Data retention: Storing data in Google Analytics 4
Data retention in GA4 determines how long information about users and events will remain available. By default, this period is only two months, which can limit your analysis options. In this article, you'll learn how to extend this period to up to 14 months (or 50 months with GA4 360) and what the retention setting does not affect.
Explorations – Why can't I see data older than two months?
You launch tracking in GA4, and after a few months, you want to look at your data in the Exploration reports. But why can’t you select a date range longer than two months? There’s no such issue in standard reports!
The answer is simple – when setting up your GA4 property, you unfortunately didn’t change the data retention period from the default two months to a longer time frame.
Where to change it?
1. In Google Analytics 4, first click the Admin icon (in the lower-left corner).
2. Under your GA4 property, expand Data Settings.
3. Click on Data Retention.
4. Then simply set the Event data: Data retention period. For standard properties, select the longest available option — 14 months.
❗ Unfortunately, extending the data retention period does not apply retroactively to past data.
What is data retention in GA4?
This setting controls how long GA4 keeps data related to users and events. It includes data associated with cookies, user identifiers (such as User-ID), or advertising identifiers (such as DoubleClick cookies).
By default, the retention period in Analytics is set to just 2 months. That’s why we recommend changing it to the maximum available period of 14 months for the standard version. In GA4 360, you can extend it up to 50 months.
💡 Keep in mind: This setting applies to custom reports (such as Explorations). It does not affect standard reports (Reports), where you may still see data for a much longer time period.
What does the data retention setting not affect?
Age, gender and interests
Even if you’ve set the maximum retention period of 14 months (or longer with GA4 360), this does not apply to data related to age, gender, or interests. If a user is inactive, Google will only retain this data for two months, regardless of your settings.
Google Signals
For data collected via Google Signals, the retention period is 26 months by default, regardless of your configured setting. However, if your retention setting is shorter than 26 months, the shorter duration will apply.
Standard aggregated reports
The data retention setting does not affect standard aggregated reports, including primary and secondary dimensions, comparisons, or segmented data in the standard reporting interface.
What happens to my data after the retention period ends?
Once the configured retention period expires, the data will no longer be available in any type of report under the Explorations section.
For example, in the Google Merch Shop property, it’s not possible to select a date earlier than 14 months ago — any period before March 21, 2022 is greyed out and cannot be selected.
However, this does not apply to standard reports, in which you can still select a longer time range without any issues.
