> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.hoopai.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Troubleshooting sticky contacts for forms and calendars

> Understand and troubleshoot sticky contact behavior in the HoopAI platform, including auto-filled form fields, unintended contact updates, and how to disable sticky contacts.

Sticky contacts is a feature in the HoopAI platform that uses browser cookies to identify returning visitors and auto-fill form and calendar booking fields with their previously submitted information. While this improves the experience for returning contacts, it can cause unexpected behavior in some scenarios.

***

## How sticky contacts work

When a visitor submits a form or books a calendar appointment in Hoop, a cookie is stored in their browser. On subsequent visits, Hoop uses this cookie to:

* Pre-fill form fields (name, email, phone) with the contact's existing data
* Associate new form submissions with the existing contact record instead of creating a new one
* Link calendar bookings to the same contact profile

<Info>
  Sticky contact identification is tied to the browser and device. If a visitor uses a different browser or clears their cookies, they are treated as a new visitor.
</Info>

***

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Existing contact data is overwritten by a new submission">
    When sticky contacts is active and a second person uses the same device (for example, at a kiosk or shared computer), the new submission updates the existing contact record instead of creating a new contact. This happens because Hoop associates the submission with the cookie from the first visitor.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Form fields show someone else's information">
    If multiple people share a device, the form auto-fills with the previous person's data. The new visitor may not notice and submit the form with incorrect pre-filled values, leading to data integrity issues.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="New contacts are not being created">
    If every submission updates an existing contact instead of creating new ones, sticky contacts is matching submissions to a previously identified visitor via cookies. This is expected behavior when the same device is reused.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Calendar bookings attributed to the wrong person">
    The same cookie-based identification applies to calendar booking widgets. A second visitor using the same device may have their booking linked to the first visitor's contact record.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## When sticky contacts causes problems

Sticky contacts works well for most use cases but causes issues in environments where multiple people use the same device:

| Scenario                           | Impact                                                               |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Trade show or event kiosks         | Each new visitor's data overwrites the previous visitor's contact    |
| Shared family or office computers  | Form fields auto-fill with another household or office member's data |
| Demo or testing environments       | Repeated testing creates data conflicts on the same contact record   |
| Public library or school computers | Submissions are associated with a previous user's cookie             |

***

## How to disable sticky contacts

You can disable sticky contact behavior by adding a custom parameter to your form or calendar URL.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Identify the form or calendar URL">
    Open the funnel page, website page, or standalone form/calendar link where sticky contacts is causing issues.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Append the notrack parameter">
    Add `?notrack=true` to the end of the URL. For example:

    ```
    https://yourdomain.com/form?notrack=true
    ```

    If the URL already has query parameters, use `&notrack=true` instead.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test the updated URL">
    Open the URL in a browser where a cookie already exists. The form fields should now be empty and submissions should create new contact records.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  For kiosk or event scenarios, combine the `notrack` parameter with opening the form in an incognito or private browsing window for maximum isolation between visitors.
</Tip>

***

## Clearing sticky contact cookies manually

If you need to clear the sticky contact cookie for a specific browser session:

1. Open your browser's developer tools (`F12`)
2. Navigate to the **Application** tab (Chrome/Edge) or **Storage** tab (Firefox)
3. Expand **Cookies** and locate the domain of your Hoop-hosted form
4. Delete cookies that begin with `__hlc` or `__hoop` — these are the tracking cookies used for sticky contact identification
5. Refresh the page to confirm the form fields are no longer auto-filled

<Warning>
  Deleting cookies only affects the current browser. If the same contact has cookies on other devices, those sessions will continue to use sticky contact behavior.
</Warning>

***

## Best practices

* **Shared devices**: Always use the `notrack` parameter on forms intended for shared or public devices
* **Testing**: Use incognito mode or clear cookies between test submissions to avoid creating data conflicts in your Hoop account
* **Workflows**: If your workflows rely on new contact triggers, be aware that sticky contacts may cause submissions to fire a "contact updated" event instead of a "contact created" event