Hotjar assigns a unique identifier called a Hotjar User ID to all users when their data is collected. For example, when a user responds to a widget, or a recording of their session is captured.
This allows you to find recordings and widget responses from a specific user without personally identifying them.
The Hotjar User ID is applied to the user through the _hjSessionUser_{site_id} cookie in the user's browser. Because of this, it's possible that the same individual would not be associated with the same Hotjar User ID if they accessed the website through a different browser or if they cleared their browser cookies since their last session was recorded.
If consent is granted by the user, Surveys will show you the respondent's Hotjar User ID as well, making it easier to compare behavior. When this is done, the Hotjar User ID is useful for identifying the corresponding recordings to Survey responses.
The Hotjar User ID is not transferred across devices and is only associated with the Hotjar application and is not to be confused with internal user IDs from your website. It's possible to pass internal user IDs from your site to Hotjar through our User Attributes feature.
- Find recordings from a user who submitted a Survey response
- How do I connect my internal user ID and Hotjar ID?
- User ID troubleshooting
Hotjar User IDs are assigned automatically and cannot currently be extracted with JavaScript
Hotjar User IDs are automatically assigned, and customizing these IDs is not possible. Extracting a Hotjar User ID is also not currently possible.
Find recordings from a user who submitted a Survey response
Copy a Hotjar User ID from a Survey response.
If you don't see Hotjar User IDs associated with your Survey responses, it might be due to the settings of the specific survey. Check out How to Connect Survey Responses to Recordings, to learn more.
Click on the Recordings page.
Paste the Hotjar User ID in the Recording filter to narrow down the corresponding Recordings.
Filtering for responses in Recordings is available on Observe 
, Observe 
, or Observe 
Observe or Observe
You can learn more about the Hotjar User ID and other filters within our How Do I Filter Session Data? article.
How do I connect my internal user ID and Hotjar User ID?
Your internal user IDs can only be passed to Hotjar using our User Attributes feature. When this is done, the Hotjar ID for a user is associated with your internal user ID, meaning your internal user ID may be connected with multiple Hotjar IDs. When User Attributes are enabled, you are able to filter recordings by both User ID and Hotjar ID, as well as perform user lookup and deletion requests by User ID.
You can learn more about Hotjar’s approach to privacy in this blog post by our CEO.
Hotjar User ID troubleshooting
There are various cases where Hotjar does not collect Recording data from all users. In short, you may find someone has submitted responses but was not captured in a recording for technical reasons such as privacy software blocking recordings. Alternatively, if your site's traffic exceeds your daily Recording limits, your user may not have been recorded, even though they submitted a survey response.