Admin settings - Labs

Note: Looker (Google Cloud core) instances don't include this page.

Note: If you have a permission that provides access to only select pages in the Admin panel, such as manage_schedules, manage_themes, or see_admin, but you don't have the Admin role, the page or pages that are described here may not be visible to you in the Admin panel.

Labs overview

Looker Labs features are new, in-progress features whose details may change over time. Labs features are split into two categories:

• Beta: These features are expected to remain in the product, and errors are expected to be resolved at some point. However, these features may change in detail, and errors may not be fixed with the same speed as with normal features. You can see the list of current beta Labs features in the Beta features section on this page.
• Experimental: These features may or may not remain in the product, and errors may or may not be corrected. These experimental features are intended to show you functionality that could be incorporated into Looker in the future and to get your feedback. You can see the list of current experimental Labs features in the Experimental features section on this page.

You can choose to use these features or leave them disabled. You'll see a list of these features on the Labs page in the General section of the Admin panel. Each feature has a short description underneath it explaining the functionality that it adds to or changes in Looker.

Enabling and disabling Labs features

To enable or disable a feature, click the switch next to the feature name.

Use caution when disabling a Labs feature. If users or developers have relied on the feature to create a certain behavior, disabling the feature will break that functionality.

Current Labs features

Looker supports the following beta and experimental Labs features.

Beta features

Beta Labs features are expected to remain in the product, and errors are expected to be resolved at some point. However, their details may change, and errors may not be fixed with the same speed as they would be for normal features.

Access Content Certification

Enables the content certification feature, which lets selected users certify dashboards, Looks, and self-service Explores, indicating that the content has gone through a manual review and is certified as reliable and trustworthy.

Access Studio in Looker

Important: Starting on December 4, 2025, new instances or instances that have not already enabled Looker reports won't be able to enable Looker reports.

Enables the Looker reports feature, which lets you create, view, and edit Looker Studio reports in your Looker instance, including both governed and ad hoc data. You can share and manage your reports in Looker folders and see your recent reports and the reports that you have marked as favorites from the Looker Home page.

Complex Filters UI Configuration for Explores

This Labs feature is enabled by default.

When this feature is enabled and a comma is entered into a filter expression, matches (advanced) filters no longer update to simpler filter types until the page is reloaded. This feature resolves a few stability issues with matches (advanced) filters.

Dashboard Filter Enhancements

This Labs feature is enabled by default.

When enabled, the Dashboard Filter Enhancements Labs feature includes the following dashboard filter improvements:

• Persistent filter suggestion drop-down: Filter suggestion drop-downs remain open for easier multi-selection for tag list and advanced filter type filters.
• Select or deselect all filter values: Lets users select or deselect all values in tag list and advanced filter type filters.
• Limit condition controls for advanced filters: Lets dashboard creators limit the condition options that are available to users for advanced filters.
• Enable Include custom filter values by default for boards: Admins can choose to enable Include custom filter values for boards by default instance-wide.

New Explore & Look Saving

This Labs feature is enabled by default.

This feature improves the visibility and navigation of Save dialogs on the Explore and Look pages. The new experience allows quick navigation of folders, and users can choose to sort existing content by Name, Created Date, or Last Update. It does not change any functionality of these pages.

Tabbed Dashboards

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

When enabled, this feature lets dashboard authors add tabs to their dashboards. When disabled, any previously created tabbed dashboards will only display the content on the first tab.

Adding tabs to dashboards lets you do the following:

• Better organize content: Group related visualizations and tiles into separate tabs.
• Improve data storytelling: Guide viewers through different aspects of your data in a structured way.
• Enhance performance: Load only the tiles on an active tab, potentially speeding up initial dashboard load times.
• Reduce clutter: Consolidate multiple related analyses into a single dashboard.

Learn more about tabbed dashboards.

SQL Runner Vis

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

This feature adds the ability to visualize ad hoc queries from SQL Runner.

Custom Tooltips

This Labs feature is enabled by default.

When enabled, the Custom Tooltips Labs feature lets users configure tooltips within the Explore visualization editor using a combination of UI settings and an HTML editor that supports Liquid templating.

Note: Custom tooltips are supported only for table charts, single value charts, and Cartesian charts. Custom tooltips aren't supported for pie, boxplot, or waterfall charts.

Learn more about the Custom Tooltips Labs feature.

Tiered Support Access

This Labs feature is enabled by default.

Enabling the Tiered Support Access Labs feature enables enhanced support access, including updated access duration times and access levels. For more information, see the Admin settings - Support Access documentation page. Disabling this Labs feature enables legacy support access.

Experimental features

Experimental Labs features may or may not remain in the product, and errors may or may not be corrected. These experimental features are intended to show you functionality that could be incorporated into Looker in the future. We always welcome your feedback.

BI Engine Symmetric Aggregates

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

When the BI Engine Symmetric Aggregates Labs feature is enabled, for queries that use symmetric aggregates, Looker will generate experimental SQL patterns that are designed to execute faster on the Google BigQuery BI Engine. This feature should have no effect on query results, only on execution performance.

Guided analyses in System Activity

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

When enabled, the History System Activity Explore displays guided analysis options to provide a question-and-answer format for performing analyses.

Internal Dashboard Theming

When this setting is enabled, users can apply themes to their Looker dashboards. These themes, which are distinct from the themes that are used for embedded dashboards, Explores, and Looks, can be managed by users who have the manage_internal_themes permission.

Redux DevTools

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

This feature enables Redux DevTools for debugging application state.

Rigorous Dashboard Download Permission Checking

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

When this feature is enabled, users can download a dashboard only if they have the download_with_limit or download_without_limit permission on every model that is included in the dashboard.