How to Create Reports in Google Analytics 4

Migrating to Google Analytics 4 can feel like learning a new language. While the standard reports offer a decent overview, they often lack the specific details you need to make smart decisions. The good news is that GA4 has powerful, flexible reporting tools hidden just beneath the surface. This guide will show you exactly how to create custom reports to find the precise answers you're looking for, both by tweaking existing reports and by building new ones from scratch.

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Standard Reports vs. Custom Explorations

First, it's helpful to understand the two main ways to get data out of GA4: the standard "Reports" section and the more advanced "Explore" section.

• Standard Reports: These are the ready-made reports you see when you click the "Reports" icon in the left-hand navigation. They include dashboards like the Reports Snapshot, Realtime, Acquisition, and Engagement. They're great for a quick, high-level look at your data but offer limited customization.
• Custom Reports (Explorations): This is where you can build completely custom, in-depth reports that answer specific questions about your business. If you want to analyze data in a way that Google hasn't pre-configured, the "Explore" section is your destination.

We'll cover how to get the most out of both, starting with some simple but powerful tweaks you can make to the standard reports you already use.

How to Customize Standard GA4 Reports

Sometimes you don't need to build a new report from scratch, you just need to add a metric or filter to an existing one. Customizing a standard report is the perfect way to do this and save it for easy access later.

Let's say you want to see which of your pages attract the most new users, not just total users. Here’s how you’d customize the standard "Pages and screens" report to show this.

Step 1: Navigate to the report. From the left menu, go to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens.

Step 2: Click the "Customize report" icon. In the top right corner of the report, you'll see a small pencil icon. Click it to open the customization panel.

Step 3: Adjust the report data. The panel on the right gives you several options. For our example, we want to change one of the metrics.

• Click on Metrics under the "Report Data" section.
• Scroll down and click "Add metric." A list will appear. Search for and select "New users."
• You can drag and drop "New users" to reorder it, perhaps right after "Views" and "Users." If you want to remove an unnecessary metric, just click the "x" next to it.
• Click "Apply" at the bottom of the panel.

Step 4: Save the customized report. Now that the report shows what you need, click the "Save" button in the top right. You'll get two options:

• Save changes to current report: This overwrites the default GA4 report. We do not recommend this.
• Save as a new report: This saves your version as a separate report. Always choose this option.

Give your new report a descriptive name like "Page Performance by New Users" and click "Save."

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Add Your Custom Report to the Navigation Menu

Your new report is saved, but it's hidden away in the "Library." To make it easy to access, you need to add it to your main navigation menu.

1. On the bottom of the left-hand navigation, click "Library."
2. You'll see your newly saved report under the "Reports" collection.
3. Find the "Life cycle" collection (or another relevant collection) and click "Edit collection."
4. In the search box on the right, find the name of your new report ("Page Performance by New Users").
5. Drag your custom report from the right panel into the topics in the left panel. For example, you could place it under the "Engagement" topic.
6. Click "Save," and then "Save changes to current collection."

Now, when you go back to your main "Reports" section, you'll see a link to your custom report right in the navigation menu where you put it! It's a few extra steps, but it saves a ton of time in the long run.

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Building a GA4 Custom Report from Scratch (Explorations)

When you need to perform a deeper analysis, answer a very specific question, or combine dimensions and metrics that standard reports don't allow, it's time to use Explorations. This is GA4's data sandbox.

Let's build a common and highly useful report: identifying your top-performing landing pages by traffic channel.

Step 1: Create a New Exploration In the left-hand navigation, click the "Explore" icon. You'll see templates for different analysis techniques like Funnel exploration or Path exploration. For the most flexibility, start with a blank canvas.

Click the large "+" button to create a "Blank" new exploration.

Step 2: Understand the Interface The Explorations builder has three key parts:

1. Variables: This is your "palette" on the far left. You have to import any dimensions and metrics you want to use into this area first.
2. Tab Settings: This is your "canvas" in the middle. You'll drag your imported variables here to actually build the report table or chart.
3. The Canvas: This is the output on the far right where your report visualization appears. It's initially blank.

First, give your exploration a descriptive name. Double-click "Untitled exploration" at the top and change it to something like "Landing Page Performance by Channel."

Step 3: Import Your Dimensions and Metrics This is the most important step. Before you can build, you have to gather your ingredients.

Import Dimensions:

• In the "Variables" column, click the plus sign (+) next to Dimensions.
• Use the search bar to find and check the boxes for:
• Click the "Import" button in the top right.

Import Metrics:

• In the "Variables" column, click the plus sign (+) next to Metrics.
• Use the search bar to find and check the boxes for:
• Click the "Import" button.

Now, your "Variables" panel is populated with all the data building blocks you need for your report.

Step 4: Build the Report by Dragging and Dropping This is where it all comes together. You will now drag the Dimensions and metrics from your "Variables" panel into the "Tab Settings" panel to structure your report.

• Drag Landing page + query string from "Dimensions" into the Rows box in Tab Settings.
• Drag Session default channel group from "Dimensions" into the Columns box.
• Drag Sessions, Conversions, and any other metrics you want from "Metrics" into the Values box.

As you drop these variables into place, you'll see the report on the right populate instantly. You now have a pivot table showing a breakdown of sessions and conversions for each landing page, categorized by the channel the user came from (Organic Search, Direct, Paid Social, etc.).

Step 5: Filter and Refine Your Report If the table is too noisy, you can use filters to narrow down the data. For instance, if you only want to see landing page performance for paid search campaigns:

1. Drag Session default channel group from the "Dimensions" list into the Filters box at the bottom of the Tab Settings panel.
2. Click on the filter you just added.
3. Select the condition ("contains" or "matches exactly").
4. Enter "Paid Search."
5. Click "Apply."

Your report table will now only display data for traffic from your paid search marketing efforts.

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More Practical Custom Report Examples

Once you understand the basic workflow of Explorations, you can build all sorts of useful reports.

Example 1: Top Converting Content

See which blog posts or pages are most effective at driving new signups or leads.

• Technique: Free-form exploration
• Rows: Page path and screen class
• Values: Sessions, Engaged sessions, Conversions
• Filter: Session default channel group contains "Organic"

Example 2: User-Technology Report

Understand which devices and browsers your audience uses most frequently to ensure your site is optimized correctly.

• Technique: Free-form exploration
• Rows: Device category
• Columns: Browser
• Values: Total users, Sessions, Conversions

Example 3: New vs. Returning User Funnel

Compare the purchase funnel for first-time visitors versus returning users to see where each group drops off.

• Technique: Funnel exploration
• Breakdown Dimension: New / returning user
• Steps:

Final Thoughts

Generating reports in Google Analytics 4 involves two main paths: quick customizations of standard reports for everyday needs and deep-dive analysis in the Explorations section for more specific questions. While there's a learning curve to Explorations, mastering them unlocks insights that simply aren't available in the standard dashboards, giving you complete control over your data analysis.

Spending hours building reports and hunting for the right variables can still be a time-consuming process. We built Graphed to remove this friction entirely. After connecting your Google Analytics account, you can skip the report configurator and just ask for what you need in plain English: "Show me a comparison of revenue from Organic Search vs Paid Search for the last 90 days." Our AI automatically creates the corresponding report for you on a live, interactive dashboard, turning hours of manual work into a simple 30-second task.