Exit-Intent on Desktop
Grab the attention of abandoning visitors at the exact moment a visitor is about to leave your site.
Exit-Intent on Desktop is an OptiMonk trigger that fires a campaign at the precise moment a desktop visitor is about to leave your site — detected by tracking the visitor's mouse cursor moving into the top 10 pixels of the browser's internal area. When a visitor moves their cursor toward the browser's address bar, tab bar, or close button, OptiMonk interprets this as exit intent and fires the campaign immediately, before the visitor has actually navigated away. This creates a last-chance moment: a visitor who has browsed your site, evaluated your products, and decided to leave without converting is served one final, targeted message — a discount offer, a free shipping incentive, a lead magnet, or a cart abandonment reminder — at the highest-leverage point in their session. The exit-intent trigger works in combination with all of OptiMonk's targeting conditions and can be restricted to desktop only, mobile only, or both, giving you precise control over where it fires. It is one of the most widely used triggers in OptiMonk because it targets the segment with the highest potential for recovery: visitors who are already engaged enough to have browsed, but not yet converted.
Key benefits
- Captures abandoning visitors at the last recoverable moment. A visitor moving their cursor toward the browser close button has not yet left — they are still on the page, still reachable, and a well-timed offer can reverse their decision. Exit-intent targeting ensures your recovery campaign is shown at exactly this moment rather than earlier (when it would interrupt genuine browsing) or later (when the visitor is already gone). This timing produces higher conversion rates than the same offer shown at a random point in the session.
- Recovers cart abandoners before they become email retargeting candidates. Cart abandonment is one of the most costly conversion failures in ecommerce. An exit-intent popup on the cart or product page — offering a discount, a free shipping threshold nudge, or a simple reminder — reaches the abandoning visitor on-site in real time, before they require a follow-up email sequence. On-site recovery at the exit moment is faster, cheaper, and typically converts at a higher rate than post-session email retargeting.
- Zero interruption to the browsing experience — fires only at departure. Unlike time-delay or scroll-based triggers that fire while a visitor is actively engaged with the page, exit-intent fires only when the visitor has already decided to leave. This means the browsing experience is completely uninterrupted until the last possible moment — exit-intent campaigns do not compete with or distract from the visitor's natural exploration of your site, making them one of the least intrusive trigger types despite being one of the most effective.
How it works
In your OptiMonk campaign, scroll to the Settings summary and click Edit settings. Click Add more triggers to open the trigger options and click the Plus sign next to "On exit-intent" to add it. Many OptiMonk templates include this trigger by default — if you see "On exit-intent" already listed in the Settings summary, no action is needed.
After adding the exit-intent trigger, choose which devices the trigger should fire on: PC only, mobile only, or PC or mobile. For desktop exit-intent specifically, select PC only. On desktop, OptiMonk monitors the top 10 pixels of the browser's internal viewport — the red-framed area between the page content and the browser chrome — and fires the campaign the moment the visitor's cursor enters that zone.
Set any additional targeting conditions — for example, restricting the exit campaign to visitors with products in their cart (cart abandonment), or to non-subscribers (lead capture), or to visitors who have spent at least 30 seconds on the page (to avoid firing for instant bouncers). Save, click Next, and publish. OptiMonk will monitor every qualifying desktop visitor's cursor in real time and fire the campaign the moment exit intent is detected.
Frequently asked questions
What is Exit-Intent on Desktop in OptiMonk?+
Exit-Intent on Desktop is an OptiMonk campaign trigger that fires a campaign the moment a desktop visitor moves their cursor into the top 10 pixels of the browser's internal area — signaling they are about to close the tab, navigate to another URL, or switch browser tabs. It intercepts the visitor at the last recoverable moment of their session with a targeted offer or message, before they have actually left the page. It can be set to fire on desktop only, mobile only, or both device types.
How does OptiMonk detect exit intent on desktop?+
OptiMonk's JavaScript tracks the position of the visitor's mouse cursor in real time. On desktop, the trigger activates when the cursor moves into the top 10 pixels of the browser's internal viewport — the narrow zone between the page content and the browser's address bar and tab strip. Entering this zone is a reliable behavioral signal that the visitor is reaching for a browser control to navigate away, close the tab, or switch to another site.
Does exit-intent work differently on mobile than on desktop?+
Yes. On desktop, exit intent is detected by tracking mouse cursor movement toward the top of the browser viewport, which has no equivalent on touchscreen devices. On mobile, OptiMonk uses different behavioral signals to infer exit intent — such as switching browser tabs or apps, and pressing the back button on the entry page after having interacted with the site. OptiMonk allows you to configure the exit-intent trigger separately for desktop and mobile, applying it to one or both device types independently.
Should I combine exit-intent with other targeting conditions?+
Yes — combining exit-intent with targeting conditions significantly improves relevance and conversion rate. The most effective combinations are: exit-intent + products in cart (fires only for active cart abandoners), exit-intent + non-subscriber (fires only for visitors who have not yet opted in), and exit-intent + minimum time on page (fires only for visitors who have spent enough time to have genuinely evaluated your site). Without additional conditions, an exit-intent campaign fires for every qualifying desktop visitor regardless of engagement level, which reduces precision.
Can I show exit-intent on every page, or restrict it to specific pages?+
Both are possible. By default, an exit-intent campaign without a Current Page / URL rule will fire on any page where its trigger conditions are met. To restrict it to specific pages — such as product pages, the cart, or a specific landing page — add a Current Page / URL targeting condition. Conversely, use URL exclusion rules to prevent the exit campaign from firing on pages like the checkout flow, where interrupting a visitor mid-purchase is counterproductive.
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