Guide 72 · Reports · GA4 + Tag Manager
Share a GA4 report link: who can open it, and what they can change
Sharing a report sends a link that opens the report as the reader's own access allows. A shared report is readable; it is not a copy, and it is not editable by the reader.
After step 4, you hold a share link for the report, you know which role the reader needs to open it, and you know the reader cannot edit the report from the link.
Download the report reference: the Traffic acquisition share link reference (JSON) (1477 bytes, MD5 021ea8c894a253098f366f25392a3778). 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 report open, with the date range, filters, and comparisons set as the reader should see them.
- For an exploration, at least the Analyst role — sharing an exploration requires it.
The trace
- Set the report as the reader should see it. Open the report, set the date range, apply filters and comparisons. The link opens the report in that state, so set it before you share, not after.
- Open the share control. In the upper right of the report, click the share icon and choose Share link. The link is tied to the property: only people with access to the property can open it.
- For an exploration, share from the upper right. In the upper right of the exploration, click Share exploration. To share an exploration, you must have at least an Analyst role in the property. Shared explorations can be viewed, but not edited, by anyone who has the Viewer role to the property.
- Tell the reader what the link does not do. A shared report or exploration is a read-only view. To edit it, the reader must duplicate or copy the shared exploration. Say that in the message with the link, or the reader will reply asking why the edit controls are missing.
Dead ends
DEAD END — SHARING A LINK WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS NO PROPERTY ACCESS. The link is not a public page. A reader without access to the property cannot open it, whatever the link says.
DEAD END — EXPECTING A SHARED EXPLORATION TO BE EDITABLE. Shared explorations are view-only for Viewers. The edit path is duplicate or copy, not the shared link.
DEAD END — SHARING BEFORE SETTING THE DATE RANGE. The link opens the report as you set it. A link shared on the default range shows the default range, not the range you meant.
End state
A share link is a read-only window into the report as you set it. The worked example below is the table the link opens — recomputed rates for three channels — so the reader and the sharer are looking at the same numbers.
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 | 1,842 | 1,107 | 60.1% | 96 | 5.2% | $1,240.50 |
| Direct | 917 | 423 | 46.1% | 41 | 4.5% | $610.25 |
| Paid Search | 634 | 389 | 61.4% | 58 | 9.1% | $905.75 |
| Total | 3,393 | 1,919 | 56.6% | 195 | 5.7% | $2,756.50 |
Revenue per session is $2,756.50 ÷ 3,393 sessions = $0.81. Engagement rate is 1,919 ÷ 3,393 = 56.6%.
Sources
- Analytics Help — Get started with Explorations — to share an exploration you must have at least an Analyst role; shared explorations can be viewed, but not edited, by anyone with the Viewer role; you must duplicate or copy a shared exploration to edit it
- 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.