How do I delete a goal in Google Analytics?

Question

I am picking up a client's Analytics account and they have a large number of Goals set up that I want to delete.

They don't hold meaningful data since the client misunderstood the nature of goals.

I can't see an option to delete a goal. Can someone show the best way to wipe these Goals and start again?

Solution

It seems that you can't permanently delete goals in GA, the only action you can take is to deactivate them.

For the time being you can request to add that delete feature here "Google bugs project"

Some people recommend to add goals to separate profile than the main one, so when you are done with them you can easily delete the whole goals' profile without losing the collected data.

Comments

[JMax]

In a nutshell, you can't, you have to rename it.

[harunahi]

Thanks, this is pretty much what I had assumed. I had never used profiles before, but it seems I can resolve this problem simply by creating a new profile and setting up new goals and just ignoring the messiness in the main profile.

[j0k]

Please, do not use shortlinks when you include a link in your answer, use the full link instead.

[Jon]

you can rename the goal after you turn it off so it wont be confused with other live goals.