New and returning visitors
Opt in to a first-party visitor cookie so Analytics can tell new visitors from returning ones, without replacing the approximate unique-visitor count.
Reviewed 24 Oct 2026
An extra axis, off by default
Daily uniques on Analytics counts a visitor once per day. It does not count distinct people over the period, and it keeps no record of who clicked. If you need to know whether this week's clicks came from people who had already visited, the workspace can opt into a first-party cookie on your short domain.
Off until an owner or admin turns it on
What is stored
The cookie is named sz_vid. It is HttpOnly, Secure on production, SameSite=Lax, and lasts one year. Postgres stores only an HMAC of the cookie bound to your workspace: not the cookie value, and not an IP as an identity. Hashes disappear when click rows are deleted by retention.
| Number | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Daily uniques | The same HyperLogLog figure as before, renamed to say what it counts. Not replaced. |
| Returning clicks | Clicks in the selected dates from a visitor first seen before those dates. A visitor who first clicks inside the dates counts as new, even on their second click. |
| New visitors | Hashes whose first retained click falls in the selected dates. |
| Exact uniques (this window) | Distinct hashes in the selected dates. This is the real per-visitor count; Daily uniques is not. |
Turning it on
Workspace owners and admins find the Measure new and returning visitors switch under Settings › Workspace › Tracking; everyone else sees the same rows read-only, with a note on who can change them. Turning it on starts setting the cookie on the next click. Historical clicks have no hash, so new-versus-returning only covers traffic from that moment forward. It has one effect outside Analytics: while a visitor carries the cookie, an A/B split on a link keeps sending them to the variant they first saw, instead of drawing afresh on every click.
Turn on new versus returning
For: Workspace owners and admins
Before you start
- Owner or admin access to the workspace.
- A reason to keep a first-party cookie on the short domain. This is optional.
Steps
Open Settings › Workspace › Tracking.
The Audience section shows the switch; admins can change it.
Turn on Measure new and returning visitors and confirm.
The next human click on a workspace short link receives an sz_vid cookie.
Open Analytics after some traffic.
Returning clicks and New visitors appear beside the existing unique-visitor estimate. The visitor-cohort table appears with them on Pro and above.
What you should see
An opt-in visitor hash on new clicks, with new-versus-returning numbers that sit next to Daily uniques rather than replacing it.
How to check it worked
- A test click from a browser sets sz_vid on the short domain.
- Daily uniques still says it counts a visitor once per day.
- Returning clicks is a separate figure.
Edge cases
- A visitor blocks cookies.
- No hash is stored. That click still counts toward Total clicks and the unique-visitor estimate.
If something goes wrong
- Every click looks new.
- The cookie is only set after you opt in. Earlier clicks have no hash. Wait for returning visits, or confirm the toggle is on.
Plans
Collection is not a plan decision. Every workspace can switch Audience analytics on, Free included: the control is fenced by role rather than by plan, so it is owners and admins who decide, not your subscription. Returning clicks, New visitors, and the exact count for the window you are viewing then appear on any plan. One part is fenced: the visitor-cohort table on Analytics needs Pro or above, and stays empty below it even while collection is running.