---
title: Google load mode
description: Shared explanation of the loadMode option on the gtag and
  googleTagManager helpers, for the framework migration sections.
group: reference
lastModified: "2026-10-10T02:56:31+01:00"
lastAuthor: Kaylee
---
### Choose when Google loads

The `gtag` and `googleTagManager` helpers take a `loadMode` option. It
decides whether the page contacts Google before the helper's category is
allowed:

|`loadMode`|Until the category is allowed|Use it when|
|--|--|--|
|`'always'` (default)|c15t loads Google's script, sends Consent Mode `default` with the current permissions, then sends `update` as they change. Google receives requests with the optional consent types denied.|You want Consent Mode signals from visitors who have not allowed the category.|
|`'after-consent'`|c15t sends no request to Google.|Your site must make no request to Google before opt-in. You give up Consent Mode's cookieless pings and conversion modeling for visitors who haven't allowed the category.|

With `'after-consent'`, `gtag` waits for its `category`, and
`googleTagManager` waits for `measurement` or `marketing` because a container
usually holds both kinds of tag. Pass `category` to `googleTagManager` to
change that, for example `category: 'measurement'` for an analytics-only
container. Until the helper loads, `window.gtag` doesn't exist, and neither
does `window.dataLayer` unless you seeded it, so event calls written as
`window.gtag?.(...)` do nothing.

`'after-consent'` waits for the category to be allowed, not for a recorded
choice. Under an `opt-in` policy, that happens when the visitor allows it.
Under an `opt-out` or `none` policy, optional categories are allowed before a
choice, so the helper loads on the first page.

In either mode, the container runs every tag in it once it starts. Google
tags inside follow Consent Mode, but Custom HTML tags and third-party pixels
fire on their own triggers. With the default `category`, a visitor who
allowed only measurement starts the container, and a marketing pixel in it
loads too. With `'always'`, both load before any choice. Add a
consent check to each of those tags in GTM, or move the vendor out of the
container to its own c15t helper. See
[configure consent inside the container](/docs/integrations/google-tag-manager#configure-consent-inside-the-container).

Set it on each Google helper in your `scripts` array:

```ts
gtag({
	id: 'G-XXXXXXXXXX',
	category: 'measurement',
	loadMode: 'after-consent',
}),
googleTagManager({ id: 'GTM-XXXXXXX', loadMode: 'after-consent' }),
```

The [Google Tag](/docs/integrations/google-tag) and
[Google Tag Manager](/docs/integrations/google-tag-manager) guides list what
each mode sends and how to check it in DevTools.