Google Analytics has published a guide clarifying the four core user metrics in GA4, aiming to help marketers and analysts understand exactly who is visiting their site or app and how to use that mix to shape content strategy.
The Four User Metrics, Defined
According to Google’s official breakdown:
- Total users The number of unique users who triggered any event during the selected period. This metric is calculated automatically, and because GA4 deduplicates identifiers, each user is counted only once.
- New users Users who triggered the first_visit event on web or the first_open event on app for the first time during the period being analyzed.
- Active users Users who have had an engaged session or are in their first session. An engaged session generally means a visitor viewed multiple pages, completed a conversion event, or stayed on the page for at least 10 seconds.
- Returning users The number of people who have visited a site or app before within the specified date range.
Why the “Users” Column Can Be Misleading
One common source of confusion in GA4 reporting is that the plain “Users” column shown in most standard reports isn’t Total Users by default. In Universal Analytics, the primary Users metric referred to Total users, but in GA4, a column labeled just “Users” in standard reports like Traffic Acquisition almost always refers to Active users instead. Anyone wanting the Total Users figure typically has to add it manually to a custom report or pull it from Explorations.
It’s also worth noting that these categories aren’t mutually exclusive counts that add up cleanly. Not all new users are active, so new users can sometimes exceed active users, though new and active users combined will not exceed total users except for minor discrepancies caused by data thresholding.
Why This Matters for Marketers
Understanding the split between these four metrics makes it possible to separate genuine audience growth from repeat engagement. A site could see rising Total Users simply from ad spend driving first-time traffic, while Returning Users reveals whether that traffic actually comes back and finds enough value to visit again, a clearer signal of loyalty and content-market fit than raw traffic numbers alone.
Where to Learn More
Google has pointed users to its Analytics Help Center for the full technical breakdown of how each metric is calculated and where to find it inside GA4 reporting.
