How exactly is MAU calculated?

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MAU (Monthly Active Users) in Mixpanel is calculated as:

More precisely:

- You first define what “active” means (e.g., users who perform a “Watch Video” event). [MAU blog] - Mixpanel then counts the number of unique users (by $distinct_id) who did that event in the last 30 days. [Insights Users; MAU glossary] - In an Insights report, you: - Select the event(s) that define active users - Set the time range - Change the measure from “Total Events” to “Unique Users” - Choose MAU in the advanced settings (XAU options). [Insights Users; How to measure MAU in Mixpanel]

When you chart MAU over time, for each point Mixpanel looks at the end date of that point and counts unique users over the preceding 30 days (e.g., for Dec 31, users active between Dec 2–Dec 31). [Insights MAU example]

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Yes. When you use the MAU function over a longer date range (e.g. a quarter) Mixpanel computes a 30‑day rolling window for each time point, then you can average those points over the quarter.

From the MAU example:

- For each time interval (day/week/month), Mixpanel “looks at the last date in the time frame, and counts 30 days back from that.” [Insights MAU example] - So if your chart interval is Day over 90 days, each day’s MAU is “unique users in the last 30 days as of that day,” and a quarter‑level average would be the average of those 90 daily MAU values. - If your chart interval is Week or Month, the same logic applies per week/month point. [Insights MAU example]

The docs don’t explicitly name this “quarter average MAU,” but they do state that each point is a 30‑day window anchored on that point’s end date, which implies exactly what you described over a quarter. [Insights Users; Insights MAU example]

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