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Import data from Google Analytics 4

Pulls historical traffic into Statable so your dashboard doesn't start from zero. Runs as a background job. Imported and native data mix in your reports. Non-destructive, removable any time.

Why import

If your team's intuition is calibrated to GA4, importing means:

  • Date ranges before install are populated.
  • Year-over-year comparisons work from day one.
  • Page-level rankings carry over for SEO context.
  • You can decommission GA4 without losing the historical narrative.

For the full migration including DNS, consent banner, and dashboard parity, see the migration guide.

What is imported

Imported data joins native data in:

  • Top stats (Visitors, Sessions, Pageviews, Bounce Rate, Visit Duration)
  • Pages
  • Sources / Referrers
  • Channels
  • Geo (Country, Region, City)
  • Browsers
  • Operating Systems
  • Devices
  • UTM (Source, Medium, Campaign)
  • Entry Pages

What is not imported

GA4's data model doesn't map 1:1, so a few things stay empty:

  • Custom events (only native Statable events going forward).
  • Goals (run on native data).
  • Page detail metrics: exits, scroll depth, time on page.
  • Per-event custom properties.
  • Realtime data (imports are historical only).
  • User-level retention cohorts.

Procedure

The flow lives at Site settings → Import. Six steps:

1. Connect Google Account

Click Connect GA4. You're sent to Google's OAuth consent screen for read access to your GA4 properties. Statable stores only the refresh token, never your Google password.

Existing connections are listed at the top of the page, with a Remove button next to each.

2. Authorize OAuth

Approve the consent screen. Required scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/analytics.readonly. Without it, property listing fails.

3. Select GA4 property

A dropdown lists every GA4 property the connected Google account can read. Pick one. One Statable site imports from one GA4 property at a time.

4. Choose date range

Two presets:

  • All available. Statable looks up the property's earliest event and imports from that day to yesterday.
  • Custom. Pick start and end dates from a two-month calendar.

GA4 typically retains 14 months of event-level data on free properties. All available stops at whatever the property holds.

5. Start import

Click Start import. The job is queued and starts within seconds.

Small imports (a few months, low traffic) finish in minutes. Year-long imports of high-traffic properties run for hours.

6. Monitor progress

The page polls job status every 5 seconds. You'll see a progress bar, the current dimension being processed, and rows imported so far. You can close the tab. The job continues server-side.

Cancel an in-flight import

The import row in the list shows a Cancel button while running. Stops the job. Already-imported rows stay. Un-imported dates are not backfilled. Start a new import for the missing window later.

Replace existing data

If you import a date range that overlaps a previous import, Statable shows a Replace existing data dialog. Confirming wipes the overlapping window and writes the new data on top. Native (script-collected) events are never touched.

Remove imported data

Use Remove imported data at the bottom of the Import page. Deletes every imported row for the site. Native data is preserved. Useful if you imported the wrong property, want to redo with a different date range, or are moving the site to a new owner.

Quotas

GA4's Data API enforces 10,000 tokens per property per day. The importer batches dimensions to stay under that limit. If you've already used the property's quota with other tools (Looker Studio, BI exports), the import may pause until the quota resets at midnight Pacific.

Check current usage at Site settings → Import → Quota.

How mixed data appears

Imported and native rows are summed at query time. No visual badge in the dashboard distinguishes them. The goal is one continuous timeline.

If you need to know which rows came from where, the report CSV export includes a source column with values native or ga4_import.

Next steps

Ready to take control of your web analytics? Try Statable free for 30 days — no credit card required, full feature access, GDPR-compliant by default. Start your free trial or view a live demo.