Hotjar Not Working? Common Errors & Fixes

Hotjar usually stops recording because the tracking code is missing or blocked, targeting rules exclude the visit, or short and inactive sessions are discarded. Check the tracking code first, then targeting and the 30-second filter.

The 'Not installed' or 'No data received' status means Hotjar cannot see its script on your live site. Add the code to the <head> of every page, purge caches, disable ad blockers and run the installation check again.

Empty heatmaps usually mean the tracking code is not firing on that URL, targeting excludes the page, or there is too little traffic yet. Hotjar says data normally starts appearing within about 60 minutes.

Recordings that look unstyled or broken usually mean Hotjar cannot fetch your CSS, fonts or images. Allow *.hotjar.com and Hotjar's IPs to access those assets; fully blank playback is a rendering error support must investigate.

A survey that never appears usually has targeting rules that do not match, is not set to Active, has hit its response limit, or the tracking code is blocked. Test in a fresh private window without ad blockers.

A Content Security Policy that does not list Hotjar's domains blocks its script or connections, so nothing is collected. Add *.hotjar.com and *.hotjar.io (including wss://*.hotjar.com) to the right CSP directives.

Heatmap screenshots can be outdated, cut off, or missing pop-ups because Hotjar builds them from a recorded session's HTML. Use Update screenshot (Refresh or Take new) and avoid custom scroll containers.

Hotjar normally detects URL changes in single page apps, but routes that use # fragments or change content without changing the URL are missed. Switch URL tracking to include fragments or trigger page changes manually.

Hotjar only captures sessions up to your plan's allowance and samples traffic above it; once the allowance is used up, no new recordings or heatmap data arrive until the reset. On the free Contentsquare plan, replays cover only 5% of sessions.