How to Export Google Analytics Behavior Report

Getting your data out of Google Analytics is the first step toward creating custom reports, combining it with other data, or just digging into the numbers in a spreadsheet. If you're trying to analyze user behavior on your site, exporting a Behavior Report is the perfect place to start. This guide will walk you through exactly how to export the data you need from both Universal Analytics and GA4, step-by-step.

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First, Which Version of Google Analytics Are You Using?

Before we go any further, it's important to identify which version of Google Analytics you're using. The process for exporting data is slightly different between the older Universal Analytics (UA) and the newer Google Analytics 4.

• Universal Analytics (UA): If your property tracking ID starts with "UA-", you're on Universal Analytics. In UA, "Behavior" reports have their own dedicated section in the left-hand navigation menu.
• Google Analytics 4: If your tracking ID is just a string of numbers, you're on GA4. GA4 is structured differently, it uses an event-based model. Behavioral insights are primarily found under the "Engagement" and "Lifecycle" sections.

Since Google officially sunsetted Universal Analytics in July 2023, most of your current data lives in GA4. However, you might still need to export historical user behavior data from your old UA property. We'll cover both scenarios.

How to Export a Behavior Report from Universal Analytics

If you need to pull historical data on site content, landing pages, or exit pages from before July 2023, you'll be doing it from your UA property. The process is simple and gives you a few file format options.

Step 1: Navigate to the Behavior Report You Need

In your Universal Analytics dashboard, look at the left-hand navigation panel. Click on Behavior. A dropdown menu will appear with several valuable reports. Some of the most common ones to export include:

• Site Content > All Pages: Shows you which pages on your site receive the most traffic.
• Site Content > Landing Pages: Shows the first page a user "landed" on for a specific session. This is great for understanding which content is attracting new visitors.
• Site Search > Search Terms: Shows what users are typing into your website's internal search bar.

For this example, let's say we want to analyze our most popular pages. We'll navigate to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages.

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Step 2: Customize Your Report View

Before you export, make sure the data you're looking at is exactly what you need. Adjust the date range in the top right corner to isolate the period you want to analyze. If you're analyzing a large amount of traffic, be aware of data sampling, indicated by a yellow shield icon at the top of the report. If sampling is applied, the report is based on a subset of your data and may be less accurate.

You can also add a Secondary Dimension to get more granular insights. For example, by adding Source / Medium as a secondary dimension to the All Pages report, you can see not just which pages are popular, but which marketing channels (e.g., Google organic search, a Facebook campaign) are driving traffic to them.

Pro Tip: To get the most data possible, expand the number of rows shown at the bottom right of the report table before you export.

Step 3: Click the 'Export' Button

Once your report is configured, look for the EXPORT link in the upper right-hand corner of the report, just below the date range. Clicking it gives you a few format options:

• PDF: Good for printing or creating static, presentation-ready documents. Not useful for data analysis.
• Google Sheets: This is a great choice if you work in the Google ecosystem. It exports the data directly into a new Google Sheet in your Drive, ready for analysis.
• Excel (XLSX): The best option if you prefer working in Microsoft Excel.
• CSV (Comma Separated Values): This is the most universal and flexible format. A CSV file can be opened by Excel, Google Sheets, or uploaded into almost any other data tool. For raw data work, it's often the best choice.

Select your desired format, and the file will download automatically. You're all set!

How to Export Behavioral Data from Google Analytics 4

In GA4, the concept of "behavior" is baked into reports under the "Engagement" section. The core idea is the same - to understand how users interact with your site - but the location and terminology have changed.

Step 1: Find the Equivalent Engagement Report

The equivalent of UA's "All Pages" report is in GA4 under Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens. This report shows you top pages by views, users, and average engagement time.

Some other behavioral reports from UA and their GA4 equivalents include:

• UA's Landing Pages report is also found in the GA4 Pages and screens report. You just need to change the primary dimension from Page path and screen class to Landing page + query string.
• UA's Events are now the fundamental building block of GA4 and can be found under Reports > Engagement > Events.

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Step 2: Customize the Report for Your Needs

Just like in UA, you can and should customize your report before exporting. Click the date range in the top right corner to select your desired time frame.

To add a secondary dimension in GA4, click the small blue + icon next to the primary dimension column heading. A dropdown will appear where you can search for and add dimensions like Session source / medium to slice your data further.

Step 3: Find the Export Icon and Download Your File

GA4's export option is a bit less obvious than UA's. In the top right corner of the report, you'll see a "Share this report" icon (it looks like a small node connected to two other nodes).

Click this icon, and a menu bar will appear on the right side of your screen. Click Download File.

You'll have two format options:

• Download PDF: Again, great for static snapshots but not for analysis.
• Download CSV: This is what you'll want for working with the raw data in a spreadsheet.

Select "Download CSV," and your file will be exported directly to your computer.

You've Exported the Data. Now What?

Downloading the data is only half the battle. The raw CSV export from Google Analytics can be a bit messy. Here are a few quick tips to make it usable in Excel or Google Sheets.

1. Clean Up the Raw File

Your exported file will likely have some extra rows at the top with the report's name and date range, as well as a summary row at the bottom. Before you start building charts, delete these unneeded rows so you're only left with your column headers and the actual data.

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2. Create a Pivot Table for Deeper Analysis

A pivot table is the fastest way to summarize and reorganize your data. Let's say you exported your Pages and screens report with Session source / medium as a secondary dimension. You could create a pivot table where:

• The Rows are your Page path.
• The Columns are your Session source / medium.
• The Values are the sum of Views.

This instantly shows you which marketing channels are driving the most traffic to your specific pages, helping you make smarter content promotion decisions.

3. Combine It with Other Business Data

The real power of exporting comes from combining GA data with information from other platforms. For example, you can export campaign cost data from Facebook Ads or Google Ads and merge it with your GA landing page report in a spreadsheet. This allows you to calculate a true cost-per-visit for different campaigns and pages - an insight you can't easily get within the GA interface alone.

Final Thoughts

Exporting your user behavior reports from Google Analytics, whether from a historical UA property or your current GA4 setup, is a straightforward way to get hands-on with your data. By pulling it into a familiar tool like Excel or Google Sheets, you can clean it, visualize it, and combine it with other data sources to uncover insights that help you understand your audience better.

While an export is useful for a one-time analysis, the weekly routine of downloading, cleaning, and merging CSVs can quickly become a major time sink. We built Graphed because we believe getting insights shouldn't require so much manual work. Instead of wrestling with CSVs, we let you connect Google Analytics and all your other marketing platforms directly. You can simply ask for the report you want in plain English - like "show me top landing pages from Google Ads this month" - and it instantly appears in a real-time dashboard. This way, you can spend less time pulling reports and more time acting on them.