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Total Users

Total Users is the number of all unique users in GA4 who visited during the selected period. It is broader than active users as it is independent of engagement or not, and the difference between the two metrics evaluates the quality of a visit.

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GA4 uses 'Active Users' as the basic user indicator, but 'Total Users' shows the overall scale, including visitors who leave immediately without engaging. The larger the difference between the two indicators, the higher the rate of visits but non-engagement, which is a signal for identifying quality problems with the inflow channel or landing page.

Total users and active users can be compared by adding them together in the report metric selection. For example, by comparing the total users and active user ratio of paid ad traffic with organic search traffic, you can gauge the intent match between creative and landing page.

GA4 screen path: Explore > Free-form exploration and add 'Total Users' to the metrics, or check with the metrics comparison function in the standard report.

Key takeaways

  • We count all unique users who visit, regardless of whether they engaged or not.
  • It is always equal to or greater than the number of active users.
  • The larger the difference between the two indicators, the greater the number of non-engaged visits.
  • It is used as an auxiliary indicator to evaluate traffic quality in comparisons by channel and device.

References

Frequently asked questions

Should I use total users or active users to report my ad performance?

Active Users is better suited to see the actual engagement scale of your ad traffic. Because total users shows the overall volume of traffic, we recommend putting the two metrics side by side to see the ratio of actual engagement to ad traffic.

Where can I check total users in GA4?

You can add it from Compare Metrics in the standard report, or view it by selecting 'Total Users' as a metric in Explore > Freeform Exploration.

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