intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie: What It Is, Who Sets It, and Consent Rules

What the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie Does on Your Site

The intercom-id-<app-id> cookie is a first-party functionality cookie that the Intercom Messenger sets to give each visitor an anonymous ID, so the Messenger recognises a returning visitor. The intercom-id-<app-id> cookie is an "anonymous visitor identifier cookie", according to the Intercom help article on Messenger cookies. The <app-id> part is the workspace ID of your Intercom workspace, so the cookie on your site reads intercom-id- followed by 8 letters and digits. The Messenger reads the ID on every page, so Intercom treats every visit of the same browser as the same anonymous visitor.

The intercom-id-<app-id> cookie works with 2 more Intercom cookies. The intercom-session-<app-id> cookie keeps the Messenger session for 1 week, and the intercom-device-id-<app-id> cookie identifies the device for 270 days (9 months) to prevent abuse.

Who Sets the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie

The Intercom Messenger sets the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie with JavaScript on your root domain as soon as the Messenger boots, before the visitor opens a conversation. Intercom calls its Messenger cookies "first-party cookies assigned to the domain of your website", and the Intercom JavaScript needs to read them, so the cookies carry no HttpOnly flag.

A TermsFeed check on the Intercom help center in Chrome on 17 October 2026 found all 3 Messenger cookies on intercom.com with SameSite=Lax. The value of the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie had the format of a UUID.

Read how Intercom, Inc. handles the data in the Intercom privacy policy, and sign the Intercom Data Processing Agreement before you collect data from visitors in the EU or the UK. Both documents appear in the sources at the end of this page.

Does the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie Need Consent?

Yes, the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie needs consent in the EU and the UK, and needs no prior opt-in in California. The table gives the rule for each law.

The consent table describes what each law requires and is not legal advice. Whether a law applies to your site depends on where your visitors are, where your business is based, and how you set up Intercom, such as the session duration of the Messenger and the disabled setting.

The ePrivacy Directive requires consent before a site sets the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets the standard for that consent: freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous.

The UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) require consent before a site sets the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) sets no general opt-in requirement before a site sets the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie. Visitors get no right to opt out of the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie while Intercom acts as your service provider. The service provider role needs a contract that limits the use of the data to the service for your site.

Read how each law decides which cookies need consent in the EU ePrivacy Directive + GDPR guide, the UK PECR guide, and the California CCPA guide.

How to Block the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie Until Visitors Accept

Block the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie by holding back the Intercom Messenger code until the visitor accepts functionality cookies. TermsFeed Free Cookie Consent and TermsFeed Privacy Consent place Intercom in the functionality category. Check whether an exemption applies to your own use of Intercom in the consent rules for the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie.

The Intercom Messenger writes no intercom-id-<app-id> cookie while the Messenger code waits as a tagged script. Offer visitors who decline another way to contact you, such as an email address, because the chat stays hidden for them.

<script type="text/plain" data-cookie-consent="functionality">
  window.intercomSettings = { api_base: "https://api-iam.intercom.io", app_id: "YOUR_APP_ID" };
</script>
<script type="text/plain" data-cookie-consent="functionality">
  (function(){var w=window;var ic=w.Intercom;if(typeof ic==="function"){ic('reattach_activator');ic('update',w.intercomSettings);}else{var d=document;var i=function(){i.c(arguments);};i.q=[];i.c=function(args){i.q.push(args);};w.Intercom=i;var l=function(){var s=d.createElement('script');s.type='text/javascript';s.async=true;s.src='https://widget.intercom.io/widget/' + w.intercomSettings.app_id;var x=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];x.parentNode.insertBefore(s,x);};if(document.readyState==='complete'){l();}else if(w.attachEvent){w.attachEvent('onload',l);}else{w.addEventListener('load',l,false);}}})();
</script>

Block the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie With the Intercom disabled Setting

Load the Messenger with disabled: true in window.intercomSettings, and Intercom loads the Messenger without booting it. "No cookies will be used" in that state, according to the Intercom help article on Messenger cookies.

Boot the Messenger once the visitor accepts functionality cookies with window.Intercom('boot', { disabled: false }). Call Intercom('shutdown') when a visitor logs out, which removes the session cookie.

<script>
  window.intercomSettings = { api_base: "https://api-iam.intercom.io", app_id: "YOUR_APP_ID", disabled: true };
</script>
<script type="text/plain" data-cookie-consent="functionality">
  window.Intercom('boot', { disabled: false });
</script>

How to Verify That the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie Waits for Consent

Verify the setup in a private window. Open Chrome DevTools, select the Application tab, and open Cookies. Click "I decline" on the consent banner and reload the page. The intercom-id-<app-id> cookie must not appear in the list until you accept functionality cookies.

How Long the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie Lasts

The intercom-id-<app-id> cookie lasts 270 days (9 months). Safari caps the cookies that JavaScript sets at 7 days of Safari use without an interaction with your site, according to the WebKit team behind Safari.

The intercom-id-<app-id> cookie expired 270 days (9 months) after the visit in a TermsFeed check in Chrome on 17 October 2026, and the TermsFeed Privacy Consent template lists 9 months. The Intercom help article on Messenger cookies lists no expiry for the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie and describes the entry as a local storage entry that does not expire.

Check the expiry in Chrome DevTools on your own site before you copy the lifetime into your Cookies Policy.

Cookies That Work Together With intercom-id-<app-id>

Intercom sets 2 other cookies next to the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie in its current setup.

Scripts and Requests of Intercom That Come With the intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie

The catalog lists 1 scripts, pixels, and data endpoints of Intercom, which a cookie scanner or the Network tab of Chrome DevTools shows next to the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie. Block the main script, and the requests in the table stop with the main script.

intercom-id-<app-id> Cookie FAQs

Is intercom-id a necessary cookie?

No, the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie is not a strictly necessary cookie in most setups. Firstly, your site works for a visitor who refuses the Messenger, apart from the chat. Secondly, the cookie recognises a returning visitor for 9 months, longer than a single conversation needs. Thirdly, Intercom leaves the label to you, because the choice is "a legal and compliance decision that's yours to make", according to the Intercom help article on Messenger cookies.

What does Intercom('shutdown') do to the intercom-id cookie?

Intercom('shutdown') alone leaves the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie in place, and the intercom-id-<app-id> cookie "can persist", according to the Intercom developer documentation. The shutdown call ends the session and removes the intercom-session-<app-id> cookie. Intercom tells you to call the shutdown method when a user logs out.

What is the difference between intercom-id and intercom-session?

The intercom-id-<app-id> cookie holds the anonymous ID of the visitor, and the intercom-session-<app-id> cookie keeps the Messenger session for 1 week. Intercom extends the session by 1 hour while the visitor uses the Messenger, and you set a maximum session duration in the Messenger settings.

What does the app ID in intercom-id-<app-id> mean?

The <app-id> part is the workspace ID of your Intercom workspace, which Intercom calls the app ID as well. Every site that runs the same Intercom workspace writes the same cookie name, and 2 workspaces on 1 site write 2 intercom-id cookies.