[UA] Check if a web page uses Analytics [Legacy]

You are viewing a legacy article about Universal Analytics. Learn more about Google Analytics 4 replacing Universal Analytics.

In this article:

• For web pages you own
• For web pages you visit
• Related resources

For web pages you own

With the Real-Time reports, you can monitor user activity as it happens. If you see data in these reports, it means that your tag is currently collecting data.

1. Sign in to your Analytics account.
2. Navigate to a view in the property to which you added the tag. If you only recently added the tag to this property (website), it is likely that there will only be one view.
3. Open Reports.
4. Select Real-Time > Overview.

For web pages you visit (and don’t own)

Note: If the web page you're visiting uses Google Tag Manager, you won't be able to determine whether or not the page uses Analytics. Pages using Google Tag Manager will have a container snippet instead of the Analytics tag. Only users with access to the Google Tag Manager container being used can see what tags (including the Analytics tag) are being used.

There are a different ways you can find out if a web page you’re visiting (and don’t own) uses Analytics. The most common ways to check are built into most modern browsers. You can either view the source code, which instructs the browser what to load, or use browser-based developer tools to see if the page is sending information to Analytics.

When you’re looking for Analytics, try both methods. It’s common for the Analytics JavaScript to be included directly on a web page, so you can see it in the source code. It’s possible for a page to call Analytics from another source. In these cases, you won’t see the JavaScript directly on the page. You’ll only be able to tell if the page is using Analytics if you check the developer tools for communication with Analytics.

If you’re using Chrome, and want to check the source code for the Analytics JavaScript:

1. Load a web page in the Chrome browser.
2. Right-click the page, then click View page source.
3. You should see a lot of code. Search the page for gtag.js or analytics.js (for Universal Analytics) or ga.js (for Classic Analytics). A site can use both the Universal and Classic JavaScript libraries at the same time.

If you’re using Chrome, and want to use the developer tools:

1. Load a web page in the Chrome browser.
2. From the browser menu, select More tools > Developer tools.
3. Click the Network tab. If you don’t see any data in the table, refresh the page.
4. In the Initiator column, look for gtag.js or analytics.js (for Universal Analytics) or ga.js (for Classic Analytics). A site can use both the Universal and Classic JavaScript libraries at the same time.

Availability and access to these tools vary. Check your browser's help center for more information on how to check the source code or use the developer tools.

Related resources

Set up the Analytics tag