How to Check UTM Source in Google Analytics 4

If you're using UTM parameters to track your marketing campaigns, you need to know exactly where to find and analyze that data in Google Analytics 4. The good news is that GA4 makes it fairly simple to see which sources, mediums, and campaigns are driving traffic and conversions. This article will show you exactly how to find your UTM data using both standard reports and custom explorations inside GA4.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

A Quick Refresher: What Are UTM Parameters?

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are short text snippets you add to the end of a URL to track the performance of your marketing campaigns. When a user clicks a link with UTM parameters, that information is sent to your Google Analytics account, allowing you to see which campaigns are bringing people to your site.

There are five main UTM parameters:

• utm_source: Identifies the source of your traffic, like 'google', 'facebook', or 'newsletter'.
• utm_medium: Identifies the marketing medium, such as 'cpc', 'social', or 'email'.
• utm_campaign: Identifies the specific campaign you're running, for example, 'summer_sale_2024' or 'new_product_launch'.
• utm_term: Used to track keywords in paid search campaigns.
• utm_content: Differentiates similar content or links within the same ad, like two different call-to-action buttons in an email.

A full URL with UTM parameters might look something like this:

https://www.yourstore.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer_sale

This tells you that the visitor came from Facebook, via a social media link, as part of your summer sale campaign. Using them consistently is the key to accurately measuring your marketing ROI.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

How to Find UTM Data in GA4 Standard Reports

The quickest way to see an overview of your campaign performance is within the standard "Traffic acquisition" report. This is the best place to start before diving into more complex custom reports.

Step 1: Navigate to the Traffic Acquisition Report

From your main GA4 dashboard, use the left-hand navigation menu:

1. Click on Reports.
2. Under the "Life cycle" collection, click on Acquisition.
3. Select the Traffic acquisition report from the dropdown.

This report essentially answers the question: "How did users get to my site for the first time?" It's based on "session" level data.

Step 2: Change the Primary Dimension

By default, the Traffic acquisition report shows data grouped by the Session default channel grouping. This is a high-level view showing categories like ‘Organic Search’, ‘Direct’, ‘Paid Social’, and ‘Referral’. It’s useful, but it doesn't show your specific UTM parameters.

To view your UTM data, you need to change this primary dimension:

1. Click the downward-facing arrow next to “Session default channel grouping” above the table.
2. In the search box that appears, type "Session". You’ll see several options related to campaign tracking.
3. Select one of the following to see your UTM data:

Once you select one, the table will reload to show your data sliced by that specific UTM dimension, alongside metrics like Users, Sessions, Engaged sessions, and Conversions.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Step 3: Add a Secondary Dimension for More Detail

Often, you’ll want to analyze more than one UTM parameter at a time. For instance, you might want to see how different sources performed within a single campaign.

You can do this by adding a secondary dimension:

1. Click the blue "+" icon to the right of the primary dimension dropdown menu.
2. A list of secondary dimensions will appear. Just like before, you can find the parameter you're looking for under the “Traffic source” category.
3. Let's say your primary dimension is Session campaign. You could add Session source / medium as a secondary dimension. The report will now show each campaign name, and underneath it, break down the traffic for that campaign by each source/medium combination you used.

This allows you to answer questions like, "For my summer sale campaign, did the Facebook ads, Google ads, or the email newsletter drive more conversions?"

Creating a Custom UTM Report in GA4 Explore

While the standard reports are great for quick checks, the "Explore" section in GA4 gives you the power to build completely custom reports from scratch. This is perfect when you need to see all your UTM parameters in one place or combine them with very specific metrics.

Step 1: Create a New "Free form" Exploration

1. From the left-hand navigation, click Explore.
2. Select Blank report or click on the Free form box to start a new exploration.

Step 2: Import Your Dimensions and Metrics

Your exploration starts as a blank canvas. You need to tell it which data points (dimensions and metrics) you want to work with.

Importing Dimensions:

1. In the "Variables" column on the left, click the "+" icon next to Dimensions.
2. Search for and select all the UTM-related dimensions. The ones you’ll want are:
3. Click the Import button in the top right.

Importing Metrics:

1. Now, do the same for Metrics. Click the "+" icon next to Metrics.
2. Search for and select the metrics you care about, such as:
3. Click Import.

Step 3: Build Your Report

You now have all the building blocks you need. The next step is to arrange them in the "Tab Settings" column to create your report table.

1. Add Rows: Drag the dimensions you want from the "Variables" column over to the Rows field in "Tab Settings". A good practice is to arrange them logically, for example:
2. Add Values: Drag the metrics you want to measure over to the Values field. For instance, drag Sessions, Conversions, and Total revenue.

As you drag and drop, your report will instantly populate on the right. You will now have a detailed, customized view of your campaign performance that you can save and come back to any time.

You can also use the Filters section to narrow down your data, for example, to only show data where "Session campaign" contains "summer_sale".

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

UTM Best Practices for Cleaner GA4 Data

Finding the data is only half the battle. If your initial UTM tagging is messy, your reports will be too. Follow these tips to keep your data clean and actionable.

• Stay Consistent: facebook, Facebook, and facebook.com will show up as three different sources in GA4. Decide on a naming convention and stick to it. Using lowercase for everything is a simple and effective rule.
• Use a Builder: Typos are a common source of tracking errors. Use Google's GA4 Campaign URL Builder or a shared spreadsheet template to create your links. This ensures consistency across your entire team.
• Never Use UTMs for Internal Links: UTM parameters are for tracking traffic coming to your site, not for links within your site (e.g., from your homepage to your blog). Using them for internal navigation will overwrite the original traffic source and mess up your attribution data.
• Keep Parameters Clear and Simple: Your utm_campaign should be easily understandable, like black-friday-2024-promo, not a cryptic string of characters. This makes it easier for you and your team to analyze reports later.

Final Thoughts

Checking your UTM-tagged campaign performance in GA4 is straightforward once you know where to look. For quick insights, the Traffic Acquisition report works perfectly when you customize the primary dimension, while the Explore section opens up a world of possibilities for building comprehensive, long-term campaign dashboards.

At Graphed, we know that even with GA4's improved reporting, clicking through different views and building custom explorations still takes time out of your busy schedule. We built our tool to eliminate that friction by connecting directly to your marketing sources, letting you create dashboards and get answers just by asking questions. Instead of building a report, you can simply ask, "How did my summer sale campaign perform on Google vs. Facebook?" and get an instant, real-time breakdown without navigating a single menu.