Get started with connected sheets for Looker

Requirements: To use connected sheets for Looker, you must know the URL of the Looker instance that you want to connect to. You can find out what Looker instances are eligible and how to enable connected sheets in Looker here: using connected sheets for Looker.

In Sheets, connect to your Looker-modelled data to analyse data from a single source of truth and even integrate other data sources for deeper analysis.

With connected sheets for Looker, you can analyse data from more than 60 databases that can be live-connected to Looker. You can also combine your Looker data with Sheets data and you can analyse your data using familiar Sheets features like Pivot tables.

Learn more about Looker.

Connect to a Look or an Explore

1. On your computer, open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets.
2. At the top, click Data Data connectors Connect to Looker.
3. Enter your Looker instance URL.
   • To access Looker, you must have a Looker instance. If you don't have a Looker instance, contact the Looker sales team to request a demo.
   • If you're prompted to allow access to your Looker data, you'll be asked to link your account. If you agree, click Agree and continue to link your Google and Looker accounts and allow Google to access your Looker data on your behalf.
4. Click Connect to Look or Connect to Explore.
   • If you select Connect to Look:
     1. Select a Look.
     2. Click Connect.
     3. In the 'Connect to a Look' window, under 'Insert to', select New sheet or Existing sheet.
     4. Click Create.
     5. On the left of the spreadsheet, click Apply.
        • In the 'Look editor' side panel, you'll find the Look title and Look URL.
     6. To refresh the data in the table:
        • At the bottom right, in the 'Look editor' side panel, click Refresh.
        • At the bottom left of the table, click Refresh.
   • If you select Connect to Explore:
     1. Select a model from the list.
     2. Click Connect.

Learn how to use connected sheets for Looker

After you've loaded the Explore from the Looker instance, you can:

• Run live queries based on modelled data and standardised metrics
• Share and collaborate across the org. with partners, analysts or other stakeholders on up-to-date data
• Create new analysis in Google Sheets with built-in Google Sheets functions

Learn more about Looker

To better understand Looker terminology, please take a look at the Looker documentation:

• Learn more about 'model'.
• Learn more about 'Explore'.
• Learn more about 'views'.
• Learn more about 'measures'.
• Learn how to add dimensions for more details.
• Learn how to pivot dimensions.
• Learn how to filter data.
• Learn how to save and edit Looks.

Create a Pivot table

At the top left of the spreadsheet that is connected to Looker data, you can easily create a Pivot table to analyse large data sets and find relationships between data points.

Learn how to create and use Pivot tables.

1. To make edits on the Pivot table, click Edit .
2. To add data from dimensions and measures, select an option:
   • Click Add.
   • From the right-hand side of the Pivot table editor, you can drag and drop:
     • Dimensions as rows, columns, values or filters
     • Measures as values or filters
     • Filter-only fields and parameters as filters

3. To apply changes to the Pivot table, click Apply.

Add a filter to a Pivot table

1. Click Edit to edit the Pivot table.
2. Under 'Filters', click Add.

• You can add Looker filter-only fields and parameters as filters in Pivot tables. Learn more about using Looker parameters and filter-only fields.

Refresh your data

Looker data doesn't automatically sync with connected sheets. To sync the data, you can refresh a specific item, everything within a data source or everything within all data sources. Once you've connected to a data source, you can refresh Pivot tables associated with that data.

1. On your computer, open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets that is connected to Looker data.
2. At the bottom, next to 'Refresh', click More Refresh options.
3. To the right, under 'Refresh options', click the items that you want to refresh. To refresh all of the data, at the bottom right, click Refresh all.

Explore connection settings

If you are currently connected to an Explore and you want to update the connection, you can use connection settings.

1. At the top right, click Connection settings.
2. To connect, click a new Explore.
3. Click Connect.

Admin audit logs

Important: When you access Looker data in connected sheets, entries are recorded in Looker's audit logs. The logs show who accessed the data and when. Only people with proper authorisation can access log records.

You can find the spreadsheet ID in the audit log. Every spreadsheet has a unique spreadsheet ID value containing letters, numbers, hyphens or underscores. You can also find the spreadsheet ID in a Google Sheets URL.

Learn more about monitoring connected sheets.