Use the GA4 Migrator for Google Analytics Google Sheets add-on to recreate audiences from a Universal Analytics property in a Google Analytics 4 property.
You can recreate audiences that are based on dimensions and metrics that are available in both Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4. Audiences that are available for recreation are identified as such in the tool. If an audience is not available for recreation, you can recreate it in Google Analytics 4 using similar dimensions and metrics.
How to use the tool
To use the tool, you need the following access:
- Viewer role for the Universal Analytics property
- Editor role for the Google Analytics 4 property
After you've installed and activated the Google Sheets add-on (below), follow these steps:
- Import audience definitions from your Universal Analytics property to a Google Sheet.
- Decide how you want to export audiences from your Google Sheet to your Google Analytics 4 property (e.g., using the existing definition or modifying the definition first in the tool, then exporting).
- Export your audiences from the Google Sheet to your Google Analytics 4 property.
Before you begin
Here's what you'll need before you can start using the tool.
- Install the add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace.
You can also access the add-on store listing through the Google Sheets menu by selecting Extensions > Add-ons > Get add-ons, and searching for GA4 Migrator for Google Analytics.
- Open the add-on listing, and click Install to install the add-on.
- Follow the prompt to complete the installation process.
- After you've finished installing the add-on, open Google Sheets. Use the same Google Account that has at least the Viewer role for your Universal Analytics property and at least the Editor role for your Google Analytics 4 property.
- Create a new Google Sheet, and activate the add-on sidebar by selecting Extensions > GA4 Migrator for Google Analytics™ > Migrate audience definitions to GA4 from the menu.
Step 1: Import audience definitions from your Universal Analytics property
When you activate the add-on, you see the following dialog that guides you through the process.
- To begin, use the Google Analytics Account menu to select the Universal Analytics account that includes the property from which you want to import audiences. You'll see a list of accounts for which you have at least the Viewer role.
- Use the Universal Analytics Property menu to select the property whose audiences you want to import. You'll see a list of properties for which you have at least the Editor role.
- Click Import audiences from Universal Analytics.
The import process should complete in a few seconds. You'll see a confirmation message once the process is complete.
Step 2: Decide how to export each audience
Once the import process is complete, you'll see a Google Sheet that includes audience names, definitions, and information about whether you can export the definitions to Google Analytics 4. If you can export the audience definition, the first column will say "Ready to migrate".
For each audience that you can export, you can edit its definition in the Google Sheet. For example, if the condition in Column E (Include Segment) is sessions::condition::ga:country=@Canada, then you can change that to sessions::condition::ga:country=@France (or any other country).
Once you've reviewed your audiences, you're ready to export them to a Google Analytics 4 property.
For audiences that are Not compatible with GA4, if there are comparable dimensions and/or metrics in Google Analytics 4, then you can edit the include and/or exclude statements in the Google Sheet or recreate the audiences in your Google Analytics 4 property.
Step 3: Export audiences to a Google Analytics 4 property
- Use the Google Analytics 4 property menu to select the property you want to export the audience definitions to.
- Click Migrate to start the process.
Once the process is complete, you'll see a confirmation message.
Where to see your recreated audiences in Google Analytics 4
In Admin, under Property, click Property details.
How the tool works
The tool uses the Google Analytics Management API to import Universal Analytics audience definitions into a spreadsheet. Universal Analytics audience definitions are formatted by the Management API and displayed in the recreation sheet using the legacy Core Reporting API segments syntax.
Every Universal Analytics audience-definition expression is parsed by the tool and validated against the list of metrics and dimensions supported in Google Analytics 4.
To export the audience definition to a Google Analytics 4 property, the tool uses the audience-management functionality of the Google Analytics Admin API.
During the audience-export stage, each dimension and metric inside a Universal Analytics audience definition expression is replaced with a corresponding Google Analytics 4 field, with dimension/metric values translated, if necessary.
Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 audience-fields conversion map
| Universal Analytics field | Google Analytics 4 field | Display name in Google Analytics 4 |
|---|---|---|
| ad_group | sessionGoogleAdsAdGroupName | Session Google Ads ad group name |
| age | userAgeBracket | Age |
| branding_interest | brandingInterest | Interests |
| browser | browser | Browser |
| browser_version | Not in aggregate tables | Browser version |
| campaign | sessionCampaignName | Session campaign |
| city | city | City |
| content | sessionManualAdContent | Session manual ad content |
| continent | Not in aggregate tables | Continent |
| data_source | platform | Platform |
| device_category | deviceCategory | Device Category |
| gender | userGender | Gender |
| has_user_id | signedInWithUserID | Signed in with user ID |
| hostname | hostname | Hostname |
| hour | hour | Hour |
| internal_search_keyword | searchTerm | Search term |
| is_mobile | deviceCategory | Device category exactly matches mobile and tablet |
| language | language | Language |
| medium | sessionMedium | Session medium |
| mobile_brand_name | mobileDeviceMarketingName | Device brand |
| mobile_marketing_name | mobileDeviceMarketingName | Device |
| order_coupon_code | orderCoupon | Order coupon |
| page_depth | Event count["page_view"] | |
| page_title | pageTitle | Page title |
| pconversion_score_dim | purchaseProbability7d | Purchase probability |
| platform | operatingSystem | Operating system |
| platform_version | operatingSystemWithVersion | Operating system with version |
| region | region | Region |
| request_url | pagePathPlusQueryString | Page path + query string |
| request_url_1 | landingPage | Landing page + query string |
| revenue | Not in aggregate tables | LTV |
| screen_resolution | screenResolution | Screen resolution |
|
session_quality_bias_ normalized_dim |
purchaseProbability7d | Purchase probability |
| source | sessionSource | Session source |
| source_medium | sessionSourceMedium | Session source/medium |
| sub_continent_region | subcontinent | Subcontinent |
| traffic_channel | sessionDefaultChannelGroup | Session default channel group |
| transaction_id | transactionID | Transaction ID |
| visit_date | date(YYYYMMDD) | Date |
| visitor_bucket | userBucket | User bucket |
| visit_number | Not in aggregate tables | Session number |
| visits | Event count["session_start"] in user scope |
Explore Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 dimensions and metrics
Related resources
See this related article about recreating UA audiences in GA4 for information about audience limits in Analytics and about sharing audiences with Google Ads.