How to Find Google Analytics Profile ID
Trying to find your Google Analytics Profile ID can feel like a small but frustrating hurdle when you're connecting your data to a new tool. This guide will show you exactly where to find it in both the older Universal Analytics and the current Google Analytics 4, clearing up any confusion between the different IDs along the way.
First, Which Google Analytics Version Are You Using?
Before you start digging through settings, it's important to know which version of Google Analytics you're working with. Google officially switched from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 in July 2023. While all new setups are GA4, you might still be interacting with a historical UA property for reporting or connecting to older tools.
Universal Analytics (UA): If your ID looks like UA-12345678-1, you're looking at Universal Analytics. This version uses something called a "Profile ID," but it's labeled as the "View ID" in the admin panel.
Google Analytics 4: If your ID starts with "G-" and looks like G-ABC123XYZ4, you're using Google Analytics 4. GA4 doesn’t have the same "Profile ID" concept. The ID you’re likely looking for is the "Measurement ID."
Knowing which version you have will save you a lot of time and point you to the right set of instructions.
How to Find Your Profile ID in Universal Analytics (UA)
If you have a Universal Analytics property, the "Profile ID" you need is technically called the "View ID" inside the Google Analytics interface. They are the same thing - just different names. You’ll typically need this for older software integrations or custom API connections that were built before GA4 existed.
Here’s how to find it, step by step.
Step 1: Log In and Navigate to the Admin Panel
First, log in to your Google Analytics account. Once you’re on the dashboard, look for the Admin gear icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen and click it.
Step 2: Get Familiar with the Admin Structure
The Admin page is organized into three columns, which represent the hierarchy of your Google Analytics setup:
Account: This is the highest level, typically representing your entire business or organization. You can have multiple Accounts.
Property: This is a specific website, app, or device you are tracking. An Account can contain several Properties (e.g., one for your main site, one for your blog). The Property ID (or Tracking ID) lives here.
View: A View is a specific filtered perspective of your Property's data. For example, you might have one View that includes all website traffic and another that filters out internal traffic from your company. This is where your Profile ID (View ID) is located.
Most common issues with finding IDs come from having the wrong Account, Property, or View selected at this stage. Make sure you select the correct ones from the dropdown menus at the top of each column to see the right settings.
Step 3: Go to 'View Settings'
In the third column on the right, labeled 'View', find and click on View Settings. This will open a new page with all the details specific to that particular data view.
Step 4: Copy Your View ID (Profile ID)
On the View Settings page, the first piece of information you'll see is the View ID. This is the number you are looking for - it's your Profile ID. It will be a string of numbers without any letters, like 123456789.
You can now copy this ID and paste it into whatever application or tool is asking for your Google Analytics Profile ID.
Looking for Your ID in Google Analytics 4? It’s the "Measurement ID"
Things are different in Google Analytics 4. GA4 has a simpler structure and doesn't use the "Account > Property > View" hierarchy in the same way. Instead of Views, GA4 uses "Data Streams." A Data Stream is a source of data flowing into your GA4 Property, like your website or a mobile app.
So, if you're using GA4, the ID you almost certainly need is your Measurement ID. This is the unique identifier for your website's data stream, and it tells Google Analytics where to send the events you’re tracking. Its format is always G-XXXXXXXXXX.
Here’s where to find it.
Step 1: Open the Admin Section
Just like with Universal Analytics, start by logging into your Google Analytics account and clicking the Admin gear icon in the bottom-left corner.
Step 2: Select Your GA4 Property
In the Admin section, you will only see two columns: 'Account' and 'Property'. Make sure your GA4 property is selected in the 'Property' column. The property name should be followed by a number, not a "UA-" prefixed ID.
Step 3: Open 'Data Streams'
Within the 'Property' column, look for the Data Streams option and click it. This is where you manage the data sources connected to your GA4 property.
Step 4: Select Your Web Data Stream
You will now see a list of your data streams. For most businesses, there will just be one listed for your website. Click on your web data stream to open its details.
Step 5: Find and Copy Your Measurement ID
On the "Web stream details" page, your Measurement ID will be clearly displayed in the top-right corner. It will always start with "G-".
This is the ID you'll use to connect GA4 to website platforms like WordPress, Shopify, or through Google Tag Manager. Whenever a new tool asks for your GA4 identifier, your Measurement ID is what you need.
What About the Property ID?
To make things just a little more confusing, there's another important ID you might come across: the Property ID. It’s distinct from both the View ID (in UA) and the Measurement ID (in GA4).
Finding Your Property ID in Universal Analytics
In a UA property, this is the main "Tracking ID" that started the whole thing. It's the UA-XXXXXXXX-Y code you installed on your site.
Go to Admin.
Select the correct Account and Property.
In the 'Property' column, click on Property Settings.
Your Tracking ID is displayed at the top.
Finding Your Property ID in Google Analytics 4
A GA4 Property ID is a simple number and is less commonly used than the Measurement ID, but some APIs or advanced tools may ask for it.
Go to Admin.
Ensure the correct Account and GA4 Property are selected.
In the 'Property' column, click on Property Details.
Your Property ID is a string of numbers shown at the top right, next to the property name.
Why All These Different IDs? Common Use Cases
You might wonder why you need these different identifiers at all. Each one serves a specific purpose in telling Google and other applications how and where to direct your data.
You might need a UA Profile / View ID for:
Legacy Software: Tying data into older marketing tools, CRMs, or reporting platforms that haven't fully updated their systems to GA4's API.
Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio): When building historical reports, you may select a specific View from a UA property to visualize its unique filtered data.
Custom API Projects: If you or a developer are pulling data from the older Google Analytics Reporting API, you'll need the View ID to specify which data set to access.
You'll use a GA4 Measurement ID for:
Onsite Tracking: The most common use. You embed this ID in your site’s code (often via a plugin or Google Tag Manager) to tell Google Analytics which data stream to send event data to.
Modern Integrations: Almost all new third-party tools that connect with Google Analytics are built for GA4 and will ask for your Measurement ID.
Google Ads Link: Linking your GA4 property to Google Ads to track conversions and build audiences.
Essentially, the Profile/View ID was for specifying a report in Universal Analytics, while the Measurement ID tells GA4 where to collect data.
Final Thoughts
Finding the right ID in Google Analytics comes down to knowing which version you're on. For older Universal Analytics setups, the "Profile ID" is found as the "View ID" in the admin settings. For the current Google Analytics 4, the equivalent and most important identifier is the "Measurement ID," located in your data stream settings.
Digging around for IDs in Google Analytics is just one tiny piece of the much larger puzzle of managing your marketing and sales data. Often, the real work begins after you get everything connected - when you have to pull reports from a dozen different places and try to stitch them together into a coherent story. We built Graphed to solve exactly this frustration. Instead of wrestling with platform-specific reporting, we help you connect all your data sources like Google Analytics, Shopify, and social ad platforms in one click, letting you build real-time dashboards and get answers just by asking questions in plain English.