[GA4] Setup Assistant in Google Analytics 4 properties

This article is for website and app owners who have already created a new Google Analytics 4 property. If you only have a Universal Analytics property, learn how to use the GA4 Setup Assistant in your Universal Analytics property.

Setup Assistant in Google Analytics 4 properties outlines a number of settings and features that you can implement to get the most out of your newly created property. These settings are organized into the following groups:

• Collection
• Property Settings
• Linking
• Audiences
• Conversions
• User Management

You might not need to use all of the settings or features in these groups. For example, you can skip:

• Tag installation if you already had a Universal Analytics property and were able to reuse your existing gtag.js tags when you created your Google Analytics 4 property.
• Link to BigQuery if you don't need to export raw events to this cloud data warehouse.

Users with existing Universal Analytics properties

If you have a Universal Analytics property connected to your Google Analytics 4 property, use Setup Assistant to create a continuity in configuration between the two properties. 

Note: There is no tool to backfill your new Google Analytics 4 property with historical data. Your Google Analytics 4 property only collects data going forward.

 

To see historical data, navigate to your Universal Analytics property. If your Universal Analytics property name is "Example property", your Google Analytics 4 property name will be "Example property (12345678)", where 12345678 is a property number.

Find Setup Assistant

To access Setup Assistant, you need Edit permission on the account.

1. Sign in to Analytics.
2. Navigate to your Google Analytics 4 property.
3. Click Admin.
4. In the Property column, click Setup Assistant.
5. In each row, click:
   • Learn more to open a new browser tab with more detailed information about the setting. 
   • to go to the specific Admin page where you can configure the setting.

At this time, Setup Assistant doesn't show which configuration steps you've completed. However, you can verify that data is being collected in your new Google Analytics 4 property by using the Realtime report. Browse your website in a separate browser tab or window. You should see activity in the Realtime report. Note that it can take up to 30 minutes for data to begin appearing in your new Google Analytics 4 property.