How to Set Up GA4 Alongside Universal Analytics

GA4 is the current version of Google Analytics. Google Analytics 4 lets you combine data from your website and your mobile app in a single property.
Google has retired the previous version, Universal Analytics (often called GA3): standard properties stopped processing data on July 1, 2023. If your account still has a Universal Analytics property, the steps below show how to create a GA4 property next to it using the Setup Assistant, and how to start sending data to it through Google Tag Manager.

How to install GA4 when you already have a Universal Analytics property

1. Go to Admin in your Universal Analytics (GA3) property.

2. In the Property column, click GA4 Setup Assistant.

3. Under I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property, click Get started.

4. Click Create and continue.

Google Analytics creates a new GA4 property. Your existing property stays untouched, so at this point you have two properties: the old GA3 and the new GA4. The new GA4 property does not start collecting data on its own; that still has to be configured.

5. Click Go to your GA4 property.

6. In the next view, go to Data Streams.

7. Open your data stream by clicking it.

8. Click View tag instructions.

9. It is worth adding this GA4 installation in addition to the existing one, not instead of it.
If you use one of the popular CMS platforms, open the Install with a website builder or CMS tab, pick your platform from the list and follow the instructions.

You can also open the Install manually tab and paste the code into the of your site.

If you use Google Tag Manager, add the GTM container code directly to your site’s source code and then configure a tag that sends site data to GA4 through Tag Manager. Both the manual installation and the Tag Manager route give you more control over your tracking code and let you customize it freely.
Follow the next steps to set up the GA4 tag in GTM.

10. Open your Google Tag Manager account and click New Tag.

11. Name the new tag, for example GA4 tracking - All Pages.
Set the type to Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration (in current GTM versions this is the Google Tag type).

12. Find and copy your Measurement ID in Google Analytics 4. You will find it inside the data stream you selected earlier.

Paste the Measurement ID into the field in Google Tag Manager.

13. Set the trigger to fire on all pages (All Pages).

14. Click Save.

15. Go back to your Google Analytics 4 property and close the Web stream details panel with the ‘x’ button.
Open Reports in the left-hand menu.

16. Open the Realtime report. New data should already be coming in.

From now on, when you create a new property from the existing GA3 property, GA4 is the default option.
The GA4 Setup Assistant stays available in the panel even after the GA4 property exists; clicking it now shows a See your GA4 property button.

A property created through the Setup Assistant carries over only some of the settings. Events, key events (conversions) and links to ad platforms have to be configured separately. If you want to verify that you are measuring the same things after the migration as before, start with a marketing audit.