Understanding Google Analytics User Permissions at Account, Property and View Level
It happens quite often that when I'm reviewing analytics accounts for new clients I find that every user has either full permissions or not enough to be able to do some tasks, for example, to create filters.
Assigning the correct permissions in Google Analytics will ensure that:
- People can work without interruptions.
- Your data is protected from possible misconfigurations.
- Your users can see only the data concerning them, for example, only data from their city.

The different Google Analytics permissions and levels
If you are the owner and only user of the account you shouldn't worry much about this. But, if you have or need to add more users you should assign the right permissions at the correct level to avoid users lurking around other views/properties or permanent loss of data because someone messes up some setting.
There are 3 levels for permissions and 4 type of permissions for each level.
3 Permissions Levels
- Level 1: Account: Grants access to all Properties and Views in the Account.
- Level 2: Property: Grants access to all Views in the Property.
- Level 3: View: Grants access only to that View.
Level 1: Account | Level 2: Property | Level 3: View |
4 Permissions Types
Each level has the same 4 type of permissions, from lower to higher: 1. Read & Analyze, 2. Collaborate, 3. Edit, and 4. Manage Users.
Permission | Actions |
1. Read & Analyze ![]() |
|
2. Collaborate ![]() |
|
3. Edit |
* Filters are a special case, although they are applied at a view level, to create and update filters you need edit permissions at account level. At a view/property level, you can only add/remove existing filters. |
4. Manage Users ![]() |
|
How to Give/Change User Permissions in Google Analytics
To be able to assign and change permissions you must have 'Manage Users' rights, and you can only give permissions at the level you are or below. Account->Property->View
Note: if you don't have 'Manage User' permissions you will only see the button Remove myself from this account
To change/assign permission:
- Go to the admin section of your Google Analytics (gear icon at the bottom left corner),
- Select User Managment at the correspondent level,
Level 1: Account Level 2: Property Level 3: View - Enter the email you want to grant access,
- Click on the dropdown and select the type of permissions you want to grant,
- IMPORTANT! Check the box notify this user by email, not only to let him know but to save the record and send information about the Analytics property to their email,
- Finally, click Add.
How to Remove a User from Google Analytics
Even if you can add new users with 'Manage User' permissions at property and view level, you can only remove users if you have 'Manage Users' permissions at Account level.
To delete users from Analytics go to User Management at the top level and click on Delete next to the user email. You might want to tell the user that it has been removed because there is no automatic notification.

Example: A simple scenario
Assuming the following Analytics account structure:
- Account (UA-000000)
- Property 1 (UA-000000-1): Site A
- View 1: All Website data
- View 2: Blog
- Property 2 (UA-000000-2): Site B
- View a: Mexico
- View b: USA
- Property 1 (UA-000000-1): Site A
With the following team:
- 1 marketing team for Site A and 2 for Site B one for each country
- 1 external consultant for both sites
- 1 analytics expert that creates filters and make configurations in site A
- 1 Administrator for the whole account.
Following the example you can assign the permissions as follows:
USER | PERMISSION | LEVEL | DESCRIPTION |
Marketing A | Collaborate | Property 1 | Can make assets and see data from both views in Site A |
Marketing B Mexico | Collaborate | View a | Can make assets and see data from view a - Mexico |
Marketing B USA | Collaborate | View b | Can make assets and see data from view b - USA |
External Consultant | Read & Analyze | Account | Sees the data from all properties all views but can't make permanent changes |
Analytics Expert | Edit | Account | Can create filters. *Even if the user only needs to create filters for a specific view, they need edit permissions at account level. |
Administrator | User Management /Edit | Account | All permissions - Can add/remove users |
For more information on user management and permissions.
Extra: What are Personal Assets in Google Analytics
Personal assets are configurations created by any user with edit, collaborate, or read & analyze permissions. These assets are user-based and can be shared with other users in the account.
List of personal tools & assets:
- Segments
- Annotations
- Attribution Models
- Custom Channel Groupings
- Custom Alerts
- Scheduled Emails
- Shortcuts
- Share Assets