Summary
Mark them as key events. In GA4, key events are the events you flag as most valuable to the business, such as purchase and newsletter sign-up, and the toggle sits in Admin under Data display, Key events. Once marked, those events get counted separately across the Reports snapshot, Acquisition reports and attribution data.
Nitin Batra is a Google Analytics 4 certified professional who configures key events, data streams and event tracking in live GA4 properties on a daily basis.
Last updated: August 16, 2026
In Google Analytics 4, you mark high-value actions such as purchases and newsletter sign-ups as key events, the setting that replaced conversions and tells GA4 which events matter most for your business.
- Automatic events
- Key events
- Custom events
- Recommended events
The correct answer is: Key events
Key Takeaways
- – Mark valuable events such as purchases and newsletter sign-ups as key events in your GA4 property.
- – The toggle sits in Admin, Data display, Key events, and also on each row of the Events table under Reports, Engagement.
- – Key events replaced the old GA4 conversions terminology, so older documentation and course material calling them conversions is describing the same setting.
- – Marking is not retroactive in reporting terms for historic key event counts, and a standard property allows up to 30 key events, so pick genuine business outcomes rather than every click.
Where exactly do I mark an event as a key event in GA4?
Go to Admin, then Data display, then Key events. If the event already exists in your property you can also open Reports, Engagement, Events, find the row and switch on Mark as key event. If the event has never fired yet, use the Create key event button and type the event name exactly as it will be sent, including case.
What is the difference between a key event and a conversion in GA4?
They are the same mechanism with different names at different points in time. Google renamed GA4 conversions to key events so that conversions could refer specifically to the actions imported and counted in Google Ads. A key event measured in Analytics can still be imported into Google Ads, where it will be shown and counted as a conversion for bidding.
Do I have to create a custom event before I can mark it as a key event?
No. Any event GA4 receives can be marked, whether it is an automatically collected event, an enhanced measurement event, a recommended event like purchase, or a custom event you built in Google Tag Manager. Marking as a key event is a reporting flag on top of an existing event, not a new type of event.
How many key events can one GA4 property have?
A standard GA4 property allows up to 30 key events. That limit is deliberate, because the value of the setting comes from separating a small set of real business outcomes from ordinary engagement. If you mark scroll depth or every button click, your Key events metric stops meaning anything useful in the Acquisition and Advertising reports.