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Copy GA4 Reports & Explorations
July 25, 2025
Let’s be honest, setting up a new Google Analytics 4 property can be a bit of a faff.
You’ve finally perfected a set of insightful reports for one client – maybe a killer SEO dashboard or a social media performance overview – and then a new project lands.
The thought of manually recreating every single one of those reports, click by painstaking click, is enough to make any marketing manager’s heart sink.
It’s a classic time-drain.
You know the data is there, but getting it into a useful, repeatable format across multiple accounts has, until now, been a frustratingly manual process.
Well, here’s the good news. GA4 has introduced a simple feature that drastically cuts down on that setup time.
You can now copy your custom-built reports and explorations directly from one property to another. It’s a small change, but it’s a massive timesaver.
Table of Contents
Copying Standard Reports
It’s actually simpler than you might think. Forget rebuilding; you’re just duplicating.
Here’s the step-by-step:
Head to the ‘Library’: From your main GA4 reporting view, navigate to the ‘Library’ section in the bottom-left menu. This is where all your custom and standard reports live.
Find Your Report: Scroll through the list to find the report you want to copy.
Click the Magic Menu: To the right of the report name, you’ll see the three-dot menu icon. Click on it.
Select ‘Copy across properties’: You’ll see an option to ‘Copy’. When you select this, a new dialogue box will appear.
Choose Your Destination: Simply select the destination GA4 property from the dropdown list and hit the ‘Copy to property’ button.
Voilà! Your report will now be available in the new property.
It’s worth noting that you have to do this one by one. There isn’t a bulk-copy option just yet, so you can’t select ten reports and move them all in one go. But even so, for those few key reports you use time and again, this is a great time-save
Expert Tip
My advice would be to maybe spend the time creating a standard set of reports you know you'll need each time and then copy them across.
Copying ‘Explore’ Reports?
The process for your more advanced ‘Explore’ reports (like funnels, path explorations, and segment overlaps) is just as straightforward.
When you’re in the main ‘Explore’ section, simply hover over the exploration you want to duplicate, click the three-dot menu that appears, and select ‘Copy across properties’. The same dialogue box will pop up, allowing you to choose the destination property.
This is brilliant for replicating complex analysis you’ve built without having to start from a blank canvas.
A Quick Word of Warning…
Here’s the thing you need to remember.
While this process is a huge timesaver, it’s not always a perfect one-click solution.
You may need to tweak the copied reports once they arrive in their new home. Why?
Custom Dimensions & Metrics: If your original report uses custom dimensions or metrics that you haven’t set up in the new property, those parts of the report will break.
Filters: Similarly, if you’ve applied specific filters that don’t make sense for the new account (e.g., filtering for a hostname that doesn’t exist), you’ll need to adjust them.
Think of it as copying the template, not necessarily the finished product.
A quick check and a few minor amendments might be needed, but it still beats building the entire thing from scratch every single time.
Make It Your Standard Operating Procedure
The strategic play here is to create a ‘master’ GA4 property that you use as a template. Spend a bit of time building a suite of your most-used reports:
A core SEO performance report
A paid media overview
A content engagement dashboard
A social media traffic analysis
Once you have this standard set, the onboarding process for any new client or project becomes dramatically more efficient.
You just copy them across, make any necessary tweaks, and you’re ready to go. It transforms a tedious task into a quick, repeatable workflow.
FAQs
Can I copy multiple GA4 reports at once?
No, not at the moment. You have to copy each report and exploration individually.
Do I need special permissions to copy reports across properties?
Yes, you’ll need sufficient permissions (typically Editor level or higher) on both the source property and the destination property to perform this action.
What happens if the custom dimensions in my report don’t exist in the new property?
The report will be copied, but any charts or tables that rely on those specific custom dimensions will likely appear empty or show an error. You will need to either create the missing dimensions in the new property or remove those components from the copied report.
Is this a good way to back up my reports?
While it’s not a formal backup feature, you could create a dedicated ‘template’ or ‘archive’ GA4 property and copy your most important reports there as a safeguard.
Ready to streamline your reporting?
Give this a try the next time you’re setting up a new GA4 instance. Let us know in the comments how much time it saves you!
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Author
Hello, I'm Kyle Rushton McGregor!
I’m an experienced GA4 Specialist with a demonstrated history of working with Google Tag Manager and Looker Studio. I’m an international speaker who has trained 1000s of people on all things analytics.