Save Your Google Analytics Data Before It’s Too Late

Since Google completed the transition from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) about a year ago, there’s been one reason drawing people back to UA: history. Even though UA stopped collecting any new data after the transition deadline, you could still log in to pull reports from historical data.

Now even that is going away.

Come July 1, 2024, Google will delete all historical data stored in UA. This matters because UA data did not transfer to GA4 when your account was migrated, meaning once it’s gone from UA, it’s gone for good. You will not be able to pull historical reports or compare current trends to past performance after July 1.

This is particularly important to anyone who waited until the last minute to move to GA4, as such properties would have only a single year of data stored in the new system. This is why we strongly suggest that everyone export their historical data from UA before it’s too late, even if you haven’t accessed it recently or don’t have a current plan to use it. After all, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

There are several ways to export your Google UA data, some more limiting and time consuming than others. Note that you can’t import UA data into GA4, but you can compare UA and GA4 data side-by-side in tools such as Looker Studio. Through our partnership with analytics company PAZ, Devise can handle the entire export process for you. Reach out to us for assistance.

While all of your historical UA data getting deleted may sound dramatic, rest assured that Google Analytics 4 is a big step forward (even for unpaid accounts, which inherit many higher-end features previously found only in Google’s paid analytics offering). Transitions always come with growing pains. This is just one last hurdle before the finish line.