?? How to Inspect Any Google Tag Manager Container Contents (Ethically & Effectively)

Hi everyone! ??

This week, I’m sharing three proven methods to inspect any Google Tag Manager container that you don't have access to so you can unlock valuable insights about tags, triggers, variables, and more.

Why is this beneficial? I honestly don't have a specific use case on when people should use that, but if I had known about these methods when I started learning about GTM & Web Analytics, it would have doubled my growth at least back then, as I didn't have a website to practice on and I didn't know anyone that can share the knowledge with me.

Plus, I’ve included a bonus tip for Shopify users to enable GTM preview mode on checkout pages!

Let’s dive in! ??

Method #1 - Installing your GTM Cotnainer on any website

1?? Install the Custom Java Script Chrome Extension and Pin it to your Google Tag Manager Container: https://bit.ly/429EYFO

2?? Go to your Google Tag Manager Container > Hit the GTM ID and Copy the code after the script opening and before the script ending exactly as shown below:

3?? Open your Google Tag Manager preview mode adding the Website URL you'd like to inspect, once the window opens, click on the extension and past the GTM Installation Code and hit save, this will automatically reload the page, head back to the preview mode and you should be able to see it working!

Method #2 - Inspect Any Google Tag Manager Container Entire Content using AI ??

Yes, you can inspect any Google Tag Manager's entire container content like tags, triggers, and variables!

1?? Open the Website you'd like to inspect: Access DevTools: Right-click anywhere on the page and select Inspect.

3?? Go to the Network tab, reload the page, and search for "GTM.js" in the filter bar, you should be able to see their GTM ID coming into the network request results: e.g., GTM-XXXXXX).

4?? Write click on the network request that contains the GTM ID and select "open in new tab" as shown below:

5?? The New Tab will contain a page with lots of code lines, these lines are basically the GTM Content but in a row format, if you look closely, you will find tag names and much more

So how can I help us with this task or how are we able to read this in a clear way?

Go to Claude ?? ask it to prettify the code or ask it specific questions you might have about that container's contents like:

• List down tag names
• List down google ads conversion labels and IDs'
• Provide instructions on how you can re-create a specific pixel tracking tag that exists in this container.
• much more ....

Method #3 - Using A Smart Tool that does what we mentioned in #2 (and much more)

You can use tagstack.io to inspect any GTM Content by simply adding any GTM ID or a Website URL to the tool and it will generate a report based on the GTM Content, below I have used my own GTM Container to verify that the tool is working properly and confirmed that:

This is not an AD or anything similar, I just like that tool as it has very cool features!

Make sure to reach out to Lucas Kostka if you have any questions about it!

Bonus Tip: Enable GTM Preview Mode on Shopify Checkout Pages

If you’re working on a website that's on Shopify , you’ve probably noticed that GTM Preview Mode is not working on the checkout & thank you pages.

The Solution: when you're using the GTM preview Mode on checkout pages ?? Open the Chrome Extension mentioned in method #1 and add your GTM ID; you should be able to see GTM preview mode working on these pages right afterward!

Thanks to Priyanshi Jain for sharing this cool trick!

??? Want to see these methods in action?

I’ve created a step-by-step video guide:

Thank you for reading, and I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions!

P.S: I would really appriciate it if you can subscribe to my channel and share my videos as it motivates me to create more content :)