Universal Analytics stopped collecting data on July 1, 2024. As of 2026, your UA property is read-only and Google has scheduled it for deletion. If you haven’t migrated, you’re operating without analytics — and the historical UA data you still have is on borrowed time.
This is the late-mover’s hub. Three paths from UA, each with a clear scope.
The three honest options
- UA → GA4 (the default). Same vendor, new data model. Google’s path of least resistance. The migration is mechanical: archive UA via the Reporting API, install GA4, map UA goals to GA4 events. Late-mover’s playbook →
- UA → Privacy-first (skip GA4 entirely). If you’ve made it without GA4 this long, consider whether you need it at all. Plausible/Matomo migrations from UA are simpler than from GA4 because you have less event taxonomy to translate.
- UA archive only (no replacement). If your team genuinely doesn’t use analytics — say so, archive UA into Parquet/BigQuery cold storage, and stop pretending. Most “we need analytics” requirements are inherited and unexamined.
What you must do this week, regardless
Export UA data now. Google has hinted at “early 2026” for full UA deletion. Use the Reporting API or csv exports before that day. Once UA is deleted, the data is gone — there is no rescue path.