LEVEL Agency
Measurement Docs

Event Reference (v1) / File Events

File Download file_download

When a user clicks a link leading to a file (with a common file extension).

GA4 implements this event as part of its "Enhanced Measurement" feature. It is generally recommended to use Google Tag Manager to manage event flow and data collection. As such, we recommend disabling this event inside your Enhanced Measurement settings.

The easiest way to implement this event is to use a Google Tag Manager and create a trigger for clicks on links that contain a common file extension (e.g., .pdf, .docx, .xlsx).

  • Name
    Event Name Required
    Value
    event: file_download

File Properties

These properties apply to all file_* events.

  • Name
    File Name Required
    Type
    file_name: string
    Description

    The name of the file (including the file extension).

    E.g.
    YYYY-MM-DD_eBook-GA4-Audience-Cheat-Sheet.pdf
  • Name
    File Extension Optional
    Type
    file_extension: string
    Description

    The file extension of the file. This can be useful for sites with many types of downloadable files.

    E.g.
    pdf

These properties apply to many *_click events.

  • Name
    Link URL Required
    Type
    link_url: string
    Description

    The href attribute of the link that was clicked. The value should be a fully qualified URL.

    E.g.
    https://www.level.agency/contact/#form
  • Name
    Link Domain Required
    Type
    link_domain: string
    Description

    The hostname of the link that was clicked. This can be useful for grouping links by domain.

    E.g.
    www.level.agency
  • Name
    Link Path Required
    Type
    link_path: string
    Description

    The path of the link that was clicked. This can be useful for grouping links by path.

    E.g.
    /contact/
  • Name
    Link Fragment Required
    Type
    link_fragment: string
    Description

    The fragment identifier of the link that was clicked. This can be useful for analyzing clicks on anchor links that point to a specific section of a page.

    E.g.
    form
  • Name
    Link Text Required
    Type
    link_text: string
    Description

    The text (innerText) of the link that was clicked. It's recommended to lowercase this value for easier analysis.

    E.g.
    Contact Us
  • Name
    Outbound Link Optional
    Type
    outbound: boolean
    Description

    A boolean value indicating if the link is an outbound link (i.e. it goes to a different domain).

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