Why isn't my Microsoft Ads UET tag recording conversions?

TofuAnswer by the Tofu team · checked

Check the goal's Tracking status first, under Conversions > Conversion goals. "Unverified" or "Tag inactive" means Microsoft isn't getting data from the tag: it's missing from pages, installed wrong, or a different tag ID. "No recent conversions" means the tag works but nothing matched the goal in 7 days, so check the goal's URL or event values, account scope, conversion window and whether it's paused. Also give a new tag or goal 24 hours, send a Consent Mode "granted" signal in the EEA, UK and Switzerland, and keep msclkid through redirects.

As of October 2026.

What do "Unverified", "Tag inactive" and "No recent conversions" mean?

They're Microsoft's tracking statuses. The UET tag page (Conversions > UET tag) shows one for each tag, and the Conversion goals page shows one for each goal.

StatusWhat Microsoft says it meansWhat to do
UnverifiedNo user activity data has come from the tag yet. Verifying can take up to 24 hoursWait 24 hours. If it stays, the tag is missing from your site or set up wrong
Tag inactiveNo user activity data from the tag in the last 24 hoursCheck the tracking code is still on your site
No recent conversionsThe tag is seen, but no conversions in the last 7 daysCheck the goal settings and that your conversion pages are tagged, or no one is converting
Recording conversionsConversions recorded in the last 7 daysNothing. It can show next to zero conversions if your window is over 7 days and you filter on the last 7, because conversions are reported on the click date
Tag active (UET tag page only)The tag is sending dataNothing

How do I check the tag with UET Tag Helper?

UET Tag Helper is Microsoft's browser extension for Edge and Chrome.

  1. Install it, open a page on your site, select the icon, switch it On and refresh the page.
  2. Read the badge. No badge: no tag, a malformed tag, or a tag that's only on another page. Green: working. Yellow: working but could be better. Red: not working. The number counts tag requests from the page.
  3. Select the icon and compare the Tag ID with the tag your goal uses. Microsoft notes that a green badge can still be the wrong tag.
  4. To test a goal, go to Conversion goals, hover over its Tracking status and select Test this conversion goal. Open the helper, enter your landing page URL, select Start test and complete the conversion. When you see Conversion found or Problem encountered, select View report.

It checks one page at a time, and it doesn't capture custom events for code-free conversions.

The tag works. Why are conversions still not counted?

Then the goal doesn't match what the tag sends, or the goal isn't counting. Open the goal (Edit > Edit goal, then Next) and check:

  • The goal definition. Microsoft says spelling mistakes or wrong URL values mean "conversions will not be counted." For a destination URL goal, Tag Helper's Events tab should show a Page load event whose P parameter (the page URL) matches the goal. For an event goal, your site must send the custom event with the same values as the goal.
  • Scope. The goal must be scoped to the account where you expect conversions. You can't change the scope later: create a new goal and pause the old one.
  • Conversion window. A short window misses people who take a few days to convert.
  • Status. A Paused goal counts nothing.
  • Include in "Conversions". If it's cleared, the goal shows only in the All conversions columns, and automated bidding ignores it.
  • Clicks. Microsoft counts a conversion only after an ad click, so a test without one won't show. Also check you had enough clicks in the window to expect a conversion.

Watch for forms that show the thank-you message in place. This is our inference, not something Microsoft's help states: a destination URL goal is checked against the page URL in a Page load event, so a form that shows its thank-you message without loading a new page or changing the URL gives the goal nothing new to match. For a form like that, send a custom event on submit and use an event goal, such as window.uetq.push('event', 'demo_request', {}). In Microsoft's current syntax the event action comes first and is required.

On single-page apps, Microsoft says you need the JavaScript tag with enableAutoSpaTracking: true (a recently added tag may already have it) or, the older way, manual page_view events with a page_path that starts with /.

Is consent mode blocking my conversions?

It can be, for visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. Microsoft set May 5, 2025 as the date to adopt Consent Mode there and now enforces it. Where it's enforced the default is denied, and Microsoft warns of "conversion loss if the granted signal is not passed to UET when a user accepts consent."

  • Consent Mode uses the ad_storage setting, granted or denied. Set a default on every page and update it when the visitor makes a choice. The Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) also works, but Microsoft says never to use both at once.
  • Microsoft lists consent tools that support it, including Cookiebot, OneTrust, Usercentrics, Didomi and CookieYes, and its Google Tag Manager template can pass consent signals.
  • To check, accept cookies on your site, then look at the asc parameter of the Page Load event in Tag Helper. It should show granted ("G" in Microsoft's FAQ); denied shows as "D".

Do redirects or URL rules break conversion tracking?

They can. Auto-tagging adds a Microsoft Click ID (msclkid) to your landing page URL, and UET stores it in a first-party cookie for 90 days. Microsoft says that when the Microsoft cookie can't be returned (for example, with third-party cookie blocking), conversions aren't tracked without it. It's on by default: check under Campaigns > Settings > Account level options, Add Microsoft Click ID (MSCLKID) to URLs to allow conversion tracking.

Redirects must keep msclkid as a top-level URL parameter, and URL rewrites must not change its value or case. To test, add ?msclkid=Example-123 to your final URL (&msclkid=Example-123 if it already has a ?), load it, and check the parameter is still there. If a redirect strips it, use the final URL as the ad's destination, or set the redirect to carry query parameters.

Why does Microsoft Ads report different conversions from GA4?

Because they count differently, and Microsoft expects some gap. Its reasons:

  • Microsoft reports conversions on the date of the ad click; some tools use the date of the conversion.
  • GA4 attributes across channels, with data-driven attribution by default, so it may credit other channels.
  • Microsoft includes cross-device conversions it can identify.
  • Conversion windows, Unique versus All counting, time zones and goal definitions may differ. Unique counts one conversion per click (common for leads); All counts every conversion after a click.
  • Microsoft can over-count: the same tag installed twice on a page double counts, several goals can match one event, and Microsoft doesn't filter out test, fraudulent or duplicate conversions.

Match those settings before you compare. For the same question on Google's side, see Why don't Google Ads and GA4 show the same number of conversions?

How do I test the whole setup?

Microsoft's check: confirm the tag shows Tag active, create the goal, trigger your ad on Bing, click it, convert on your site, and look at the Conversion goals page three hours later. If tracking checks out but conversions stay low, check where clicks come from: How do I stop Microsoft Ads from showing my B2B search ads on the Microsoft Audience Network?

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