How do I enable enhanced measurement in GA4?

by · Published · Updated

Applies to: Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Last updated: May 2025

Problem

You want GA4 to automatically track common user interactions (like page views, scrolls, outbound link clicks, site searches, file downloads, etc.) without needing to manually configure individual events.

Solution

GA4’s Enhanced Measurement feature enables automatic tracking of several interaction types with just a few clicks during or after data stream setup. No additional coding is required.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Sign in to Google Analytics

2. Go to Admin Panel

  • Click the Admin gear icon (lower left)
  • Under the Property column, click Data Streams
  • Select your Web data stream

3. Enable Enhanced Measurement

  1. In the Web stream details, look for the Enhanced Measurement section
  2. Make sure the toggle is set to On
  3. Click the gear icon next to the toggle to manage settings

4. Select Which Events to Track Automatically

You can choose to enable or disable any of the following:

  • Page views (always on)
  • Scrolls (fires when a user reaches 90% of a page)
  • Outbound clicks (clicks to domains outside your own)
  • Site search (requires query parameter like ?q=)
  • Video engagement (for embedded YouTube videos)
  • File downloads (common file types like .pdf, .docx, .xlsx)

Click Save after adjusting your selections.

Where to View the Data

  • Navigate to Reports > Engagement > Events
  • Events from enhanced measurement will appear with names like:
    • scroll
    • file_download
    • click
    • view_search_results

You can mark any of these events as conversions under Admin > Conversions.

Notes

  • These events use GA4’s standard event model and don’t require custom tags
  • Enhanced measurement works only for Web data streams (not apps)
  • If using Google Tag Manager, avoid duplicate tracking by not creating custom tags for events already handled by Enhanced Measurement

Tags:

You may also like...