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By default, the Trace Explorer page only searches your selected
project for trace data. When a trace has data stored in multiple projects,
as might occur when an application in one project makes a call into
an application hosted by another project, you need to perform
the following steps to view all spans in the trace:
Create a trace scope that
lists the Google Cloud projects that store the spans in a trace.
For information about trace scopes, see
Create and manage trace scopes.
Your Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles on the projects listed in the
trace scope and the
time-range setting determine what data is displayed. The trace scope
only specifies which resources are searched.
When the Trace Explorer page opens, it searches the
resources listed in the default trace scope,
provided that scope is accessible. When that scope isn't accessible,
your Google Cloud project is searched. You can set which
trace scope is the default trace scope.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[],[],null,["# View traces across projects\n\nBy default, the **Trace Explorer** page only searches your selected\nproject for trace data. When a trace has data stored in multiple projects,\nas might occur when an application in one project makes a call into\nan application hosted by another project, you need to perform\nthe following steps to view all spans in the trace:\n\n1. Create a trace scope that\n lists the Google Cloud projects that store the spans in a trace.\n For information about trace scopes, see\n [Create and manage trace scopes](/trace/docs/trace-scope/create-and-manage).\n\n2. Open the **Trace Explorer** page and set the scope to\n be the trace scope that you created in the previous step.\n For more information, see\n [Configure which projects are searched for span data](/trace/docs/finding-traces#refine-scope).\n\n Your Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles on the projects listed in the\n trace scope and the\n time-range setting determine what data is displayed. The trace scope\n only specifies which resources are searched.\n\n When the **Trace Explorer** page opens, it searches the\n resources listed in the [default trace scope](/stackdriver/docs/scopes/configure#default-scope),\n provided that scope is accessible. When that scope isn't accessible,\n your Google Cloud project is searched. You can set which\n trace scope is the default trace scope.\n\n| **Note:** The **Trace Explorer** and **legacy** **Trace Explorer** pages use different rules to search for trace data. The **Trace Explorer** page only searchs the projects you specify in a trace scope. In contrast, the **legacy** **Trace Explorer** page searches all projects in an organization. Because the **legacy** **Trace Explorer** page searches your organization, you can use it to help you identify the projects to add to your trace scope. For information about how to identify these projects, see [Migrate to trace scopes](/trace/docs/trace-scope/create-and-manage#migrate)."]]
