How to Share Saved Reports in Google Analytics

Sharing your findings from Google Analytics is just as important as the analysis itself. Whether you need to update your team, show results to a client, or provide a high-level overview for management, getting your reports into the right hands is essential. This guide will walk you through the different ways to share standard reports, custom explorations, and dashboards in Google Analytics 4, from quick exports to more advanced sharing methods.

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Why Share Google Analytics Reports?

Before diving into the "how," it's helpful to remember the "why." Properly shared reports transform raw data into a collaborative tool that drives better business decisions. Sharing your analytics helps you:

• Keep Stakeholders Informed: Clients, managers, and team members need to know what's happening. Scheduled or manually shared reports keep everyone aligned on performance, progress, and key metrics.
• Promote a Data-Driven Culture: When access to performance data is easy, teams are more likely to use it. This encourages your entire organization to base decisions on facts and trends rather than just gut feelings.
• Collaborate on Strategy: Sharing a report opens the door for conversation. Your team can analyze the data together, spot trends you might have missed, and brainstorm effective strategies for growth.
• Save Time and Increase Efficiency: Instead of everyone logging into GA and pulling numbers themselves, a single person can create and distribute a curated report that contains the most relevant information, saving the entire team time.

Understanding Report Types in Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 handles reports a bit differently than its predecessor, Universal Analytics. The interface has two main areas for custom reporting and analysis:

• Reports: This section contains your standard reports (like Traffic Acquisition, Engagement, and Demographics) and any custom reports you create and save to the Library. You can customize a standard report with filters or secondary dimensions and save it as a new report for everyone with access to see.
• Explore (Explorations): This is where you conduct more in-depth, ad-hoc analysis using techniques like funnel exploration, path exploration, and free-form reports. These are private to you by default but can be easily shared.

Knowing which area you’re working in will determine your available sharing options.

Method 1: Sharing and Exporting an Individual Report

This is the simplest and most direct way to get a report out of Google Analytics. It’s perfect for one-off requests or when you need to send a quick snapshot of a specific metric.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to Your Report: Go to the left-hand navigation panel and select Reports. Choose any standard report you'd like to share, such as Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
2. Customize if Needed: You can apply filters, change the date range, or add a secondary dimension to tailor the report to your specific needs. For example, you might add Session default channel group as a primary dimension and Device category as a secondary dimension to see traffic sources by device.
3. Locate the Share and Export Icons: In the top-right corner of the report, you'll see two important icons: a "Share" icon (three connected dots) and an "Export" icon (an arrow pointing down into a tray).

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Sharing as a Link

Clicking the Share icon gives you the option to Get a sharable link. Simply copy this link and send it to your colleague.

Important Note: The person you send the link to must have permission to view your Google Analytics property. If they don't have access, the link won't work for them. This method is best for sharing with team members who are already users in your GA account.

Exporting as a PDF or CSV

Clicking the Export icon lets you download the report in two formats:

• Download as PDF: This option creates a nicely formatted, static image of the report exactly as you see it on your screen. It’s perfect for including in presentations, client updates, or emails where the recipient doesn’t need to manipulate the data. Just attach the file and a brief summary of the insights.
• Download as CSV: This option exports the raw data from the report table into a comma-separated values file. This is the best choice if you or your recipient wants to perform additional analysis, create custom charts, or combine the data with other sources in a tool like Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.

Saving a Custom Report for Later

If you find yourself applying the same customizations to a standard report over and over, you can save it to the Library for easy access. After making your edits, click the pencil icon to Customize report, then hit Save as a new report. Once saved, it will be available to other users in your account under the Reports section, as long as it's added to the navigation via the Library settings.

Method 2: Sharing an ‘Exploration’ for Deeper Dive Analysis

Explorations are designed for creating highly specific analyses that go beyond standard reporting. Since these reports are often complex, sharing them effectively is key to collaboration.

