Will Mixpanel Generate New Distinct ID After Account Deletion?

Sakir · 2025-08-20T06:56:34.444Z

i have below two questons. 1)Will mixpanel generate a new Distinct ID if the same user changes the user name and recreates the account after deleting the old one ? for example First user name was "yamin" and second user name was "yamin malek" 2)Uninstalling and reinstalling the app by the same user will cause the same thing? i mean will mixpanel generate a new distinct ID in such a case?

Will Mixpanel Generate New Distinct ID After Account Deletion? | Mixpanel Community

2 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Hi Sakir, Please stand by as I search the Mixpanel knowledge base for an AI-powered answer. I normally take about 15 seconds or so. In case AI cannot answer your question, feel free to reach out to Mixpanel support at mixpanel.com/get-support. If you have follow-up questions for this thread, please tag me again with your question: @kapa.ai <follow-up question> 👋
Feel free to ask a follow-up question once I've answered by mentioning me with @kapa.ai
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
If a user deletes their old account and then creates a new account (even if it's the same person, but with a new user name and user ID), Mixpanel will treat this as a new user and generate a new distinct_id for the new account. This is because Mixpanel's identity management is based on unique, unchanging user IDs (such as a database ID), and it does not support merging two different $user_id values into a single user profile. When a user changes their user name and creates a new account, the new $user_id will be considered a separate identity from the old one, and their event streams will not be merged automatically.Mixpanel recommends using a user ID that does not change (like a database ID) as the $user_id. If you use an identifier that can change (like an email or username), and the user changes it, Mixpanel will count them as a separate user. There is no built-in way to merge two $user_id values in the Simplified ID Merge API, and even in the Original ID Merge API, merging two identified IDs is only possible via the $merge API event, which is not a standard flow and has limitations. Therefore, deleting an account and creating a new one results in a new distinct_id and a new user profile in Mixpanel, even if it's the same person behind both accounts Identifying Users (Simplified) FAQ | Identifying Users (Original) FAQ.In summary: Yes, Mixpanel will generate a new distinct_id if a user deletes their old account and creates a new one, even if it's the same person. The new account will be tracked as a separate user.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.

kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Hi Sakir, Please stand by as I search the Mixpanel knowledge base for an AI-powered answer. I normally take about 15 seconds or so. In case AI cannot answer your question, feel free to reach out to Mixpanel support at mixpanel.com/get-support. If you have follow-up questions for this thread, please tag me again with your question: @kapa.ai <follow-up question> 👋
Feel free to ask a follow-up question once I've answered by mentioning me with @kapa.ai
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
If a user deletes their old account and then creates a new account (even if it's the same person, but with a new user name and user ID), Mixpanel will treat this as a new user and generate a new distinct_id for the new account. This is because Mixpanel's identity management is based on unique, unchanging user IDs (such as a database ID), and it does not support merging two different $user_id values into a single user profile. When a user changes their user name and creates a new account, the new $user_id will be considered a separate identity from the old one, and their event streams will not be merged automatically.Mixpanel recommends using a user ID that does not change (like a database ID) as the $user_id. If you use an identifier that can change (like an email or username), and the user changes it, Mixpanel will count them as a separate user. There is no built-in way to merge two $user_id values in the Simplified ID Merge API, and even in the Original ID Merge API, merging two identified IDs is only possible via the $merge API event, which is not a standard flow and has limitations. Therefore, deleting an account and creating a new one results in a new distinct_id and a new user profile in Mixpanel, even if it's the same person behind both accounts Identifying Users (Simplified) FAQ | Identifying Users (Original) FAQ.In summary: Yes, Mixpanel will generate a new distinct_id if a user deletes their old account and creates a new one, even if it's the same person. The new account will be tracked as a separate user.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.