Guide 196 · Events · GA4 + Tag Manager

The recommended events reference: the ten events for every property, and the online-sales set

Checked 11 November 2026 · Verification: figures recomputed in Python with decimal arithmetic; downloadable JSON carries the same recomputed figures · Steps traced to Analytics Help, opened 11 November 2026 · 8-minute read

Recommended events are the standard events Google defined for common actions — ten for every property, plus the online-sales set — each with parameters that unlock prebuilt reporting.

Expected signal

After step 5, you can name the recommended event for the action in front of you, its required parameters, and the value rule for the sales events — before you write any code.

Download the reference: the recommended events reference (JSON) (2664 bytes, MD5 4bf426a2fd361b64511f7790b7c03c06). It holds the report or event definition and the worked example with the recomputed figures shown on this page.

What you need

The recommended events reference in the Google Analytics developer docs — the table is the map, not your memory of it.
The set-up events guide beside it, for the gtag call and the Tag Manager route to send each event.
The knowledge that recommended is not automatic. These events take more effort to configure before you can use them, so GA4 cannot send them automatically.

The trace

Start from the two lists. The reference splits recommended events into the events for all properties and the online-sales events. The ten for all properties are earn_virtual_currency, join_group, login, search, select_content, share, sign_up, spend_virtual_currency, tutorial_begin and tutorial_complete. The online-sales set is add_payment_info, add_shipping_info, add_to_cart, add_to_wishlist, begin_checkout, purchase, refund, remove_from_cart, select_item, view_cart, view_item and view_item_list.
Read the required column before the optional one. Most recommended events carry optional parameters only: login takes method, sign_up takes method, select_content takes content_type and content_id. Two are strict: search requires search_term, and spend_virtual_currency requires value and virtual_currency_name. tutorial_begin and tutorial_complete take no parameters at all, and belong in a funnel together.
Apply the value rule to every sales event. For the sales events, set value to the sum of price times quantity for all items in items, and do not include shipping or tax. If you set value then currency is required for revenue metrics to be computed accurately. The worked example below recomputes a two-item order under this rule.
Send one item per row, with its own parameters. The sales events carry an items array, and each item carries item_id or item_name — one of the two is required — plus price, quantity, discount, item_brand and the category levels. On top of the prescribed parameters you can include up to 27 custom parameters in the items array.
Pick the recommended event before you invent a custom one. Recommended events unlock existing and future reporting capabilities; a custom event is what you define because no recommended event fits. If the action is a login, a search, a share, a sign-up or a purchase, the recommended name is the one to send.

Dead ends

DEAD END — USING THE RECOMMENDED NAME WITH CUSTOM PARAMETERS INSTEAD OF THE PRESCRIBED ONES. The name alone does not unlock the reporting panel — the prescribed parameters do. A purchase sent without currency, value and items is a purchase in name only, and the revenue metrics will not compute.

DEAD END — ADDING SHIPPING AND TAX TO THE VALUE. Value is the sum of price times quantity, without shipping and without tax. An order of $56.96 in items with $3.33 shipping and $1.11 tax sends a value of $56.96, not $61.40. The shipping and tax have their own parameters.

DEAD END — SENDING VALUE WITHOUT CURRENCY. If you set value then currency is required for revenue metrics to be computed accurately. A value with no currency is a number with no unit, and the revenue reports cannot use it.

End state

The recommended events are the shared vocabulary: the same names and parameters on every property, so the same reports work everywhere. The worked example below recomputes the value rule and lists the ten events for every property.

Worked example — stated inputs, recomputed results. An order holds two items. The value rule for recommended ecommerce events is: value is the sum of price times quantity for all items, without shipping and without tax.

Item	Price	Quantity	Line value
Item A	$12.50	2	$25.00
Item B	$7.99	4	$31.96
value for the event	—	—	$56.96

$12.50 × 2 = $25.00, and $7.99 × 4 = $31.96. $25.00 + $31.96 = $56.96 — that is the value to send. The ten events for every property are:

Event
`earn_virtual_currency`
`join_group`
`login`
`search`
`select_content`
`share`
`sign_up`
`spend_virtual_currency`
`tutorial_begin`
`tutorial_complete`

Sources

Google Analytics — Recommended events — the ten events for all properties, the online-sales set, the required parameters for search and spend_virtual_currency, and the value rule for sales events
Google Analytics — Set up events — that recommended events are standard events that unlock prebuilt reporting panels, and that custom events are the ones you define yourself

Checked 11 November 2026. The click paths above are the ones in Google's help and developer pages, opened in full on 11 November 2026. 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.