Impact of Additional Steps on Funnel User Counts

Hi Erica P., 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> 👋

The number of users in step 1 of your funnel report should not decrease as you add more steps. In Mixpanel Funnels, step 1 always represents the count of users who performed the first event in your funnel definition within the selected time period. Adding more steps to the funnel does not retroactively filter or reduce the count at step 1; it only affects the counts at subsequent steps, as users may drop off if they do not complete those additional steps.If you notice a decrease in the number of users at step 1 when adding more steps, it could be due to the application of filters, breakdowns, or changes in the funnel's configuration (such as holding a property constant or using exclusion steps), but not simply from adding more steps to the funnel sequence itself. This is confirmed in the Mixpanel documentation, which explains that the count for step 1 is based on users entering the funnel at that step, and subsequent steps show drop-off as users fail to complete later actions within the conversion window or other criteria you set Funnels Quickstart.If you are seeing a different behavior, it may be due to specific filters, breakdowns, or advanced settings applied to your funnel.

ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.

Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚

Yes, applying an event property filter that uses "all in list" is not <value> as an inline filter on step 1 of your funnel can decrease the number of users counted at step 1.According to Mixpanel documentation, when you use the "All" operator with a list property filter, only events where all elements in the list meet the filter condition will be included. For example, if you filter by "List of ProductIDs | All | ≠ (not equals) | 'P1'", only events where every ProductID in the list is not 'P1' will qualify. This restricts which events are counted at step 1, and therefore can reduce the number of users entering the funnel at that step Docs: List Filter.So, if you apply such a filter to step 1, only users whose step 1 event meets the "all in list is not <value> " condition will be counted, and others will be excluded, resulting in a lower user count at step 1.

ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.