Why do I see only 2 month data in Google Analytics 4?

Here’s a situation. You install Google Analytics 4 on your website, start collecting data, and then after several months, you decide to check the data in Explorations.

Unfortunately, you realize that the data there is only of the last 2 months.

Why is that? In this quick blog post, I will explain why you see only 2 month data in Google Analytics 4 and how to fix it.

Default data retention settings

By default, Google Analytics 4 shows data (in explorations) only of the last 2 months.  But this can be extended to 14 months (in a free GA4 version). To change this, go to the Admin panel of your Google Analytics 4 property and then Data Retention.

Change Event data retention to 14 months and hit save.

Done! From this moment, GA4 will start collecting more data in explorations (up to 14 months).

Remember that 2 (or 14 months) of data retention applies only to custom reports, a.k.a. Explorations. Standard reports in GA4 (found under the Reports section) are not affected. That data will be displayed even for a longer time.

Important

However, keep in mind one thing. This change (when you switched from 2 months to 14) is not retroactive. By saving these changes, you will still be unable to select a longer period than 2 months. You need to wait until new data gets accumulated, which will take… you guessed it… 12 additional months.

That’s why it’s very important to change the default retention settings as soon as you create a GA4 property.

I know this does not sound good, but that’s the reality. Most things you configure/change in Google Analytics are not retroactive.