Updated: March 16, 2026
If you’ve ever looked at a GA4 report and wondered why New Users can be higher than Total Users, or why Users and Active Users seem to mean the same thing but not quite — you’re not alone. These four metrics are some of the most commonly confused concepts in GA4.
I’ve seen plenty of cases where someone panics thinking their data is broken, when in reality they just misinterpreted what each metric actually counts.
If my guess was correct, you have come to the right place. In this article, I’ll explain each metric clearly, show you how GA4 tracks them under the hood, and answer some of the most common WTF moments with real examples.
New Users
In GA4, a New User is any user who triggers the first_visit event (on web) or first_open event (on app) for the first time.
Here’s how it works. When GA4 detects a brand new Client ID in its first request, it automatically fires the first_visit event. You can actually see this in the network tab — look for the fv parameter in the GA4 request, it stands for first_visit.
Important: If the first_visit or first_open event is missing for any reason, that user will not be counted as a New User. Period.
Example: A new visitor lands on your site, but something goes wrong — an ad blocker, a script error, a slow network — and first_visit never fires. GA4 will still collect their subsequent events, but they won’t appear in the New Users count. The result? Your New Users number will be lower than reality.
Returning Users
A Returning User is exactly what it sounds like: a user who has visited your site or app before.
In GA4, a user is classified as returning if their session count is greater than 1 during the selected reporting period.
Here’s an example. A visitor comes to your site on Monday — that’s their first session. On Tuesday, they come back. In GA4, they are now counted as a Returning User (session count > 1).
The session count (sct) is stored in the cookie _ga_<container-id>. Every request sent to GA4 includes this sct parameter, which is how GA4 knows whether this is a user’s 1st, 2nd, or 50th session.
Users=Active Users
This is where it gets tricky.
In GA4, when you see the Users metric in a report, it actually means Active Users. Google just calls it “Users” in most places, which causes endless confusion.
So what makes a user “active”? An Active User is any user who has at least one engaged session.
And what counts as an Engaged Session? A session is considered engaged if it meets any of these criteria:
- Lasts longer than 10 seconds
- Has a key event (formerly called a conversion)
- Has 2 or more screen or page views
You can see engagement at the request level, too. In the GA4 network requests, the seg parameter indicates engagement:
seg=1→ engagedseg=0→ not engaged
This seg value is stored in the same _ga_<container-id> cookie, similar to the session count for Returning Users.
One thing to keep in mind: Active Users are approximate, and you may see slight differences across different GA4 reports. This is a known behavior, not a bug. I’ve written more about this here: Active Users in Different Reports in GA4 are Inconsistent
Total Users
Total Users is the total number of unique users who have generated any event — any event at all.
In GA4, deduplication works like this:
- By default, GA4 deduplicates based on Client ID (stored in the
_gacookie) - If a User ID is set and your Reporting Identity is configured to use User ID, GA4 deduplicates based on User ID instead
So Total Users is the broadest user metric — it counts everyone who has done anything, regardless of whether their session was engaged or whether it was their first visit.
Quick Reference Table
| Metric | Count Basis | Where from |
|---|---|---|
| New Users | first_visit/first_open | GA4 automatically fired |
| Returning Users | session count>1 | cookie _ga_<container-id> |
| Users=Active Users | engagement session/seg=1 | cookie _ga_<container-id> |
| Total Users | Unique users (Client ID/User ID) | cookie _ga and User ID |
FAQ: The scenarios that don’t seem to make sense
I’ve seen these questions come up again and again. Here’s what’s actually happening.
Why is New Users > Users?
This one confuses a lot of people, but it’s actually simple.
- New Users counts the
first_visitevent, regardless of whether that session was engaged or not. - Users (Active Users) only counts users with at least one engaged session.
So if a new visitor lands on your site, bounces before 10 seconds, and doesn’t trigger any key event — they count as a New User but not as an Active User. Result: New Users > Users. Totally normal.
Why is New Users > Total Users?
This one sounds impossible, but it happens. There are two main reasons:
- Duplicate first_visit/first_open: Some users may trigger
first_visitmultiple times — for example, if they open the site in multiple tabs with different Client IDs (due to privacy settings or cookie deletion). - Blended or Observed Reporting Identity: GA4 merges users based on User ID or device data, which can create edge cases where the math doesn’t seem to add up.
I’ve covered this in more detail here:：Why is New Users Higher than Total Users in GA4?
Why is New Users + Returning Users > Total Users?
Each user can appear in both New User and Returning User counts if they visit multiple times in a single day.
Here’s a concrete example. A person visits your site for the first time at 9 AM — they’re a New User. They leave, come back at 3 PM (more than 30 minutes later, so it’s a new session) — now they’re a Returning User for that day.
On that day:
- New Users: 1
- Returning Users: 1
- Total Users: 1 (it’s the same person)
So New Users + Returning Users = 2, while Total Users = 1. The metrics aren’t additive — they’re counting different things, and a single user can land in multiple buckets.
Final Words
GA4’s user metrics can feel contradictory when you first look at them, but once you understand what each one actually tracks, the patterns start to make sense. New Users come from first_visit, Returning Users come from session count, Active Users need an engaged session, and Total Users counts everyone who showed up.
If you’ve hit a scenario where these numbers didn’t behave the way you expected — especially if you’ve seen something I didn’t cover here — I’d love to hear about it in the comments. The more edge cases we share, the better we all get at reading GA4 data.