Practice & troubleshooting · Knowledge
How do I exclude my own visits from the statistics?
On a site with a hundred visits a day, your own editing sessions are a measurable lie: excluding yourself is not vanity but data hygiene – and Matomo offers three clean ways.
The ranking: IP exclusion for fixed addresses, the opt-out cookie for changing connections, and JStats menu exclusions when whole areas should stay silent for everyone.
The three ways, their fit – and the anonymisation caveat
Way one, IP exclusion: in Matomo under Administration → Websites → Settings, list the IPs (or ranges) whose visits should be ignored – perfect for office or home connections with static addresses, set once, works in every browser and device behind that line. Its caveat is double: dynamic home connections change addresses, and if you mask IP bytes (as this knowledge area recommends), the exclusion compares against the masked form – test once whether your entry still matches. Way two, the opt-out cookie: visit your own privacy page and untick the Matomo opt-out widget – your browser is skipped regardless of network; the caveat mirrors the opt-out question: the memory is a cookie, so private windows and strictly cookieless setups forget it, and each browser/device needs its own untick. Way three, structural: the JStats menu exclusion keeps whole menu items out of tracking for all visitors – the right tool when an intranet-like area, a staging menu or legal pages should never appear in statistics, and the wrong tool for personal exclusion, since it silences everyone. In practice, combine: IPs for the fixed lines, the cookie on your travel laptop, menu exclusions for the areas that are nobody's statistic. Then verify with the testing routine – an exclusion you never tested is a hope, not a setting.
Key facts
- Way 1 – IP list: Administration → Websites → Settings; ideal for static office/home lines.
- Caveat: with IP masking active, the exclusion compares masked forms – test once.
- Way 2 – opt-out cookie: per browser/device; forgotten by private windows and cookieless strictness.
- Way 3 – JStats menu exclusion: silences whole menu items for everyone – structural, not personal.
- Combine and verify: fixed IPs + travel cookie + structural exclusions, then run the test routine.