Hotjar assigns all visitors a unique identifier when they visit your website for the Recordings, Polls, Incoming Feedback, and Recruiter features.
The User ID is useful for identifying the corresponding Recordings from Feedback responses, however, it is not meant to aid in troubleshooting or tracking an individual user. The User ID will persist until a visitor clears their browser's cookies.
Hotjar is committed to showing you how your visitors use your site overall, not what individual visitors are doing during each visit to your site.
It is important to note that the User ID is only associated with Hotjar and should not be confused with internal User IDs from your site.
User IDs are assigned automatically
This is to ensure anonymity. Customizing these IDs is not possible.
Finding a Recording for a Feedback Response
Copy a user ID from either a Poll, Incoming Feedback or Recruiter response.
Click into the Recordings tab in the Hotjar dashboard.
Paste the User ID in the Recording filter to narrow down the corresponding Recording(s).
You can learn more about the User ID and other filters within our Recording Filters article.
User ID Troubleshooting
If you're unable to find corresponding Recordings for any Feedback responses, remember that if a Recording snapshot is not collecting while the Poll or Recruiter feature is active or consent is not given in Feedback widgets, any responses at that time will not have a corresponding Recording.
To ensure User IDs can find a corresponding Recording, make sure to keep restarting snapshots while Feedback responses are collecting.