When does the popup appear?

On mobile devices there is no cursor to watch, so OptiMonk reads exit intent from what the visitor does instead. The trigger fires when:

  • the visitor changes focus — switches between tabs, or

  • the visitor scrolls quickly to the top of the page, or

  • the visitor uses the browser's Back button, or

  • the visitor uses the Back button on the device.

Note: the Back button only triggers exit-intent popups when the visitor intends to go back from their entry page, after interacting with the site.

What does that mean?

Say a visitor lands on your homepage (that is their entry page). They start scrolling, then promptly hit the back button because they don't want to explore your offer right now — that is the exit intent.

So the back button only triggers exit intent on the most appropriate page, the entry page, and it needs the visitor to have interacted with the site first. The other actions — changing focus and scrolling up — work on every subpage.

How do I set it up?

There are two ways: ask for it in chat, or set it on the campaign's Settings tab.

The quick way: ask for it

Open the campaign and write it in the chat rail:


Change trigger to exit intent

The settings panel updates as you talk, and you save it there. When a campaign is created, the agent also proposes a trigger/targeting/frequency package by itself — based on your brief and the concept — so exit intent may already be set for you.

On the Settings tab

  1. Open Campaigns in the left menu and click the campaign you want to use.

  2. Open the Settings tab. The first section is When will the popup show up.

  3. Check what is already there. If you see a card titled On exit-intent, the trigger is set up — the card's line ends with the devices it runs on, for example When a visitor is about to leave your site · Desktop & mobile.

  4. If it is not there, click Add trigger and pick On exit-intent (When about to leave) from the picker.

  5. In the dialog, under On devices, decide where the trigger should run. Your popup only shows on mobile when Mobile is switched on — either Mobile alone, or Desktop and Mobile together.

  6. Click Save in the dialog, then Save changes at the bottom of the section. Nothing reaches your visitors until you save.

💡 Triggers are combined with OR — the campaign fires when any of them triggers. So you can keep exit intent for mobile and add a different trigger for desktop, in the same campaign.

Good to know

  • Some mobile browsers do not support every signal listed above (opening a new tab, for example). Where a signal is missing, that particular action does not fire the trigger.

  • A campaign with no trigger cannot be switched on at all: This campaign has no trigger, so it would never appear. Add a trigger (for example a 5-second delay) in the campaign settings, then activate it again.

  • The exit-intent dialog's own note: Shows when a visitor is about to leave your site without converting — on both desktop and mobile.