What is the UA Number for Google Analytics?

Thinking about your Google Analytics UA number probably feels like digging up a time capsule. This little string of characters was once the key to all your website data. Now, with Google Analytics 4 as the new standard, the UA number is a relic from a different era of web analytics.

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This article will explain exactly what the UA number is, how to find your old one if you still need it, and what you should be focused on now that Universal Analytics has been sunset.

What is a UA Number in Google Analytics?

A Universal Analytics (UA) number, officially called a Tracking ID, was the unique identifier for your website property in the older version of Google Analytics. It tells Google’s servers exactly which account and property to send user data to. You'd find it inside a small piece of JavaScript code on your website, tracking every pageview, session, and event.

The format of a UA Tracking ID always looks like this:

UA-XXXXXX-Y

Let's quickly break that down:

• UA: This stands for "Universal Analytics."
• XXXXXX: This is your unique Google Analytics account number.
• Y: This is the property number within that account. For example, if this is the first property you ever set up, it would be UA-XXXXXX-1. The second would be UA-XXXXXX-2, and so on.

Think of it like a mailing address. When someone visited your website, the tracking code would bundle up information about their visit and "mail" it to your unique UA address. Without it, Google wouldn't know where to deliver your data.

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Google Analytics 4 is Here, So Why Do I Still Need My UA Number?

As you probably know, Universal Analytics stopped collecting new data for standard properties on July 1, 2023. All new properties now use the GA4 format, which has a different Measurement ID (it starts with "G-" instead of "UA-").

So if UA is obsolete, why would you ever need to find your old tracking ID? There are a few very important reasons:

• Accessing Historical Data: This is the biggest one. You need your UA number to find and access your historic Universal Analytics property. While it's not collecting new data, your old data is still there (for now). If you want to compare year-over-year performance or look up trends from a few years ago, you'll need to log into that old UA property.
• Auditing Your Website: When moving to GA4, you should remove the old UA tracking code. To do this, you first have to find it! Searching your site's code for your specific UA number is the best way to ensure you've removed it and aren't running two tracking scripts simultaneously, which can skew your data.
• Third-Party Integrations: Some older plugins, apps, or platforms might not have fully updated their systems to GA4 yet. They might still ask for a UA-ID as part of their connection process. While this is becoming less common, it still happens.
• Verifying Old Setups: If you're managing a site you didn't build or have inherited old analytics accounts, finding the UA number can help you figure out which website was connected to which analytics property.

How to Find Your Universal Analytics (UA) Tracking ID

Alright, let's get down to business. If you need to find that old UA number, there are a few places you can look. Here are the most common methods, from easiest to most technical.

Method 1: Checking Your Google Analytics Account

The most straightforward way is to look directly inside Google Analytics itself. You just need to make sure you're looking at the right property.

1. Log in to your Google Analytics account.
2. Click the Admin gear icon in the bottom-left corner.
3. At the top of the Admin screen, you'll see your account and property dropdowns. Click the property dropdown. If your Universal Analytics property still exists, you'll see it listed here - it will be the one with the UA- prefix in its ID number. Select it.
4. Once you're viewing the correct UA property in the Admin settings, look at the middle "Property" column. Click on Tracking Info, which will expand a menu.
5. From that menu, click on Tracking Code.
6. Your Tracking ID will be displayed right at the top, bold and clear (e.g., UA-12345678-1). You'll also see the full JavaScript code snippet below it.

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Method 2: Looking in Your Website's Source Code

If you don't have access to the Google Analytics account but can edit the website, you can find the tracking ID directly in the website's code.

1. Navigate to your website's homepage in your browser.
2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select View Page Source (this may be called "Show Page Source" or similar depending on the browser). Or, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+U (on Windows) or Cmd+U (on Mac).
3. A new tab will open, showing you the raw HTML of your website. Don't be intimidated!
4. Press Ctrl+F or Cmd+F to open the "find" box and type in UA-.
5. Your browser will highlight any instances of "UA-". You are looking for a line within a <script> tag that looks something like this:

<!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-12345678-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [], function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments),} gtag('js', new Date()),

gtag('config', 'UA-12345678-1'), </script>

The number you see after "UA-" is your Tracking ID.

