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Guide 97 · Admin · GA4 + Tag Manager

Delete a GA4 property: move it to Trash, use the 35-day window, and restore it if you meant another property

Checked 11 November 2026 · Verification: figures recomputed in Python 3, shown in the downloadable file · Steps traced to Google help and developer pages, opened 11 November 2026 · 5-minute read

Deleting a GA4 property moves it to Trash, where it stays for 35 days before permanent deletion. Restore it from Trash inside that window if the deletion was a mistake.

Expected signal

After the trace, the property sits in Trash with its final deletion date visible, and the restore path is written down before the 35 days run out.

Download the reference: the delete GA4 property reference (JSON) (341 bytes, MD5 9431b9e4a59c857e3163d8607fb152aa). It holds the worked example from this guide with every figure recomputed. The file was built for this guide and checked the same day; it was not exported from a live property.

What you need

  • Editor access at property level.
  • The property name read twice, so you delete the right one.
  • A note of what the property holds, because deletion removes its data streams and all its data.

The trace

  1. Open Admin, then under Property click Property details. You need Editor access or above at property level to delete a property. Read the property name at the top of the screen before you click anything.
  2. Click Move to Trash Can at the top right of the property details screen. Google shows a checklist: other users with edit access will be notified, you may have meant to remove one property rather than the whole account, and your tracking code is still on your pages.
  3. Read the checklist, then click Move to Trash to finish. The property stops collecting, and its historical data is preserved while it sits in Trash.
  4. Open Admin, then under Account click Trash, and confirm the property is listed with its final deletion date. The worked example in the download moves a property to Trash on 11 November; 11 November plus 35 days is 16 December, so the final deletion date is 16 December.
  5. Restore inside the window if you need to. Select the property in Trash and click Restore. It returns with its settings and historical data intact, and collection resumes.
  6. Know what has no Trash. A data stream deleted from a property has no trash can and no 35-day window; its deletion is immediate and irreversible. Do not confuse the two.

Dead ends

DEAD END — DELETING THE ACCOUNT INSTEAD OF THE PROPERTY. Move to Trash Can sits on both the account details and the property details screens. Read the screen title before you click; an account deletion takes every property with it.

DEAD END — THE 35 DAYS RUNNING OUT UNNOTICED. After 35 days the property and all its data are unrecoverable, and Google support cannot retrieve it. Put the final deletion date on a calendar.

DEAD END — DELETING A DATA STREAM AND EXPECTING TRASH. Data streams have no recovery window. Deleting one stops new data at once and cannot be undone.

End state

A property moved to Trash on 11 November is permanently deleted on 16 December, 35 days later. Restore runs from Admin, then Account, then Trash, inside that window.

Sources

Checked 11 November 2026. The click paths above are the ones in Google's help and developer pages, opened 11 November 2026. No step in this guide was run inside a live Analytics property or a live Tag Manager container, because both need a Google sign-in and this site does not sign in as anyone. The figures on this page were recomputed in Python 3 and are shown in the downloadable file, which was checked the same day. Google moves menu items without warning; if a path on this page no longer matches, the linked help page is the current map.