How to Transfer Google Analytics Account
Need to move a Google Analytics property to a different account? It's a common task when businesses restructure, merge, or an agency needs to hand off marketing assets to a client. This guide will walk you through the entire process step-by-step, showing you how to transfer ownership for Google Analytics 4 properties safely and without losing your valuable data.
Before You Start: Important Considerations
Transferring a property is a serious administrative action, so it's essential to understand the basics before you click any buttons. Getting prepared now will save you from major headaches later.
Understanding the Hierarchy: Account vs. Property
First, it's critical to understand the Google Analytics structure. It follows a simple hierarchy:
Account: This is the highest level, acting as a container. Your company or agency would typically have one Account.
Property: This lives inside an Account and represents a website or app. An Account can hold multiple Properties. This is the asset you will be moving.
Data Stream: This lives inside a Property and is the source of the data - for example, your website tracking tag or mobile app SDK.
When you "transfer ownership," you are moving a Property (and all its associated data) from one Account to another. You are not transferring your Google user login itself.
Required Permissions You'll Need
To move a property, you can't just have standard 'Editor' or 'Viewer' access. You must have the highest level of permissions on both the starting account and the destination account.
You need Administrator permission on the current (source) account.
You also need Administrator permission on the destination account.
If you don't have this level of access, the "Move Property" button we'll discuss later will be disabled or won't appear at all.
What Gets Transferred (and What Doesn't)
The good news is that the most important stuff comes along for the ride. The bad news is a few crucial connections do not.
What moves with the property:
All historical reporting data.
Real-time settings.
GA4 assets like Audiences, Conversions, Custom Dimensions, and Metrics.
Data Streams themselves (you don't need to create new ones).
What does NOT move or needs to be checked afterward:
User Permissions: You’ll have an option during the transfer, but generally, people who previously only had property-level access will lose it and need to be re-added in the new account.
Product Links: This is the biggest "gotcha." Connections to Google Ads, Google Search Console, BigQuery, and other Google products are often linked at the account level. These links will almost certainly break and need to be re-established after the move.
Measurement ID: Don't worry, your Measurement ID (e.g.,
G-XXXXXXXXXX) does not change. This means you won’t have to re-tag your website or update any tracking code, which is a big relief!
How to Move a Google Analytics 4 Property (Step-by-Step)
With the prep work out of the way, you're ready to perform the transfer. Follow these steps carefully.
Step 1: Log in and Navigate to Admin
Start by logging into your Google Analytics account. Once you're in, click the Admin gear icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
Step 2: Select the Correct Account and Property
The Admin screen has two main columns: 'Account' and 'Property'. Use the dropdown menus at the top of these columns to select the source account (the one you are moving from) and the specific property you wish to move.
Step 3: Open Property Settings and Find "Move Property"
In the 'Property' column, click on Property Details. On this screen, you should see a prominent blue Move Property button in the top-right corner. If this button is greyed out, it means you don't have the required Administrator permissions on one or both accounts.
Step 4: Choose the Destination Account
After clicking "Move Property," a new screen will appear. Under "Transfer to account," you'll see a dropdown menu listing all the Google Analytics accounts where you hold Administrator permissions. Select the destination account where you want to send the property.
Step 5: Confirm User Permissions Settings
Next, you'll need to decide how to handle user permissions. You have two options:
Replace existing property permissions with permissions from the destination account. This is the recommended and cleanest option. The property will inherit the same user permissions as the account you're moving it into, and any property-specific permissions will be removed.
Keep existing property permissions. This keeps any current users with property-level access, adding them to the new account. This can create confusion or give unintended access, so use it carefully.
Choosing "Replace" is generally safer and ensures your new account structure remains easy to manage.
Step 6: Review the Transfer and Start the Move
Google will show you a final confirmation page summarizing the changes. Read this carefully to ensure the source and destination are correct. When you're ready, check the confirmation box and click Start move.
The transfer process begins immediately and typically only takes a few minutes. You’ll see a notification banner on your screen during and after the move is complete.
What About Universal Analytics (UA) Properties?
While Google Analytics 4 is the standard, many businesses still have old Universal Analytics (UA) properties they need to manage for historical data. Thankfully, the moving process is nearly identical to GA4.
You follow the same steps: Navigate to Admin → Property Settings in your UA property, and you will find the same Move Property button. The prompts for choosing a destination account and handling permissions are also the same. Just be sure a UA property is being moved to an account that contains other UA properties, as you can no longer create new, empty UA properties.
After the Transfer: Your Post-Move Checklist
The property has been moved, but your job isn't finished! Completing this checklist will ensure everything works as expected and prevent future data issues.
1. Verify User Access
Navigate to the new destination account. Go to Account Access Management and Property Access Management sections in the Admin panel. Double-check that all necessary team members and stakeholders have the correct permission levels now that the property is in its new home.
2. Check and Re-link Products
This is the most critical post-move step. In the Admin panel, under the Property column, go to the Product Links section. Check the status of connections to:
Google Ads
Google Search Console
BigQuery
Merchant Center
Other Google Marketing Platform products
Many of these links, especially the Google Ads link, will be broken because they are account-level connections. You will need to click into each one and go through the steps to re-establish the link between the property and the product. Forgetting this step is a common reason why Google Ads cost data suddenly disappears from GA reports.
3. Review Data and Reporting
Visit your website or app and check the Realtime report in GA4 to confirm that new data is still flowing into the property correctly. Since the Measurement ID didn't change, there should be no interruption. Over the next 24-48 hours, check on your standard reports to ensure everything looks normal.
4. Update Your Internal Documentation
Don't forget to update any internal documents, trackers, or team wikis that reference your Google Analytics setup. Note the property's new location so your team won't be confused next time they log in.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Even a straightforward process can hit a snag. Here are solutions to the most frequent problems.
The 'Move Property' button is greyed out.This almost always means you lack Administrator permissions. Verify that your email address is listed as an 'Administrator' under 'Account Access Management' for both the source account you're moving from and the destination account you're moving to.
Will moving my property affect historical data or change the tracking code?No. All of your historical data is moved safely with the property, and the Measurement ID (or Tracking ID for UA) does not change, meaning no website code updates are required.
My Google Ads/Search Console data disappeared after the move.This is expected. As covered in the checklist, product links are tied to the account, not the property. You must go into the 'Product Links' section and re-link the services manually.
Final Thoughts
Moving a Google Analytics property is a direct administrative task, but a successful transfer relies on careful preparation and a thorough post-move checkup. By following these steps - from confirming permissions to re-linking your products - you can ensure a clean migration without losing data or causing reporting outages for your team.
Managing Google Analytics data, from initial setup to admin tasks to daily reporting, often feels like a full-time job spent navigating complex settings panels. That's why we designed Graphed . Instead of hunting through menus, you just connect your GA account once. From there, you can ask for the reports and dashboards you need in plain English. Graphed automatically builds and shares live reports in seconds, letting you sidestep the tedious, manual work of data analysis.