What is Total Users in Google Analytics 4?
If you've spent any time in Google Analytics 4, you've probably noticed it plays by a different set of rules than its predecessor. One of the most common points of confusion is the "Users" metric. This article clarifies what one of the most important variations, "Total Users," really means, how it differs from other user metrics, where to find it, and when you should use it for your analysis.
What is Total Users in GA4?
In Google Analytics 4, Total Users is the total count of unique users who have triggered any event on your website or app within your selected date range. Think of it as the broadest possible measure of your audience size. If a person visited your site once and scrolled down a page (triggering a scroll event), they are counted as one "Total User."
The magic behind this metric is GA4's identity model, which tries to recognize the same person even if they switch devices. It pieces together a user's identity using a priority system:
User-ID: If you have a login system, you can assign a unique, non-personally identifiable ID to each user. This is the most accurate method, as GA4 will recognize that person whether they're on their laptop, phone, or work computer.
Google Signals: This relies on data from users who are signed into their Google accounts and have Ads Personalization turned on. It helps bridge the gap across devices when a User-ID isn't available.
Device ID: This is the fallback method. It relies on the browser's Client ID or the app's Instance ID. This is the least accurate way to track users across devices, as a single person using their phone and laptop will appear as two different users.
By layering these methods, GA4 attempts to deduplicate individuals and give you a more person-centric headcount rather than just a count of devices or browsers.
Total Users vs. Active Users vs. New Users: What's the Difference?
This is where most reporting headaches begin. GA4's standard reports don't show "Total Users" by default, they show "Users," which actually means Active Users. Let's break down the three main user metrics so you can use each one correctly.
Total Users
As we covered, this is the total number of unique users who registered at least one event. It shows the total reach or footprint of your website or app over a given timeframe.
When to use it: For measuring overall audience growth and the total number of unique people you've reached with your marketing efforts.
Key question it answers: "How many distinct individuals interacted with my site in any way last quarter?"
Active Users (Referred to as "Users" in Standard Reports)
This is GA4's primary user metric. An Active User is a unique user who has an engaged session or when GA4 registers a first_visit event or collects engagement time data. An engaged session is one that lasts longer than 10 seconds (you can adjust this), has a conversion event, or has at least two pageviews.
Essentially, Active Users measures people who didn't just land on your site and immediately leave. They showed some level of interest or interaction.
When to use it: For understanding audience engagement and short-term performance. This is your go-to metric for most day-to-day reports.
Key question it answers: "How many engaged users visited my site last week?"
New Users
A New User is someone who is interacting with your website or app for the very first time. GA4 identifies them by tracking the first_visit (for web) or first_open (for app) event.
This number will always be less than or equal to your Total Users and Active Users, as a user can only be "new" once.
When to use it: To measure the success of your acquisition campaigns and your ability to attract a fresh audience.
Key question it answers: "How many first-time visitors did our latest campaign bring in?"
Here's a simple way to think about it: Imagine a library. Total Users is everyone who walked through the doors in a month. Active Users is everyone who checked out a book, used a computer, or read for more than 10 minutes. New Users are the people who got their very first library card that month.
The Shift from Universal Analytics: Users vs. Total Users
If you're coming from Universal Analytics (GA3), you'll remember the main metric was simply "Users." This metric from GA3 is conceptually closer to GA4's "Total Users" than its "Active Users."
However, the calculation methodology is far more advanced in GA4. Universal Analytics was heavily reliant on cookies stored on a single browser. A person visiting your website from their phone and then their desktop would almost always be counted as two separate users. This session-based model often inflated user counts.
GA4's event-based model and its blended identity space (User-ID, Google Signals, Device ID) provide a more sophisticated and accurate measurement. It shifts the focus from counting sessions and devices to measuring the behavior of actual people across their entire journey. The result is that your "Total Users" in GA4 is likely a more realistic, deduplicated reflection of your true audience size compared to the "Users" count you saw in Universal Analytics.
Where to Find and Use the Total Users Metric in GA4
You may have noticed that "Total Users" is not available in most of the default reports under the "Reports" tab. Those reports almost exclusively use "Active Users" as the default. To analyze Total Users, you need to head over to the Explorations section. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds.
Here’s how to create a simple report to view your total users:
From the left-hand navigation in GA4, click on Explore.
Start a new exploration by clicking the Blank template.
Let’s give our report a name, like "Total Users by Channel."
Look at the Variables column on the left. In the Metrics section, click the + icon.
Search for "Total Users," check the box next to it, and click the Import button in the top right.
Now, let's add a dimension to see where these users are coming from. In the Dimensions section of the Variables column, click the + icon.
Search for and import a dimension like "Session source / medium."
You've now imported the building blocks. To create the report, drag "Session source / medium" from the Variables panel over to the Rows box in the "Tab Settings" panel.
Next, drag "Total Users" from the Variables panel to the Values box in the "Tab Settings" panel.
Instantly, a report will generate on the right, showing you a breakdown of your total unique users by the channel that brought them to your site. You can easily swap dimensions to see Total Users by Country, Device Category, Landing Page, and more.
When Should You Prioritize the "Total Users" Metric?
While "Active Users" is your workhorse for daily engagement tracking, "Total Users" is powerful for a few specific types of analysis.
1. Measuring Long-Term Audience Reach
When you're zoomed out and looking at quarterly or annual performance, "Total Users" provides the most accurate picture of your overall audience growth. It tells you the total number of unique people you reached, regardless of whether every single one was highly engaged. This is the perfect KPI for measuring brand awareness and audience expansion over time.
Example Analysis:
Compare "Total Users" for Q1 this year vs. Q1 last year to see if your top-of-funnel marketing is growing your potential customer base.
2. Understanding the Full Impact of Top-of-Funnel Channels
Some marketing channels, like a social media awareness campaign or a display ad, are designed to introduce your brand to new people. These users might not convert or engage deeply on their first visit, so they might not be counted as "Active Users." But they are still part of your total reachable audience. Using "Total Users" helps you see which channels are best at bringing new people into your orbit.
Example Analysis:
Create an exploration chart comparing channels. You might find that organic search brings fewer "Total Users" but a higher percentage of "Active Users," while a paid social campaign brings in a massive number of "Total Users" but fewer are immediately active. Both are valuable insights.
3. Defining Your Potential Audience for Retargeting
"Total Users" represents the maximum number of people you have successfully cookied or identified within a given time frame. This figure can be a useful baseline for understanding the potential size of a retargeting audience you could build for campaigns on platforms like Google Ads.
Example Analysis:
If you see 150,000 "Total Users" over the last 90 days, you know that's the theoretical upper limit of the audience pool for your retargeting efforts from that period.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the distinction between Total, Active, and New users is fundamental to unlocking clear insights from Google Analytics 4. Use "Total Users" when you need the big-picture view of your audience's size and reach, and lean on "Active Users" for day-to-day engagement analysis. To get started, jump into the Explore section and build a few simple reports to see how your different marketing initiatives contribute to your total audience footprint.
Pulling specific metrics like Total Users often means building custom reports in GA4's Explore section, which can feel like an extra step when you just need a quick answer. It's that manual friction of connecting dots across different platforms and reports that led us to create Graphed. We automate the entire process by connecting directly to your GA4 data, along with all your other marketing and sales tools. You can simply ask a question like, “Show me a line chart of my total users vs. active users from Google Analytics for the past six months,” and get an instant, live-updating dashboard without ever leaving the chat.