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Hotjar Cookie Information

From Friday July 1, 2022 we're moving accounts that were created before April 20, 2022 to our updated pricing model.

Under the updated pricing model, we've grouped Surveys and Feedback into a separate product called Ask that’s priced based on the number of responses you want to collect across Surveys and Feedback. Heatmaps and Recordings will be grouped into a separate product called Observe and will still be priced based on the number of daily sessions.

Both products, Observe and Ask, will have the Basic (free), Plus, Business, and Scale plans available, and the selected plan can be different for each product.
See the Updating our pricing model blog post for all the details on this update.

 

Cookies are small pieces of data that a website adds to a user’s browser. They can provide both essential and useful purposes.

Hotjar Tracking Code cookies are set on a visitor's browser when they visit a website that loads the Hotjar Tracking Code. These cookies allow the Hotjar Tracking Code to function correctly. You can request that Hotjar not process your information across any site on the web that has installed the Hotjar Tracking Code. For more information on this and to make a request, visit our Do Not Track page.

When visiting hotjar.com, a different group of cookies is set on a visitor's browser. The Hotjar Tracking Code is also installed on hotjar.com, so the Hotjar Tracking Code cookies may also be set.

This article provides more detail about Hotjar cookies and answers some common questions we receive.

Cookies FAQ

  • My website uses Hotjar, how do I make visitors aware of Hotjar’s cookies and classify them (e.g. marketing, analytical, performance, etc.)?

    Given the complexities around jurisdictions, privacy laws/regulations, and how you and your team intend to use Hotjar, it's best that you seek guidance from your own legal counsel when determining which cookies need to be listed on your site and whether or not a cookie manager should be utilized.

    Similarly, your legal counsel will be able to help you determine how to classify cookies. Hotjar cannot assist with any questions that might have legal implications.

  • As a website visitor, how can I opt out of Hotjar cookies?

    To opt-out of non-essential cookies that have been previously accepted when visiting hotjar.com, follow these steps:

    1. Visit https://hotjar.com.
    2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Cookie settings.
    3. Click each of the toggles to turn off Marketing, Analytics, and Functional cookies.
    4. Click Confirm My Choices.

  • Does Hotjar capture users who have disabled cookies in their web browser?

    Hotjar does not track or record users who have cookies disabled. The Hotjar Tracking Code doesn't properly load its different components if it detects that cookies are disabled. You can learn more about which traffic Hotjar can and can’t capture in our article on Does Hotjar track all your users?

  • How can I prevent the Hotjar Tracking Code from loading on my site until a visitor accepts cookies?

    Solutions exist for blocking the loading of cookies until a website visitor has given consent using a consent window. The cookie consent solution that works best for you will depend on how your website is set up and the technologies being used. To help with this, you’ll need to speak with your website developer or the platform that hosts your website.

  • Can I specify cookies only apply to one of my subdomains?

    Tracking Code cookies are set to the .topleveldomain.com of your website including all subdomains to ensure we can provide a seamless session capture between the top-level domain and subdomains of your website. It’s not possible to specify Hotjar cookies only apply to a specific subdomain of your website.

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List of cookies set by the Hotjar Tracking Code

These cookies apply when the Hotjar Tracking Code has been loaded and ensure the Hotjar Tracking Code functions correctly. Mentions of site_id refer to the unique ID allocated to an individual site when it is created in Hotjar.

In order for Hotjar features and tools to function correctly, all the cookies below should be allowed.

Relating to the user

Cookie name

Description

_hjSessionUser_{site_id}
  • Set when a user first lands on a page.
  • Persists the Hotjar User ID which is unique to that site.
  • Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID.
  • 365 days duration.
  • JSON data type.

_hjid
  • Set when a user first lands on a page.
  • Persists the Hotjar User ID which is unique to that site.
  • Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID.
  • 365 days duration.
  • UUID data type.

_hjFirstSeen
  • Identifies a new user’s first session.
  • Used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjUserAttributesHash
  • User Attributes sent through the Hotjar Identify API are cached for the duration of the session.
  • Enables us to know when an attribute has changed and needs to be updated.
  • Session duration.
  • Hash data type.

