Exclude internal traffic in GA4 (Google Analytics 4) via IP filter

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Last Updated: February 3, 2023

This article is in conjunction with the article What are data filters in Google Analytics 4 (GA4)? where I introduced the concept of data filters. Make sure to read it first before you start blocking internal traffic.

What is internal traffic in GA4 (Google Analytics 4)?

The traffic generated by you or your employees, suppliers and other service providers (like your developer) to your website is called ‘Internal Traffic‘.

These people are not your target audience, so we don’t need to track them.

Internal traffic can easily skew your website usage metrics and therefore must be filtered out from your GA4 reports.

How to exclude internal traffic in GA4?

Follow the steps below to exclude internal traffic from your reporting in GA4 property:

Step-1: Navigate to your GA4 property.

Step-2: Click on the ‘Admin’ link at the bottom left-hand side:

ga4 admin

Step-3: Click on ‘Data Streams’ under the ‘Property‘ column:

ga4 data streams

Step-4: Click on the data stream name for which you want to exclude internal traffic.

select ga4 data stream

Step-5: Scroll down your screen and then click on ‘Configure tag settings’ under the ‘Google tag’ section:

configure tag settings

Step-6: Scroll down the screen and then click on the ‘Show all‘ drop-down menu:

show all drop down menu

Step-7: Scroll down your screen and then click on ‘Define internal traffic’:

define internal traffic ga4

Step-8: Click on the ‘Create’ button:

create internal traffic filter ga4

You should now see a screen like the one below:

create internal traffic rule ga4

Step-9: Give your filter a name by typing in the text box under ‘Rule Name’. Let’s name our filter ‘Internal Traffic’:

rule name internal traffic ga4 1
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Step-10: Leave the ‘traffic_type value’ as ‘internal’ since we are creating a filter to exclude internal traffic from the website:

traffic type internal

However, you can change this value if you pass some other parameter as an internal traffic identifier.

Note: The next step will use whatever value you pass for the ‘traffic_type value’ in the data filter settings.

Step-11: Click on the drop-down menu under ‘Match Type’:

match type ga4

You should now see a drop-down list like the one below:

match type drop down list ga4

IP address equals: This option will match only one IP address.

For example, ‘165.204.156.26’.

IP address begins with: This option will match all the IP addresses that begin with the provided input.

For example, if you provide input as ‘165’, it will match ‘ 165.204.156.26’, ‘165.203.156.28’ but not ‘167.204.156.26’.

IP address ends with: This option will match all the IP addresses that end with the provided input.

For example, if you provide input as ‘26’, it will match ‘ 165.204.156.26’, ‘167.203.155.26’ but not ‘165.204.156.28’.

IP address contains: This option will match all the IP addresses that contain the provided input.

For example, if you provide input as ‘165’, it will match ‘ 165.204.156.26’, ‘190.165.156.28’ but not ‘167.204.156.26’.

IP address is in range (CIDR notation): This default option will match a range of IP addresses.

For example, 168.208.156.28/32

Note(1): You can enter IPv4 or IPv6 addresses in the IP address field in GA4:

Following is an example of IPv4 based IP address:

IPv4 based IP address ga4

Following is an example of IPv6 based IP address:

IPv6 based IP address

Note(2): The IP address field in GA4 does not support the use of regular expressions.

does not support regex ga4

Note(3): Click on the ‘Add Condition‘ button if you want to set multiple conditions to identify internal IP addresses:

add condition ga4
add condition internal traffic rule ga4

When you set multiple conditions to identify internal IP addresses, they are joined by logical OR.

For example, IP addresses that match 2a02:c7f:a82d:8d00:4351:b3c9:7387:8802 or 192.168.1.20 will be marked as internal traffic.

Step-12: Enter the IP address from which you want to exclude your internal traffic:

enter the ip address ga4

If you want to exclude all the traffic originating from your device, but you don’t know your IP address, you should then click on the link ‘What’s my IP address’:

whats my ip address ga4

You will automatically be redirected to a new tab in your browser window from where you can see your IP address:

whats my ip address

Step-13: Copy your IP address and then paste it into the text box under ‘IP address’:

enter the ip address ga4

Step-14: Click on the ‘Create’ button to create your internal traffic data filter:

create internal traffic data filter ga4

Your new internal traffic rule will appear like the one below.

internal traffic rules ga4

Step-15: Click on the cross button (at the top left of your screen) three times to navigate back to the admin section of your GA4 property. You should now see a screen like the one below:

back to ga4 admin

How to test the exclude internal traffic data filter in GA4?

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: If you are excluding traffic from your own device, then navigate to your website via your device. 

If you are excluding traffic from an IP address that doesn’t belong to your device, then ask the person whose IP address you added (while creating the exclude internal filter) to visit your website.

Step-2: Navigate to the ‘Realtime’ report in your GA4 property:

ga4 real time report

Step-3: Click on the ‘Add Comparison’ button:

add comparison ga4

Step-4: Click on the drop-down menu under ‘Dimension’:

dimensions drop down menu ga4

Step-5: Type ‘Test’, and you should see the dimension ‘Test data filter name‘ in the drop-down list:

type test

Note: If this dimension appears disabled, you may need to wait for 12-24 hrs.

Step-6: Click on the dimension name (‘Test data filter name’) in order to select it.

test data filter name ga4

Step-7: Click on the drop-down under ‘Dimension Values and then click on the checkbox next to ‘Internal Traffic’:

dimension value internal traffic

Step-8: Click on the ‘ok‘ button.

