What Are GA4 Events? Types, Setup Methods & How to Create Custom Events

In GA4 (Google Analytics 4), every user action is measured in units called "events." Page views, button clicks, scrolls, video plays—all actions on your site are recorded as events.

This article covers the basics of GA4 events, the differences between the four types, specific setup methods, how to create custom events, naming conventions, and what to do when events aren't being tracked.

What Are GA4 Events?

Events in GA4 are the fundamental unit for measuring user actions on websites and apps. While the previous version, UA (Universal Analytics), focused on pageviews and sessions, GA4 measures all data on an event basis. For example, a page view is recorded as a page_view event, and a session start as a session_start event.

Each event can carry additional information called "event parameters." For instance, a page_view event automatically includes parameters like page_location (the page URL) and page_title. By leveraging parameters, you can perform more detailed analysis.

The Four Types of GA4 Events

Automatically Collected Events

These are tracked automatically just by installing the GA4 base tag. No additional configuration is needed. Examples include first_visit, session_start, and user_engagement.

Enhanced Measurement Events

These are collected automatically when enhanced measurement is enabled in the GA4 admin panel. No code changes are required. Examples include page_view, scroll (90% page scroll), click (outbound clicks), file_download, video_start / video_progress / video_complete, and view_search_results (site search).

Recommended Events

These are events Google recommends based on industry or purpose. Manual setup is required, but using Google's predefined event names and parameter structures gives you advantages in standard reports and Google Ads integration. Examples include purchase, add_to_cart, sign_up, login, search, and generate_lead. For e-commerce or lead generation sites, prioritize recommended events over custom events when applicable.

Custom Events

Custom events allow you to freely define events to track site-specific user actions not covered by the other three types. You can set any event name and parameters. Common use cases include form submission completions, specific CTA button clicks, internal page transitions, and phone link taps.

How to Set Up Enhanced Measurement Events

Enhanced measurement events can be easily enabled from the GA4 admin panel. Go to Admin > Data collection and modification > Data streams, select your web stream, and click the gear icon next to "Enhanced measurement." Toggle on the events you want to track and save. Enhanced measurement is enabled by default for new data streams.

How to Create Custom Events in the GA4 Admin Panel

Here's how to create a custom event using only the GA4 admin panel, using "form submission completion page access" as an example.

Go to Admin > Data display > Events and click "Create event." Enter a custom event name (e.g., contact_complete). Set matching conditions: parameter event_name equals page_view, and parameter page_location contains /contact/thanks. Leave "Copy parameters from the source event" checked and click "Create." This will generate a contact_complete event whenever a page_view occurs on a URL containing /contact/thanks.

How to Set Up Custom Events with GTM

For more flexible configuration and centralized management, GTM (Google Tag Manager) is recommended. Here's an example of tracking external link clicks.

In GTM, go to Tags > New and select "Google Analytics: GA4 Event" as the tag type. Enter your GA4 measurement ID and an event name (e.g., external_link_click). Create a trigger with the type "Click – Just Links" and set the Click URL condition to match your target URL. Test with GTM's preview mode, then publish. Check the GA4 Realtime report to verify the event is being received.

Custom Event Naming Rules and Best Practices

Event names can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores. They must start with a letter, and spaces are not allowed. Uppercase and lowercase letters are treated as different events (e.g., Page_Scrolled and page_scrolled are separate events), so it's best to use all lowercase consistently.

GA4 also has reserved words that cannot be used as event names, such as event_name, first_open, and app_remove. Check Google's official documentation for the full list. Additionally, avoid creating custom events that duplicate the conditions of automatically collected or enhanced measurement events, as this leads to double counting.

How to Verify Events

The Realtime report is the quickest way to verify. Go to Reports > Realtime, trigger the event on your site, and it should appear within seconds to minutes. The Admin > Events screen shows all measured events, though it may take up to 24 hours to appear. GA4's DebugView is also very useful when using GTM's preview mode, allowing you to see exactly which events and parameters are being sent in real time.

What to Do When Events Aren't Being Tracked

First, verify your GA4 tag is properly installed using Google Tag Assistant or GTM's preview mode. Next, review your event conditions—common mistakes include trailing slash mismatches, query parameter interference, and operator errors ("equals" vs. "contains"). For GTM setups, ensure the measurement ID is correct. If you have IP filters, temporarily disable them during testing. Remember that standard reports may take up to 24 hours to update.

Using Events as Key Events (Conversions)

Mark your most important events as "key events" to track them as conversions. In March 2024, GA4 renamed "conversions" to "key events," but the functionality is unchanged. Simply toggle "Mark as key event" to ON in the Admin > Events screen. You can set up to 30 key events per property. Key events can be analyzed in standard and exploration reports and used for Google Ads bid optimization.

Summary

GA4 events are the foundation for all user behavior measurement. There are four types—automatically collected, enhanced measurement, recommended, and custom events—each with different setup methods and purposes. To capture the data you truly need, supplement default events with custom events. While the GA4 admin panel alone can handle setup, GTM is recommended for easier management. Start by identifying the user actions you need to track on your site and set up events one by one.