_hjCachedUserAttributes
  • Stores User Attributes sent through the Hotjar Identify API, whenever the user is not in the sample.
  • Collected attributes will only be saved to Hotjar servers if the user interacts with a Hotjar Feedback tool.
  • Cookie used regardless of whether a Feedback tool is present.
  • Session duration.
  • JSON data type.

_hjViewportId
  • Stores user viewport details such as size and dimensions.
  • Session duration.
  • UUID data type.

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Relating to the session

Cookie name

Description

_hjSession_{site_id}
  • Holds current session data.
  • Ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session.
  • 30 minutes duration.
  • JSON data type.

_hjSessionTooLarge
  • Causes Hotjar to stop collecting data if a session becomes too large.
  • Determined automatically by a signal from the WebSocket server if the session size exceeds the limit.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjSessionRejected
  • If present, set to '1' for the duration of a user's session, when Hotjar has rejected the session from connecting to our WebSocket due to server overload.
  • Applied in extremely rare situations to prevent severe performance issues.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjSessionResumed
  • Set when a session/recording is reconnected to Hotjar servers after a break in connection.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjLocalStorageTest
  • Checks if the Hotjar Tracking Code can use local storage.
    If it can, a value of 1 is set.
  • Data stored in_hjLocalStorageTest has no expiration time, but it is deleted almost immediately after it is created.
  • Under 100ms duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjIncludedInPageviewSample
  • Set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's pageview limit.
  • 30 minutes duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjIncludedInSessionSample
  • Set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit.
  • 30 minutes duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress
  • Used to detect the first pageview session of a user.
  • 30 minutes duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjTLDTest
  • We try to store the _hjTLDTest cookie for different URL substring alternatives until it fails.
  • Enables us to try to determine the most generic cookie path to use, instead of page hostname.
  • It means that cookies can be shared across subdomains (where applicable).
  • After this check, the cookie is removed.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

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Relating to Recordings

Cookie name

Description

_hjRecordingEnabled
  • Set when a Recording starts.
  • Read when the Recording module is initialized to see if the user is already in a recording in a particular session.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjRecordingLastActivity
  • Set in Session storage as opposed to cookies.
  • Updated when a user recording starts and when data is sent through the WebSocket (the user performs an action that Hotjar records).
  • Session duration.
  • Numerical Value (Timestamp) data type.

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Relating to Feedback and Survey tools

Cookie name

Description

_hjClosedSurveyInvites
  • Set when a user interacts with an external link Survey invitation modal.
  • Ensures the same invite does not reappear if it has already been shown.
  • 365 days duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjDonePolls
  • Set when a user completes an on-site Survey.
  • Ensures the same Survey does not reappear if it has already been filled in.
  • 365 days duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjMinimizedPolls
  • Set when a user minimizes an on-site Survey.
  • Ensures that the Survey stays minimized when the user navigates through your site.
  • 365 days duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

_hjShownFeedbackMessage
  • Set when a user minimizes or completes a Feedback widget.
  • Ensures the Feedback widget will load as minimized if the user navigates to another page where it is set to show.
  • 365 days duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.

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List of cookies set when visiting hotjar.com

When visiting hotjar.com both essential and non-essential cookies are set.

  • Essential cookies

    These cookies ensure hotjar.com and its features work correctly. To the extent personal data is processed via essential cookies, the respective legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR as operating hotjar.com is in our legitimate interest.

  • Non-essential cookies

    With your consent, non-essential cookies are set when you visit hotjar.com. They serve to optimize the user experience, provide us with insights about how users use the Hotjar website, or are used for marketing purposes. To the extent personal data is processed via these cookies, the respective legal basis is your consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with future effect by adjusting your cookie settings.

Essential cookies

Cookie name

Description

_hjptid
  • Set for logged-in users of Hotjar who have Admin Team Member permissions.
  • Used during pricing experiments to show the Admin consistent pricing across the site.
  • Session duration.

hjSiteLang
  • Set when a page that supports multiple languages on hotjar.com is visited.
  • Allows the loading of content in the preferred language when available.
  • 365 days duration.

_hjOptOut
  • Hotjar Opt-Out setting. More information can be found on our Do Not Track page.
  • 4 months duration.

