---
title: "Track message performance"
description: "Read the Shown, Retained, and Retention rate columns in Adapty's Retention Messaging table, and learn why Retained lags behind Shown."
---

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To determine which messages improve retention, and which allow users to churn, view their analytics on the Retention Messaging page. The table reports how many subscribers each live message reached, and how many of them stayed.

The table has no date range: every metric covers each message's whole life. The **Sandbox mode** toggle switches the table between production and sandbox.

## What each metric means

| Metric | What it measures |
| --- | --- |
| **Shown** | The number of times a subscriber saw this message on the Cancel Subscription screen. Repeat views by the same subscriber on the same day do not increase the count. |
| **Retained** |  Subscribers from the **Shown** cohort who aborted the cancellation, and went on to pay for the subscription they wanted to cancel. |
| **Retention rate** | **Retained** divided by everyone in the **Shown** cohort who has already paid or cancelled. Those still waiting for their next payment are excluded. |

All three metrics count cancellation attempts, not people. Someone who returns on three separate days counts three times. What the subscriber does next settles all three attempts the same way. If they pay, all three attempts count as **Retained**. If they cancel, all three count as churn.

## Troubleshooting

### The numbers don't add up

Adapty can't see what happens on the Cancel Subscription screen. It uses subscription events to determine whether the user went through with the cancellation.

- If the subscription was cancelled, the user counts as churned.
- If the subscription was renewed, the user counts as retained.
- People who closed the Cancel Subscription screen, but neither cancelled nor renewed the subscription, don't contribute to the retention rate.

If a user cancels, and then comes back — for example, because you emailed them a promo code — the user **does not** count as retained.

:::note
Trial cancellations are also subject to retention messaging. A trial counts as "retained" if the user does not cancel the trial, and becomes a paid subscriber.
:::

### A default message shows fewer views than the promo message

The same product can have both a promo message and a default message (fallback). The default message will always have fewer views.