How to Migrate from Google Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

⚠ Note: This guide is for those who already had Google Analytics (UA) set up but need to migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). If you don’t need to migrate, but need to set up GA4 for the first time, read this guide.

Also, in the example below, I had set up Google Tag Manager years ago to track events. So the event data in the example below is coming from GTM. If you have not set up your events in GTM, then you will be missing a lot of event data and will need to consult with an Analytics Expert for help with this.

Migrating from Google Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Open the Universal Analytics property and you will see this option pop up.

Go to the setup assistant and click, “Get Started”.

Then click “Create Property”.
google-analytics-4-set-up

Now you should see the green box that says “Connected”. Now click on “Go To Your GA4 Property”.
google-analytics-4-set-up

If you already had event tracking set up in Universal Analytics, then you can try to import them here. This won’t work in every case, but give it a try.
google-analytics-4-set-up

If that doesn’t work, in GA4 go to “Events” in the “Admin” area (not in the GA4 reports). Here you can see what events are being sent to GA4. Simply toggle on the events that you’d like to be counted as a conversion.
google-analytics-4-set-up

Now, in GA4 go to “Conversions” in the “Admin” area (not in the GA4 reports). Make sure the conversions you want are toggled on.
google-analytics-4-set-up

Now, you need to send some test events to GA4 to make sure they are being counted as conversions. You can do this by going to the “Realtime” report and looking at the “Events” and “Conversions” widgets.

GA4 Troubleshooting

Traffic Is Not Coming Through

That means that GA4 has not been installed properly. Try again.

Events Are Not Coming Through

That means that event tracking is not working properly. Go back to the GA4 settings and try again. If that doesn’t work, then consult with an Analytics Expert who can figure out what’s going on. It might take some time and expertise.

Conversions Are Not Coming Through

That means that either events are not being sent to GA4, or they are but GA4 is not recognizing them. Go back to the GA4 settings and try again.