X-Access-Key
  • Keeps your website session alive.
  • Session duration.

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Non-essential cookies

Cookie name

Description

JSESSIONID
  • New Relic cookie used to monitor session counts for an application.
  • Session duration.
  • Read more.

NREUM
  • New Relic cookie, only created in browsers that don’t support the Navigation Timing API.
  • Session duration.
  • Read more.

NRAGENT
  • New Relic cookie, created only when a token is handed out to an end-user by the New Relic server.
  • Session duration.
  • Read more.

optimizely*
  • Set by Optimizely to run tests on hotjar.com.
  • Duration decided by Optimizely.
  • Read more.

mp_*
  • Set by Mixpanel to track usage on hotjar.com.
  • Duration decided by Mixpanel.

segment_id
  • A Hotjar cookie that creates a unique ID for users and is used to consistently trigger experiments, for example.
  • 365 days duration.

MUID (Microsoft User ID)
  • Set by Microsoft as a unique user ID and enables user tracking by synchronizing the ID across many Microsoft domains.
  • 365 days duration.

UserMatchHistory
  • Set by LinkedIn Ads for ID syncing.
  • 30 days duration.
  • Read more.

bcookie
  • Set by LinkedIn to keep track of the browser ID.
  • 2 years duration.
  • Read more.

bscookie
  • A secure browser cookie set by LinkedIn.
  • 2 years duration.
  • Read more.

lidc
  • Set by LinkedIn, used for routing.
  • 1-day duration.
  • Read more.

lissc
  • Used by LinkedIn for tracking the use of embedded services.
  • 365 days duration.
  • Read more.

lang
  • Set by LinkedIn to set default locale/language.
  • Session duration.
  • Read more.

lang
  • This cookie is set by ads.linkedin.com.
  • Duration decided by LinkedIn.
  • Read more.

test_cookie
  • Set by Google, used to check if the user's browser supports cookies.
  • 1-day duration.

_fbp
  • Used by Facebook to deliver a series of advertisement products such as real-time bidding from third-party advertisers.
  • 3 months duration.

_gid
  • Set by Google Analytics used to distinguish users.
  • 1-day duration.
  • Read more.

_ga
  • Set by Google Analytics used to distinguish users.
  • 2 years duration.
  • Read more.

_gaexp
  • Set by Google Analytics, used to determine a user's inclusion in an experiment and the expiry of experiments a user has been included in.
  • 90 days duration (can depend on experiment length).
  • Read more.

_gcl_au
  • Set by Google Analytics to take information in advert clicks and store it in a 1st party cookie so that conversions can be attributed outside of the landing page.
  • 3 months duration.
  • Read more.

ajs_anonymous_id
  • Set by Segment as a randomly generated ID for anonymous users.
  • 365 days duration.

ajs_group_id
  • Set by Segment, used to group visits by different website users if logged in.
  • 365 days duration.

ajs_user_id
  • Set by Segment, used for usage analytics if logged in.
  • 365 days duration.

ajs_user_traits
  • Set by Segment to identify call is made on hotjar.com.
  • 365 days duration.

_BEAMER_FIRST_VISIT_{product ID}
  • Set by Beamer to store the date of this user's first interaction with Hotjar Insights.
  • product_id is a unique code identifying Hotjar Insights to Beamer.
  • 3000 days duration.

_BEAMER_USER_ID_{product ID}
  • Set by Beamer to store an internal ID for a user.
  • product_id is a unique code identifying Hotjar Insights to Beamer.
  • 300 days duration.

_BEAMER_LAST_UPDATE_{product ID}
  • Set by Beamer and stores the timestamp for the last time the number of unread posts was updated for this user.
  • product_id is a unique code identifying Hotjar Insights to Beamer.
  • 3000 days duration.

_BEAMER_FILTER_BY_URL_{product ID}
  • Set by Beamer, stores whether to apply URL filtering on the Beamer feed.
  • product_id is a unique code identifying Hotjar Insights to Beamer.
  • 20 minutes duration.
_BEAMER_DATE_{product ID}
  • Set by Beamer, stores the latest date in which the feed was opened.
  • product_id is a unique code identifying Hotjar Insights to Beamer.
  • 300 days duration.

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