# Google Analytics 4 Connector for Tableau : A Detailed Overview

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2023-06-04
- **Format:** Video · 14 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Analytics, Data prep
- **Tools:** Snowflake; Tableau (connectors, extensions)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/google-analytics-4-connector-for-tableau-new-in-tableau
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twTu5KbTHig

I walk through the new Google Analytics 4 connector for Tableau, replacing the soon-to-be-outdated original connector. I cover where to download it from the Tableau Exchange, how to install it in your repository, authenticating with Google, and stepping through account, date range, dimensions and metrics selection.

## Key takeaways

- The new GA4 connector can be downloaded from the Tableau Exchange under the connectors tab, then placed in your My Tableau Repository connectors folder for desktop or prep; bookmark the page for frequent updates as it's a new release
- Authentication opens a Google window that may sit behind the Tableau window, and you must log in with an account that genuinely has permission to the GA4 property
- Certain GA4 dimensions lock out others (for example selecting the full page URL greys out browser data), so know your GA4 schema before building a query
- Adding dimensions like date-and-hour or first session date drastically increases granularity and row counts, and GA4 may sample your data unless you're on a paid tier
- The connector only produces an extract since it's an API request; for reliable, scheduled refreshes consider piping GA4 data into a database such as Snowflake via a tool like Fivetran and querying that live

## Chapters

- 0:15 GA4 property change and why it matters
- 0:52 Downloading the connector from Tableau Exchange
- 1:30 Installing into the Tableau repository
- 2:24 Authenticating with Google
- 3:48 Selecting account and property
- 4:32 Choosing the date range
- 5:21 Selecting dimensions and metrics
- 9:53 Connecting, extracts and blending
- 12:15 Building a sheet and final thoughts

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/google-analytics-4-connector-for-tableau-new-in-tableau

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena