Where is Configure Within Google Analytics 4?

If you've recently moved from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4, you might be asking yourself, "Where did the 'Configure' menu go?" You’re not alone. GA4 introduced a completely redesigned interface, and many of the familiar settings have been moved or renamed. This article will show you exactly where to find the key configuration settings you're used to, like Events, Conversions, Audiences, and Custom Dimensions, within the new GA4 environment.

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Whatever Happened to the "Configure" Menu?

In Universal Analytics, the Admin panel was neatly organized with many important settings - Goals, Audiences, Custom Dimensions - listed under a "View" column. This structure was intuitive for many users. However, GA4 has fundamentally changed how data is structured, moving away from the old Account > Property > View hierarchy.

Today, almost all the functionality that used to live under "Configure" has been relocated to the main Admin panel in GA4, primarily within the "Property" column. While the labels have changed, all the core capabilities are still there. The key is knowing where GA4 wants you to look now.

Let's walk through the new locations for the most essential configuration tasks.

The Admin Panel: GA4's New Configuration Hub

Your primary destination for nearly all configuration tasks in GA4 is the Admin section. You can find this by clicking the cogwheel icon in the bottom-left corner of your GA4 screen.

Once you’re in the Admin panel, you'll see two columns: Account and Property. The overwhelming majority of the setup and configuration tasks you need to perform will happen in the Property column. This column is the new central hub for managing your events, conversions, audiences, data streams, and more.

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Events and Conversions: Tracking What Matters

One of the biggest shifts from UA to GA4 is the change from "Goals" to "Conversions." In UA, you configured specific goals based on criteria like pageviews or session duration. In GA4, everything is an event, and a conversion is simply an event you've marked as important.

Finding Your Events List

The "Events" menu is where you can view every type of interaction that GA4 is tracking. It’s also where you can create new custom events based on existing ones. Here’s how to find it:

1. Click the Admin cogwheel icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. Under the Property column, look for the Data display section.
3. Click on Events.

On this screen, you’ll see a list of every existing event collected from your website or app. From here you have two primary options:

• Create event: This powerful feature lets you create new events based on existing event data without adding any code. For example, you could create a new event called signed_up_for_newsletter that triggers every time the existing generate_lead event occurs on your "thank you" page.
• Mark as conversion: This is the key. To track an event as a conversion, all you have to do is find it in this list and flip the switch in the "Mark as conversion" column. That's it. It’s significantly simpler than the multi-step goal setup in Universal Analytics.

Managing Your Conversions

So, where is the list of just your conversions? It’s conveniently located right below the Events menu.

1. Go back to Admin.
2. In the Property column's Data display section, click Conversions.

This page provides a clean, filtered view of only the events you have marked as conversions. This makes it a great spot to see at-a-glance which user actions you consider most valuable. Here, you can also manually add a "New conversion event" if you know the exact name of an event you want to track as a conversion, even before GA4 has received it.

Audiences: Grouping Your Users

Audiences allow you to segment your users into groups based on demographics, behavior, or other shared characteristics. These are vital for targeted reporting and for creating remarketing lists in Google Ads. This functionality remains a core part of GA4 configuration and is easy to find.

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Where to Find Audiences:

1. Navigate to the Admin panel.
2. In the Property column, head to the Data display section.
3. Click Audiences.

On this page, you can see all your existing audiences and create new ones by clicking the "New audience" button. When building a new audience, you can choose from suggested templates (like “Recently active users” or “Purchasers”) or build a completely custom audience from scratch based on a wide range of dimensions, metrics, and events. For instance, you could build an audience of users who visited a specific landing page, added an item to their cart, but did not complete a purchase.

Custom Definitions: Adding Your Own Data Layers

Custom Definitions are GA4's equivalent of "Custom Dimensions and Metrics" from UA. They allow you to collect and analyze data that isn't automatically tracked by GA4, giving you a reporting view tailored to your business needs.

Where to Find Custom Definitions:

1. Go to the Admin panel.
2. In the Property column's Data display section, click Custom definitions.

Here, you'll find two tabs: Custom dimensions and Custom metrics. It’s important to remember what each one does:

• Custom Dimensions: These are descriptive attributes or characteristics of your data. Think of them as the "who, what, where." For example, if you run a blog, you could create a custom dimension for the "Author" of each post, or the "Post_Category."
• Custom Metrics: These are numerical counts or quantities. Think of them as the "how many." An example could be a custom metric that tracks "Form_Fields_Completed" or the "Video_Progress_%" a user has watched.

Creating these is essential for deep, customized reporting, and this menu is the starting point for doing so.

Other Key Configuration Settings in GA4

Not every single setting lives under the "Data display" menu in the Admin panel. A few other critically important configuration spots are located nearby.

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Managing Your Data Stream

Your Data Stream is the pipeline that sends data from your website or app into your GA4 property. Here, you’ll find your Measurement ID (the new "Tracking ID") and settings for Enhanced Measurement.

Where to Find Data Streams:

1. Navigate to the Admin panel.
2. In the Property column, look for the Data collection and modification section.
3. Click Data streams.

Click on your specific stream (e.g., your website) to find your Measurement ID and configure Enhanced Measurement. Enhanced Measurement is a powerful feature that automatically tracks events like scrolls, outbound clicks, and site searches without requiring any additional code. This is definitely a "configure" screen you'll want to review.

Quick Reference: Finding UA's 'Configure' Features in GA4

For those of you who want a quick "before and after" cheat sheet, here’s a simple breakdown of where old UA features are now located in GA4:

• Goals (UA): Now located at Admin > Data display > Events (where you toggle events) and Admin > Data display > Conversions (to see the final list).
• Audiences (UA): Still called Audiences and found at Admin > Data display > Audiences.
• Custom Definitions (UA): Now called Custom definitions and found at Admin > Data display > Custom definitions.
• Filters (UA View): Found at Admin > Data collection and modification > Data filters. Use these to include or exclude developer traffic and internal traffic.
• Channel Grouping (UA View): Found at Admin > Data display > Channel groups.

Final Thoughts

Google Analytics 4’s interface represents a significant change, but don’t be discouraged by the disappearance of the "Configure" menu. All the critical functionality you need is still there - it’s just been reorganized within the Admin panel, mostly under the Property column. By familiarizing yourself with sections like "Data display," you can handle all your core GA4 configuration with confidence.

Mastering the GA4 admin panel unlocks your data's potential, but the job of turning that data into actual insights still remains. At Graphed, we remove the friction of manual report building and data-wrangling across numerous platforms. After a one-click connection to your GA4 account and other data sources, you can instantly build live dashboards just by asking questions like, "Which marketing channels are driving the most conversions from GA4?" and get the answers you need in seconds, not hours.