Method 3: Checking Your Website’s CMS or Plugin Settings

Most website owners don't paste code directly into their theme files. Instead, they use a content management system (CMS) plugin or theme setting to add the tracking script. This is another easy place to check.

• WordPress: If your site runs on WordPress, the UA ID is likely stored in a plugin. Check the settings for common Google Analytics plugins like MonsterInsights, Site Kit by Google, or a general script-inserter plugin like Insert Headers and Footers. The ID is usually on the main settings page.
• Shopify: In your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Preferences. Scroll down to the "Google Analytics" section. The UA code was often pasted into a box there.
• Google Tag Manager: If your site uses Google Tag Manager (GTM), the ID will be there. Log in to GTM, open your container, go to the Tags section, and look for a tag of the type "Google Analytics: Universal Analytics." Click on it, and the Tracking ID will be listed in its settings.

The End of an Era: Why Google Switched from UA to GA4

The switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 wasn't just an update - it was a complete overhaul of how we measure web traffic. The old, UA-based model was fantastic for the desktop-centric internet of the 2010s, but it struggled to keep up with today's complex user journeys across multiple devices and apps.

Here’s why Google made the shift:

1. A New Data Model: Universal Analytics was built around sessions and pageviews. GA4 is built around events and parameters. In simple terms, everything a user does is an event, from viewing a page (page_view) to clicking a button or filling out a form (generate_lead). This model is far more flexible and captures user behavior more accurately.
2. Cross-Platform Tracking: The event-based model allows GA4 to seamlessly track a single user's journey from your mobile app to your website, giving you a complete picture. UA was never good at this, it saw the app user and the web user as two different people.
3. Built for a Privacy-First Future: GA4 was designed with data privacy in mind. It works without relying on third-party cookies and gives site owners more control over how user data is collected, an essential feature in the age of GDPR and other privacy regulations.
4. AI and Predictive Analytics: GA4 uses Google's machine learning capabilities to provide predictive metrics right out of the box. It can tell you the probability of a user churning or making a purchase, helping you be proactive rather than just reactive with your marketing.

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Moving Forward: Key Actions to Take Now

Finding your UA number is often just one part of a larger task: fully adapting to GA4 and managing the transition. If you're still straddling the line between the two, here are the crucial next steps.

• 1. Back Up Your Universal Analytics Data: This is the most critical task. Google has stated that it will begin turning off access to the Universal Analytics interface, and your historical data will be deleted forever. You need to export your key reports now. You can do this manually by exporting a view to a CSV or Google Sheet, or you can use third-party tools that connect to the GA API to back everything up for you. Don't delay this - once it's gone, it's gone.
• 2. Cleanly Remove Your Old UA Script: Once you've saved your historical data and are confident your GA4 tag is firing correctly, remove the old UA tracking code from your website. Whether it's in a plugin, theme settings, or your header.php file, taking it out will prevent data conflicts and slightly improve your site's load speed.
• 3. Recreate Your Important Goals and Reports in GA4: Your old goals from UA do not transfer automatically to GA4. You need to configure them anew as "Conversions." For example, if you tracked a form submission by sending users to a "thank you" page, you now create an event for a generate_lead and mark that event as a conversion. Any custom dashboards or favorite reports you had will also need to be rebuilt in GA4's "Explore" section.

Final Thoughts On Your UA Number

The Universal Analytics UA number was a cornerstone of web analytics for over a decade, but its time has come to an end. While you might need to find it to access historical records or clean up old tracking codes, your focus should now be on mastering Google Analytics 4's powerful, event-driven approach to understanding your audience and business performance.

Rebuilding dashboards and weaving together data from GA4, your ad platforms, and your CRM can be a huge time sink. We built Graphed to remove that friction completely. You can connect your marketing and sales data in seconds, then simply ask for the reports you need in plain English. Instead of learning a complex new interface, just say, "build a dashboard showing my top ad campaigns from Facebook versus their GA4 conversion rates," and watch it appear in real-time. This lets you get straight to the insights, not the setup.