...

How to Track Admin Activity With the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log

Quick and easy-to-follow guide for Google Workspace administrators

What is the Admin Audit Log feature in Google Workspace

The Admin audit log records and shows all actions performed by admins in the Admin console.

When to use the Admin Audit Log

  • When you want to see the time and date when a specific action took place in the Admin console
  • When you want to investigate any recent admin activity

Admin Audit Log data availability and retention

  • After an action is performed, the log updates and reflects it quite fast, almost in real-time, but can take up to a few minutes.
  • There’s a small chance that logs for some events will be delayed beyond a few minutes. In very rare cases, events may not be reported at all.
  • The Admin audit log shows you all actions performed by admins in the Admin console in the past 180 days.
  • You can’t look back any further than that, as data older than 180 days gets permanently removed from the log. 

How to use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log step-by-step with images

Step 1

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 1

Go to the Admin console https://admin.google.com and in the menu on the left, click Reporting > Audit > Admin.

Step 2

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 2

Configuring the Admin Audit Log to show what you need

By default, you will see all admin actions sorted chronologically from newest to oldest, under Event Name, Event Description, and the other columns.

You can narrow down the scope of the filter to find something specific by clicking the Add a filter option on the left.

Step 3

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 3

Clicking Add a filter lets you only display events related to the type of thing you want to search. In the Admin log, you can filter by Event name, User name, and Admin name.

  • Event is the type of event you are looking for, such as User Creation, User Deletion, Gmail Setting Change, Drive Setting Change, and more.
  • User email is the email address or name of a user involved in the event.
  • Actor is the email address or name of the admin who performed the event.

Step 4

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 4

There are more filters on the top right.

Clicking the Organizational unit filter allows you to only view events related to users in a specific OU.

Step 5

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 5

Clicking the Group filter on the top right allows you to only view events related to users in specific Google Groups that you have set as filtering groups. To set a group as a filtering group, you can click the Filtering groups link.

Step 6

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 6

The Date range filter lets you display events that occurred in a specific time frame. Again, please note that it’s impossible to go further than the last 6 months.

Step 7

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 7

The gear icon Manage columns on the right lets you add or remove columns that show info in the report.

Step 8

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 8

You can also rearrange them by clicking and holding the left mouse button on the left of the column name and dragging it up or down.

Step 9

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 9

Exporting Admin Audit Log data

The Download icon is for exporting data from the audit log.

Step 10

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 10

You can export to a Google Sheets file or a .csv file, and you can export All columns or only the Currently selected columns.

Unless you prefer or need .csv for a specific reason, you should select Google Sheets.

Step 11

How to Use the Google Workspace Admin Audit Log - Step 11

When the export is ready, you’ll be able to see it under the Tasks icon on the top right. Click Open in Google Sheets to view the report in a spreadsheet.

That's all! You reached the end of the article. Continue to:

If you find this useful, share and help others!

Email
Reddit
Facebook
Telegram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Protect And Secure Google Workspace
Backup and protect your data
Data protection and security tools are crucial, especially if you store any sensitive data in your accounts.
Email Marketing Tools
Better Gmail and email marketing
If you work with Gmail or do email marketing, you will appreciate what these services can do for you.
Collab And Optimization Tools
Process optimization and collaboration
You can use these services to make tedious processes a whole lot easier, improve teamwork, save time, and get better results.
Website Tools and Resources
Resources for website creators
Awesome tools and services for easy and effective site building, content creation, SEO, email marketing, and more.

Submit Feedback

Think we could do something better or just want to tell us how happy you are with the site? We would love to hear from you – your feedback is more valuable than you can imagine.

Fill out this form, and we will get back to you.

Report An Issue With Workspace123

Are you running into an issue with the site? Maybe you found a broken link, or something else is wrong?

Fill out this form to let us know, and we will address it as soon as possible.

Please make sure to be very specific and add as many details as possible.

Missing Content

Our goal is to run the number one site in the world for you to get help with and learn how to use Google Workspace. This can’t be so if there is any missing information.

If you believe we need to add something, fill out this form, and we will do our best to add any missing content as soon as possible.

This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Click here to see our Cookies Policy.

Be the first to know

You can stay on top of news and updates in Google Workspace and Workspace123 and get special offers by subscribing to our newsletter.

Subscribe by email for news and updates
Seraphinite AcceleratorOptimized by Seraphinite Accelerator
Turns on site high speed to be attractive for people and search engines.