When you trash or delete your Google tag, it means that the tag is no longer sending data from your website to the associated Google destination. Tags are recoverable for 30 days from the date they were trashed before they are permanently deleted.
This article explains how to delete your Google tag and how to recover your deleted Google tag.
Delete your Google tag
- On the Tag Manager 'Accounts' screen, click on the 'Google tags' tab.
- Select the Google tag that you’d like to delete.
- Go to the 'Admin' tab.
- In the 'Manage Google tag' section, select Delete from the 3 dot menu.
- Click the tickbox to show that you understand, then click Delete.
Your Google tag will be moved to the Recycle Bin and permanently removed after 30 days. You can view your deleted Google tag from the Recycle Bin at the bottom of the 'All accounts' page.
Restore your Google tag
You can restore a deleted Google tag in two ways:
- From the Recycle Bin of your Google Tag Manager account
- From your Google Ads or Google Analytics account
You can restore a Google tag if your Google tag is still installed on your website, for data to flow to the desired destination. To restore a Google tag, you need Administrator access to the tag and users who had access to the tag previously will be granted access again. You can update access levels and configuration once the tag has been restored.
Restore your Google tag from the Recycle Bin of Google Tag Manager
- From your Tag Manager account, click Recycle Bin at the bottom of the 'Accounts' screen.
- Select the Google tag that you want to recover.
- A list of items marked for deletion will appear.
Note: The Recycle Bin will only appear if it contains 1 or more items.
- Click the Google tag to be restored, and then click Restore.
Restore your Google tag from your Google Ads or Google Analytics account
- Access your Google tag screen.
- If your Google tag has been trashed, you'll see the 'Trashed Google Tag Details' page.
- Click Restore.
- In the pop-up, click Restore Google tag.
Move the destination from a deleted Google tag to another Google tag
If you don’t have the permissions to recover the deleted tag, you can move the destination from the deleted tag to another tag if you have the Administrator role.
You'll need to install the new Google tag for data to flow to the desired destinations.
- Access your Google tag screen.
- On the 'Trashed Google Tag Details' page, select Choose an existing tag.
- Click Continue.
- Click Connect to an existing tag.
- You can now add a new destination to your tag.
Troubleshoot your deleted or trashed Google tag
Your Administrator has lost access to the account but the tag continues to operate
Your tag is in trash state for more than 30 days
'No tag ID' found
It's possible for a destination to get in a state where it is not attached to a Google tag. In order for that destination to receive data, it must be connected to a Google tag.
If your destination is not connected to a tag, you will be notified when you open the Google tag page. You can choose to connect the destination to an existing Google tag or to create a new Google tag.
Conflicting on-page code
In addition to the destinations and settings you configure in the Google tag screens, your Google tag also processes on-page gtag() commands to load and configure settings for your Google tags.
If the same Google tag is configured two or more times on the same page, it may cause duplicate data or mixed settings. This scenario can occur if you accidentally implement the same tag twice or if you combine two Google tags that were previously both installed on the same page. To ignore duplicate instances of on-page config commands, you can enable the corresponding option in the 'Manage Google tag' section of the 'Admin' tab: 'Ignore duplicate instances of on-page configuration'. To prevent issues, this option will be enabled automatically when you combine two Google tags.