What is data retention in Google Analytics?
Data retention is how long GA4 keeps detailed user and event data for explorations and funnel reports. Standard properties offer 2 or 14 months.
GA4 keeps the detailed, user-level data used in explorations and funnel reports only for the period you set: 2 months by default, or up to 14 months for standard properties. Standard reports, like traffic acquisition, are built from summarized data and are not limited this way. Changing the setting to 14 months is usually a good idea, but it does not bring back data that has already expired.
Why it matters for your business: Set retention to the longest option early on, so you can compare this year with last year in your deeper analyses.
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