# "Last Seen" Column in the Users List

> Records when each user was last active on the site (not just when they last logged in) and shows it in a sortable "Last seen" column on the Users screen.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Users](https://wpide.com/library/category/users/)
- Tags: users, activity, admin
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/last-seen-users-column/

## Code

```php
add_action( 'init', function () {
    $user_id = get_current_user_id();

    if ( ! $user_id || wp_doing_cron() ) {
        return;
    }

    $last = (int) get_user_meta( $user_id, 'wpide_last_seen', true );

    if ( time() - $last > 15 * MINUTE_IN_SECONDS ) {
        update_user_meta( $user_id, 'wpide_last_seen', time() );
    }
} );

add_filter( 'manage_users_columns', function ( $columns ) {
    $columns['wpide_last_seen'] = 'Last seen';

    return $columns;
} );

add_filter( 'manage_users_sortable_columns', function ( $columns ) {
    $columns['wpide_last_seen'] = 'wpide_last_seen';

    return $columns;
} );

add_filter( 'manage_users_custom_column', function ( $output, $column, $user_id ) {
    if ( 'wpide_last_seen' !== $column ) {
        return $output;
    }

    $time = (int) get_user_meta( $user_id, 'wpide_last_seen', true );

    return $time ? '<span title="' . esc_attr( wp_date( 'Y-m-d H:i', $time ) ) . '">' . esc_html( sprintf( '%s ago', human_time_diff( $time ) ) ) . '</span>' : '&mdash;';
}, 10, 3 );

add_action( 'pre_get_users', function ( $query ) {
    if ( is_admin() && 'wpide_last_seen' === $query->get( 'orderby' ) ) {
        $query->set( 'meta_key', 'wpide_last_seen' );
        $query->set( 'orderby', 'meta_value_num' );
    }
} );
```

## Notes

Activity is saved at most once every 15 minutes per user, so it adds almost no database writes.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find ""Last Seen" Column in the Users List" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/