Guide 61 · Reports · GA4 + Tag Manager
Create a detail report in the Library: a blank table with your dimensions and metrics
A detail report starts blank or from a template in the Library. Pick dimensions and metrics, save it, then publish it to a collection so anyone can find it.
After step 7, the Library holds a named detail report with your dimensions and metrics, and you know the publish step that puts it in the left navigation.
Download the report reference: the New detail report (blank) reference (JSON) (1543 bytes, MD5 16ff7e7aa6f33cc746fbb21ae92de40e). It holds the report or exploration definition and the worked example with the recomputed figures shown on this page.
What you need
- Editor or Administrator role on the property. Without it, the Library option does not appear.
- The report path: Reports, then Library at the bottom left.
- Your dimension and metric list, written down first — for example, Session source / medium with Sessions and Session key event rate. A blank report with no list becomes a random walk through the picker.
The trace
- Open the Library. Sign in, click Reports on the left, then Library at the bottom left. If you do not see the option, you do not have permission to create a detail report; an admin must grant the Editor or Administrator role.
- Start a new detail report. In the Reports section, click + Create new report, then Create detail report.
- Choose blank or a template. Click Blank to start empty, or select a template. A report based on a template receives updates automatically when Google changes the template — for example, if Google adds a dimension to the User acquisition report, the dimension appears in all linked User acquisition reports. Blank stays exactly as you built it.
- Set the dimensions. In the Customize report panel on the right, open the dimension picker and add your dimensions — for example, Session source / medium — and set the default dimension. Apply the change.
- Set the metrics. In the same panel, open Metrics and add your metrics — for example, Sessions and Session key event rate. Apply the change and confirm the columns show values.
- Set the charts and filters. In the panel, choose the charts for the report and add any filters that define its scope — for example, a filter that keeps only one campaign. A filter set here shapes the whole report, not one view of it.
- Save and name it. Click Save, enter a name for the report, and click Save again. The report is now in the Reports section of the report library. To make it easy for others to find, add it to a collection and publish the collection, so it appears in the left navigation.
Dead ends
DEAD END — CREATING AS A VIEWER. The Library option is invisible without the Editor or Administrator role. No menu path substitutes for the role.
DEAD END — PICKING A TEMPLATE AND EXPECTING IT TO STAY FROZEN. A template-linked report receives Google's template updates. If you need the report to stay exactly as built, start from Blank.
DEAD END — SAVING AND STOPPING BEFORE PUBLISHING. A saved report that was never added to a published collection is visible only in the Library. Your colleagues will not find it in the left navigation.
End state
A detail report is a table you define: dimensions down the rows, metrics across the columns, saved under a name. The worked example below recomputes the rates the new report's metric columns will show, so you can verify the saved report against your own arithmetic.
Worked example — stated inputs, recomputed results. The source / medium rows 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| google / organic | 1,830 | 1,098 | 60.0% | 94 | 5.1% | $1,510.00 |
| newsletter / email | 402 | 301 | 74.9% | 66 | 16.4% | $990.25 |
| Facebook / paid | 755 | 289 | 38.3% | 21 | 2.8% | $245.75 |
| Total | 2,987 | 1,688 | 56.5% | 181 | 6.1% | $2,746.00 |
Revenue per session is $2,746.00 ÷ 2,987 sessions = $0.92. Engagement rate is 1,688 ÷ 2,987 = 56.5%.
Sources
- Analytics Help — [GA4] Create a detail report — create a detail report from the Library; Editor or Administrator required; blank or template; save and name
- Analytics Help — [GA4] Customize report navigation — a report appears in the left navigation only after it is added to a published collection
- Analytics Help — Report library — the report library manages reports and navigation
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.