UA history to GA4
Rescue what's left of your old analytics history.
Google sunset standard Universal Analytics properties in 2023 and later removed most of their historical data. We recover what is still exportable and rebuild your year over year comparisons going forward on GA4.
- We check exactly what UA data is still reachable before promising anything
- Key events matched to your old UA goals, not left generic
- A GA4 to BigQuery export set up so this never happens again
What preserving analytics history actually involves
UA and GA4 are not the same model wearing a different name.
The property and goal map
We document your old UA account and property structure, its views, segments, and configured goals, against your current GA4 property's data streams and key events, so we know exactly what maps to what and what has no equivalent at all.
What is actually still recoverable
Google's own retention window has already deleted a lot of UA historical data for accounts that never exported it. We check what remains reachable through the API, saved reports, or a prior BigQuery export before promising a full recovery.
The tracking that has to survive going forward
GA4 key events, conversion paths, and audience definitions need to genuinely match what the business used to measure as a UA goal, or year over year comparisons quietly become comparisons between two different things wearing the same label.
Launch acceptance checks
Before calling it done we confirm each former goal has a matching key event actually firing correctly in GA4, and that a BigQuery export link is active going forward so this specific problem cannot repeat itself.
What UA measured that GA4 does not measure the same way
Sessions and events are not the same unit
UA counted hits inside sessions. GA4 counts events, with sessions calculated differently underneath. A month over month comparison between the two systems will not match exactly, even on a healthy, unchanged site.
Deleted history cannot be manufactured
If a UA property's historical data has already been removed under Google's retention timeline and was never exported anywhere, we will tell you plainly rather than promise a recovery that is not technically possible.
Goals and key events need an honest side by side
We do not just rename a UA goal into a GA4 key event and call it equivalent. Some goals do not translate cleanly, and we flag those instead of quietly forcing a fit that will confuse future reporting.
A BigQuery export protects you going forward
GA4 offers a free BigQuery export link that keeps raw event data outside Google's own retention limits. Setting this up now is the real fix, since it prevents a repeat of the exact problem that caused UA data loss.
How the recovery runs
01
Map both systems
We document the old UA property's structure and goals against the current GA4 property's streams and key events.
02
Recover what's reachable
We check the API, saved reports, and any existing BigQuery export for whatever UA history genuinely remains accessible.
03
Rebuild and protect
Key events are matched properly to old goals, and a BigQuery export is set up so future history is never solely dependent on Google's retention window again.
Universal Analytics to GA4 questions
Only what is still technically reachable, through the API, a saved report, or a prior BigQuery export. If it was never exported and Google's retention window has already passed, that specific historical data is genuinely gone, and we will tell you that plainly.
The two systems measure differently at a fundamental level, sessions and hits in UA against events in GA4. Some difference is expected and normal, not a sign that something is broken in your current setup.
A key event is GA4's version of a UA goal, a specific action you want to count as a conversion. We map your old goals to key events individually, flagging any that do not translate cleanly rather than forcing an inexact match.
It is a free link GA4 offers that copies your raw event data into Google BigQuery, outside GA4's own retention limits. Setting it up now means your business is never again solely dependent on Google's own data retention window.
Related but different. This is specifically about historical continuity between UA and GA4. If your current GA4 tracking itself is firing incorrectly, that is a separate, more urgent fix we would flag and scope on its own.
Get a straight read on what's left of your analytics history
Tell us what you remember about your old UA setup and whether anything was ever exported. We will check what's recoverable and map the fix inside a free proposal within one business day.