How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Fix offline conversions that were accepted but don't show in Google Ads
Updated October 11, 2026
20 minutes
Accepted means Google took the upload, not that it recorded a conversion. Check the column and dates first: a Secondary action shows only under All conversions, and conversions file under the ad click's date. Then allow two days, and rule out the count setting, an action created after the click, and uploads sent by email or phone only.
Before you start
- Access to the Google Ads account that owns the conversion action. If a manager account owns your conversions, upload there; the conversions still report against the campaigns in the account the ads ran in.
- A few uploaded conversions to trace, with their click dates, conversion times and the action name they were sent to.
- How they were sent: with a click ID (GCLID, GBRAID or WBRAID), or by email or phone number alone.
Look in the right column and dates
Start with where the conversions are filed, before assuming they are lost.
- Open Goals, then Conversions, then Summary, click Edit goal on the goal that holds the action, and read its Conversion action optimization. A Secondary (observe only) action reports in All conversions, not in Conversions, unless a custom goal includes it, so add the All conv. column before deciding anything is missing.
- Set the date range to cover the ad clicks, not the day you uploaded. Google files imported conversions under the click or impression time and has no report by upload date.
- Add All conv. (by conv. time). Google recommends it for checking imports: it reports each conversion on the date of the conversion itself.
- Confirm you uploaded to the account that owns the action, under its exact name. Google matches an upload to an action of that exact name in the account you uploaded to.
Give it the time Google needs
Allow two full days after the upload before calling any conversion lost.
- Expect the wait to vary. Google's pages give about 3 hours, typically under 12 hours, and 24 to 48 hours, and say some identifiers may need a few days before every upload shows in reporting.
- Allow up to 72 hours for conversions keyed by GBRAID or WBRAID, the click IDs used for some iOS traffic.
- If the conversion action is new, allow 2 days for anything uploaded in its first 4 to 6 hours.
- Send a conversion that happened within a day of its click again with the next upload. Google says it may not be able to record those yet and advises including an extra day of data each time.
Rule out conversions Google discarded
If two days have passed, check whether Google set the conversions aside for one of these reasons.
- Count set to One. Google counts one conversion per ad interaction for such an action and discards the rest. On the Summary page, add the Repeat rate column: above 1 on an action set to One means some uploads were dropped.
- An action created after the click. Google's setup guide says to create the conversion action before you start capturing click IDs, or early conversions cannot be imported. Google lists a click from before any conversion tracking existed as an upload error, but such uploads can also be accepted and never appear, so compare the action's creation date with the click dates.
- Sent by email or phone alone. Google records these only where it can tie the person to a Google ad. The rest are expected to come back as Unknown clicks, and Google says that can generally be ignored, unless all of them do or far fewer are attributed than you expect.
- Duplicates and spam. Google does not count a second upload with the same action, conversion time and identifier, and lists it as a duplicate in the upload errors. It also filters conversions it judges invalid or spam.
Check it worked
If you upload files, Goals, Conversions, Uploads shows each file's Status and Results, and Download errors lists the rows that failed with a reason. If you send through the API or Data Manager, the offline data diagnostics page shows the same. Rows that failed are upload errors, a separate problem from this page.
For conversions that imported, open Campaigns with a date range covering the clicks, add All conv. (by conv. time), click Segment, then Conversions, then Conversion action. Two days after the upload, the action's row should usually hold the traced conversions. If they are still missing and none of the causes above fit, the action's Diagnostics tab is the next place to look.
Accepted, processed and counted are three different things
An upload is accepted when Google takes the file or request. It is processed when Google matches each row to an ad click or to a person. It is counted when the match lands in an action whose goal puts it in a column you are looking at. A green upload status only covers the first.
Conversions older than 90 days
Google keeps the click ID for 90 days and refuses a conversion uploaded after that, or after the action's conversion window closes. For uploads matched by email or phone (enhanced conversions for leads), the limit is 63 days after the last click. Upload more often, or send an earlier step of the sale that happens inside the window.