Guide 71 · Reports · GA4 + Tag Manager
Export a GA4 report to CSV or PDF: what each format keeps, and what it drops
A standard report exports to CSV, TSV, Google Sheets, or PDF. CSV keeps the data; PDF keeps the picture. Pick the format that matches what the reader will do with it.
After step 4, you hold a CSV with the report's full table and a PDF of the view as shown, and you can state which one to send to a stakeholder and which to keep for analysis.
Download the report reference: the Traffic acquisition export reference (JSON) (1518 bytes, MD5 4348b8b1a55c456e67b55c31eecdd407). It holds the report or exploration definition and the worked example with the recomputed figures shown on this page.
What you need
- Viewer access or above on the property.
- One detail report open, with the date range, filters, and comparisons already set. The export follows the report as shown.
- The decision made before you click: data for analysis, or a picture for a meeting. That decision picks CSV or PDF.
The trace
- Set the report exactly as the reader should see it. Open the detail report, set the date range, apply any filters and comparisons, and sort the table as you want it read. The export captures the report in its current state.
- Open the export menu. In the upper right of the report, click the export or share control and choose the export format. Standard reports offer CSV, TSV, Google Sheets, and PDF.
- Export to CSV for analysis. Choose CSV when the reader will sort, filter, or recompute the data. When you export to Sheets, TSV, or CSV formats, all the data available in the selected view is exported — which may be more data than is currently displayed on screen.
- Export to PDF for a meeting. Choose PDF when the reader will read it, not rework it. When you export to PDF, only the data currently displayed in the view is saved. A PDF of a 500-row table shows the rows on screen, not all 500.
Dead ends
DEAD END — SENDING A PDF WHEN THE READER NEEDS DATA. A PDF cannot be re-sorted or recomputed. A stakeholder who asks for the numbers needs the CSV, not a picture of them.
DEAD END — EXPECTING A PDF TO HOLD THE WHOLE TABLE. PDF exports only the data currently displayed. A long table exported to PDF is a partial table, and the reader will not know what was left out.
DEAD END — EXPORTING BEFORE SETTING THE DATE RANGE. The export follows the report as shown. A report on the wrong date range exports the wrong dates, and the file carries no warning.
End state
Export format is a decision about the reader. The worked example below is the table being exported — recomputed rates for three channels — so the CSV's numbers can be checked against the page they came from.
Worked example — stated inputs, recomputed results. The channels below are stated inputs for the example. Every rate in the table was recomputed from them.
| Row | Sessions | Engaged sessions | Engagement rate | Key events | Key event rate | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Search | 2,410 | 1,502 | 62.3% | 118 | 4.9% | $1,875.00 |
| 486 | 351 | 72.2% | 74 | 15.2% | $1,210.40 | |
| Paid Social | 1,123 | 402 | 35.8% | 29 | 2.6% | $315.60 |
| Total | 4,019 | 2,255 | 56.1% | 221 | 5.5% | $3,401.00 |
Revenue per session is $3,401.00 ÷ 4,019 sessions = $0.85. Engagement rate is 2,255 ÷ 4,019 = 56.1%.
Sources
- Analytics Help — Get started with Explorations — to export exploration data: click Export data and select Google Sheets, TSV, CSV, PDF, or PDF (all tabs); Sheets, TSV and CSV export all available data, PDF exports only displayed data
- Analytics Help — Confirm that you are collecting data — many reports and explorations can take 24 to 48 hours to process data
Checked 11 November 2026. The click paths above are the ones in Google's help pages, opened or read 11 November 2026 (the Explorations and detail-report pages were opened in full; the report, library, navigation and thresholds pages were read from Google's help results the same day, after the browser hit a rate limit). No step in this guide was run inside a live Analytics property, because that needs a Google sign-in and this site does not sign in as anyone. The worked-example figures on this page were recomputed in Python with decimal arithmetic, and the downloadable JSON file carries the same recomputed figures. Google moves menu items without warning; if a path on this page no longer matches, the linked help page is the current map.