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Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open Your Exploration: Navigate to the Explore section from the left-hand navigation. You can either create a new exploration or open an existing one you’ve already built.
2. Find the Share Icon: Just like with standard reports, the Share icon is located in the top-right corner of the Exploration interface. Click it.

When you share an Exploration, anyone with the link and at least "Viewer" access to the property can see your analysis. The huge benefit here is that the Exploration is shared as read-only. This means other users can view your settings, dimensions, and metrics, but they can't change your original work. However, they can duplicate your Exploration to create their own version to play with, which is a great way to collaborate without overwriting important analysis.

You can also export data from an Exploration in multiple formats, including Google Sheets, TSV, CSV, and PDF.

Method 3: Creating and Sharing Dashboard-Style Overviews

In GA4, the primary "dashboard" is the Reports snapshot, which displays a collection of summary cards. You can also create new custom Overview reports in the Library section.

Sharing the Reports Snapshot

The process is nearly identical to sharing any other standard report.

1. Navigate to Reports > Reports snapshot.
2. Use the Share and Export icons in the top-right corner to either generate a link or download a PDF.

This is extremely useful for providing a high-level overview of a dozen key metrics at once. Sending a PDF of the Reports snapshot to management can be a quick and effective weekly update.

What About Automated, Scheduled Emails?

For users of Universal Analytics, one of the most-loved features was the ability to schedule recurring email reports. Unfortunately, Google Analytics 4 does not have a native, built-in feature for automated, scheduled emailing. You cannot set up a report to automatically land in your inbox every Monday morning directly from the GA4 interface.

So, what can you do instead?

Workaround: Manual Reporting Cadence

The simplest — though most time-consuming — method is to set a calendar reminder to manually export a report as a PDF each week or month and then email it to stakeholders.

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Better Solution: Use Looker Studio (Formerly Google Data Studio)

Looker Studio is Google's free data visualization tool, and it offers the functionality that GA4 is missing. It integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics and allows you to build completely custom dashboards and schedule them for email delivery.

Here’s the basic workflow:

1. Go to Looker Studio and create a new blank report.
2. Choose Google Analytics as your data source and connect it to your GA4 property.
3. Build your desired report by dragging and dropping charts, tables, and scorecards onto the canvas.
4. Once your dashboard is ready, click the Share button dropdown in the top-right corner and select Schedule delivery.
5. From here, you can set the recipients, subject line, and a recurring schedule (e.g., daily, every Monday at 9 AM, the first of the month).

Best Practices for Reporting and Sharing

• Know Your Audience: Tailor the report to who is receiving it. An executive will likely prefer a high-level PDF summary, whereas a fellow analyst will benefit more from a CSV file or a direct link to an Exploration for deeper digging.
• Provide Context: Never send a report without a brief explanation. Include a few bullet points in your email explaining what the key takeaways are. Did traffic go up because of a recent campaign? Did conversions drop for a specific reason? Context turns data into a story.
• Manage Permissions Wisely: When adding users to Google Analytics, use the principle of least privilege. Grant most people "Viewer" access to prevent accidental changes to settings and reports.
• Use a Consistent Format: If you're sending weekly reports, keep the layout and metrics consistent. This helps recipients quickly understand what they’re looking at and easily spot week-over-week trends.

Final Thoughts

Leveraging the "Share" and "Export" features in Google Analytics 4 allows you to turn your data analysis into actionable insights for your team and clients. From sharing a direct link for real-time collaboration to exporting a PDF for a static monthly report, the right method depends on your audience and your goal. For automation, Looker Studio serves as a powerful and free extension to fill the gap left by GA4's lack of email scheduling.

Wrestling with manual CSV downloads and trying to build cohesive reports across Google Analytics, your ad platforms, and your CRM can be a huge time-drain. At Graphed, we built a solution to eliminate this exact frustration. We connect all your data sources in one place and let you create real-time, shareable dashboards just by describing what you want to see in plain English. Instead of spending hours in different platforms setting up reports, our AI data analyst builds them for you in seconds, so you can focus on strategy, not spreadsheets.