# Reading A Date Range Honestly

> Why a longer range is not always a better one, given how much data a view loads.

Source: https://behavly.io/help-center/insights/reading-a-date-range · Behavly Help Center · Insights

Insights and the visitor lists read a window of recent data rather than your entire history. On a busy workspace a long range is a **sample**, not a census — see [Why the two lists don't add up](https://behavly.io/help-center/user-activity/lists-dont-add-up) for the exact figures.

Practical consequence: for anything you are going to make a decision on, prefer a shorter, complete range over a long, partial one. Comparing two equal-length short ranges is more reliable than reading one long one.

See also: https://behavly.io/help-center/user-activity/lists-dont-add-up, https://behavly.io/help-center/troubleshooting/numbers-look-wrong