocked, so the site stays in search results.

An age gate is a screen, not proof of age. Some products also need age checks at checkout or delivery. For the rest of the Consent tab, see Banner and protection settings.