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10 Hidden GA4 Settings That Could Break Your Data (and How to Fix Them)

Byadmin

Most marketers think their GA4 setup is “fine.” Until it isn’t.

GA4 is powerful, but it’s also packed with quiet, easy-to-miss settings that can quietly ruin your data quality. These issues don’t throw an error, they don’t send an alert — they just sit there in the background slowly breaking your reports.

Here are 10 hidden GA4 settings that could be causing bad data in your property right now, plus how to fix them.

1. Data Retention Set to Only 2 Months

By default, GA4 keeps user-level data for 2 months unless you change it.
That means exploration reports lose detail, breakdowns disappear, and long-term analysis becomes impossible.

Fix:
Admin → Data Settings → Data Retention → Set to 14 months.

2. Enhanced Measurement Events Turned Off (or Misconfigured)

Things like scrolls, outbound clicks, and site search often get turned off accidentally or were never enabled.

Or worse, scroll tracking fires on every pixel, inflating events.

Fix:
Admin → Data Streams → Enhanced Measurement
Review each toggle and ensure they match your site behavior.

3. Internal Traffic Not Filtered

If your team visits your website a lot, you’re polluting conversions and inflating engagement.

Most companies forget this step.

Fix:
Admin → Data Filters → Internal Traffic
Add office IPs OR tag internal users with a special header.

4. Unwanted Referral Traffic (Stripe, PayPal, Checkout Pages)

If you use a third-party checkout, GA4 often resets sessions and attributes conversions to Stripe, PayPal, or your own subdomains.

Fix:
Admin → Data Streams → Configure Tag Settings → List Unwanted Referrals
Add gateways like:

  • paypal.com
  • checkout.stripe.com
  • yoursite.myshopify.com

5. Misaligned Conversion Windows

Your attribution window might be too short (or too long) for your actual buying cycle.

Fix:
Admin → Attribution Settings
Set lookback windows that match your business reality.

6. Accidentally Marking Too Many Events as Conversions

GA4 allows up to 30 conversion events but most sites should only have 5–7 meaningful conversions.

If everything is a conversion, nothing is a conversion.

Fix:
Admin → Events → Conversions
Turn off vanity actions like:

  • file_download
  • session_start
  • scroll

7. Collecting Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

GA4 strictly forbids emails, names, phone numbers, or IDs in URLs. Many sites accidentally send them via:

  • search parameters
  • contact forms
  • signup flows

This can lead to data loss or violation scares.

Fix:
Check URLs → Strip PII at the source → Implement GTM filters.

8. Missing or Incorrect Cross-Domain Tracking

If users move between your main site and a subdomain or third-party domain, GA4 may start new sessions.

Common examples:

  • example.com → blog.example.com
  • example.com → shop.example.com

Fix:
Admin → Data Streams → Configure Tag Settings → Modify → Add Cross Domain
Add the correct domains.

9. Not Setting Currency or Time Zone Correctly

This sounds small, but it breaks revenue reporting, funnel insights, and daily trends.

Wrong time zone = wrong days
Wrong currency = wrong revenue

Fix:
Admin → Property Settings
Double-check both.

10. Key Parameters Are Missing (or Firing Incorrectly)

GA4 events may be firing, but are the parameters coming through?

Common issues:

  • page_location incorrect
  • session_engaged not set
  • ecommerce items missing fields like price or quantity
  • event parameters pushed in wrong format

Fix:
Use:

  • DebugView
  • Tag Assistant
  • Realtime Reports

Verify each parameter before going live.

Bonus: The Most Overlooked Setting of All: Consent Mode

If you’re in the US, EU, or Canada, missing consent configurations can:

  • block data
  • undercount traffic
  • break remarketing
  • create legal risk

Make sure GTM + CMP + GA4 are all configured correctly.

How to Make Sure You Didn’t Miss Anything

Even if you fix the 10 issues above, there are 30+ more configuration checks hidden inside GA4, GTM, and BigQuery.

That’s what GA Auditor is built for.

It automatically scans:

  • GA4 settings
  • GTM container
  • BigQuery export
  • Privacy & consent setup
  • Event naming & parameter consistency
  • Revenue tracking accuracy

…and identifies everything that needs improvement — with plain-English explanations.

👉 Try GA Auditor
👉 Need consulting or help fixing your setup? Visit https://www.optizent.com/.

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