Google is about to delete your Google Analytics data.

Migrating from UA to GA4

Google pushed its free Google Analytics users from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in July 2023. With this change, UA properties stopped processing data. Older data still sits in these old UA properties, but no new data has been processed since Q2 2023. 

Google's summary of changes during the past few years, along with deprecation timelines, is here.

UA no more

‍On July 1, 2024, Google will delete these old properties, along with the data they store (users still can access GA4 properties). However, historical data availability in GA4 is limited by the date on which GA users launched GA4. This most commonly was right before the UA deprecation in July 2023. 

The bottom line is that GA users will permanently lose access to their website data from before they launched GA4. This can be quite disruptive.

Consider this example:

• UA used since Jan 2018
• GA4 launched Jun 2023
• After Jul 1, 2024: Historical data between Jan 2018 and May 2023 will be permanently deleted. Historical data will be limited to Jun 2023 forward, accessible in GA4.

Save your data

All UA users should export their historical data from Universal Analytics. This data cannot be loaded into GA4, but it can be reported, alongside GA4 data, in external platforms, such as Looker, Looker Studio, Tableau, Power BI, etc.

You have three options for exporting this data. Note that, with each option, you must download individual reports from UA -- there is no "export all" or similar button.

1. Export manually. Time-consuming, since individual exports are limited to 5,000 rows. For example, if a report is 100,000 rows (common when pulling long date ranges and multiple fields), you must export 20 individual files (5,000 rows each).‍
2. Archive data with Google Sheets. Relatively low-lift, but the data returned is likely to be heavily sampled. And you’ll need to manually create any reports not included in Google's Google Sheets template.‍
3. Export data with the Google Analytics Reporting API. Yields the most complete data (unlimited date ranges, minimal sampling). To do this, we recommend partnering with an experienced analytics partner, such as PAZ Analytics.

PAZ to the rescue

We've exported Universal Analytics data for many clients using the Google Analytics API (Method 3 above). We're offering a tiered support model until June 30, 2024, as outlined below. 

Export your data from Universal Analytics before it's gone for good.