Step-9: Click on the ‘Apply’ button:

apply button

You should now see the new comparison applied to your report:

realtme overview 1

Step-10: Refresh your browser window.

You should now also be able to see the filtered data under ‘Test data filter name..”:

filtered data ga4

The real-time view in the orange column shows us the traffic from the internal IP address we defined earlier.

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This proves that our filter works perfectly fine, and we can now make it live.

How to activate the exclude internal traffic data filter in GA4?

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Navigate to your GA4 property and then click on the ‘Admin’ link:

ga4 admin

Step-2: Click on the ‘Data Settings’ drop-down menu:

data settings ga4

Step-3: Click on ‘Data Filters’.

data filters ga4

Step-4: Click on the ‘Internal Traffic‘ data filter:

internal traffic data filter ga4

Step-5: Scroll down to the ‘Filter state‘ section, click on ‘Active’ and then click on the ‘Save‘ button at the top right-hand corner of your screen:

activate internal traffic data filter ga4

Step-6: Click on the ‘Activate Filter‘ button:

activate internal traffic data filter ga4 2

You should now see the exclude internal traffic filter listed as ‘Active’:

current status active

That’s it.

Congratulations!

You have successfully set up your filter in GA4 to exclude internal traffic.

How to deactivate the exclude internal traffic data filter in GA4?

To de-activate your data filter, follow the steps below:

Step-1: Navigate to the ‘admin’ section of your GA4 property.

Step-2: Click on the ‘Data Settings’ drop-down menu under the ‘Property’ column.

Step-3: Click on ‘Data Filters’.

Step-4: Click on the three dots menu next to the data filter you want to deactivate:

three dots menu ga4

Step-5: Click on ‘Deactivate filter’:

deactivate data filter ga4

You should now see the ‘Current Status’ of your filter as ‘Inactive’:

inactive data filter ga4

How to reactivate Exclude internal traffic data filter in GA4?

To reactivate your data filter, follow the steps below:

Step-1: Navigate to the ‘admin’ section of your GA4 property.

Step-2: Click on the ‘Data Settings’ drop-down menu under the ‘Property’ column.

Step-3: Click on ‘Data Filters’.

Step-4: Click on the three dots menu next to the data filter you want to re-activate:

three dots menu ga4 2

Step-5: Click on ‘Activate filter‘:

activate filer ga4

Step-6: Click on the ‘Activate filter‘ button:

activate filer ga4 2

How to edit an Exclude Internal traffic data filter in GA4?

To edit your data filter, follow the steps below:

Step-1: Navigate to the ‘admin’ section of your GA4 property.

Step-2: Click on the ‘Data Settings’ drop-down menu under the ‘Property’ column:

Step-3: Click on ‘Data Filters’.

Step-4: Click on the data filter you want to edit:

edit data filters ga4

Step-5: Make necessary changes and then click on the ‘Save‘ button.

How to delete an Exclude Internal traffic data filter in GA4?

To delete your data filter, follow the steps below:

Step-1: Navigate to the ‘admin’ section of your GA4 property.

Step-2: Click on the ‘Data Settings’ drop-down menu under the ‘Property’ column:

Step-3: Click on ‘Data Filters’.

Step-4: Click on the data filter you want to delete:

edit data filters ga4

Step-5: Click on the three dots menu at the top right-hand side of your screen:

three dots menu ga4 3

Step-6: Click on ‘Delete‘:

delete data filter ga4

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Frequently Asked Questions About Exclude internal traffic in GA4 via IP filter

What are data filters in Google Analytics 4?

Data filters are used to include or exclude event data (traffic) from your reports based on the event parameters value.

Using filters, you can exclude traffic coming to your website from your developers or internal employees. You can also use data filters to include only traffic coming from specific event parameter values.

These filters are configured at the property level and are applied to every data stream.

What are filter type in Google Analytics 4?

Currently, GA4 supports two types of filters:

1. Developer Traffic: Developer traffic is generated from your device while debugging the analytics implementation. GA4 defines developer traffic as the event data with the parameter name ‘debug_mode’ or ‘debug_event’ and parameter value ‘1’.

2. Internal Traffic: Internal traffic is the traffic coming to your website from your own employees, suppliers, and other service providers.

What is the IP filter in Google Analytics 4?

When you apply a data filter using an IP address, such filters are called IP filters. You can exclude or include traffic from a specific IP address. You can use the below conditions to define your IP address.

IP address equals: This option will match only one IP address. For example, ‘165.204.156.26’.

IP address begins with: This option will match all the IP addresses that begin with the provided input. For example, if you provide input as ‘165’, it will match ‘ 165.204.156.26’, ‘165.203.156.28’ but not ‘167.204.156.26’.

IP address ends with: This option will match all the IP addresses that end with the provided input. For example, if you provide input as ‘26’, it will match ‘ 165.204.156.26’, ‘167.203.155.26’ but not ‘165.204.156.28’.

IP address contains: This option will match all the IP addresses that contain the provided input. For example, if you provide input as ‘165’, it will match ‘ 165.204.156.26’, ‘190.165.156.28’ but not ‘167.204.156.26’.

IP address range: This option will match a range of IP addresses. For example, from ‘165.204.156.26 to 168.208.156.28’.

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