Admin settings - Preview Features

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.

The Preview Features page in the General section of the Admin panel lets you enable and disable features that are in preview.

Preview features overview

Preview features are new, in-progress features whose details can change over time.

You can choose to use these features or leave them disabled. The Preview Features page lists each feature with a short description underneath it explaining the functionality that it adds to or changes in Looker.

Preview features are split into two categories:

• Preview features: Preview features have a planned path to general availability, and we expect to resolve feature issues. However, these features may change in detail, and errors may not be fixed with the same speed as with general availability features. You can see the list of current preview features in the Current preview features section on this page.
• Labs features: Labs features may be removed from the product at any time, without extended notice. Feature issues may or may not be resolved. These experimental features are intended to show you functionality that could be incorporated into Looker in the future and to get your feedback. Labs features are available only in Looker (original). You can see the list of current experimental Labs features in the Labs features (Looker (original) only) section on this page.

Note: These features are Preview offerings, subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" of the Google Cloud Service Specific Terms. Pre-GA products and features may have limited support, and changes to pre-GA products and features may not be compatible with other pre-GA versions. For more information, see the launch stage descriptions. For these features, you can process personal data as outlined in the Cloud Data Processing Addendum, subject to applicable restrictions and obligations in the Agreement (as defined in the Pre-GA Offerings Terms).

Enabling and disabling preview features

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

Caution: Use caution when disabling a preview feature. If users or developers have relied on the feature to create a certain behavior, disabling the feature breaks that functionality.

Current preview features

Looker supports the following preview features.

Access Content Certification

This preview feature enables content certification, 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.

Granular Dashboard Sizing

This preview feature is disabled by default.

When this preview feature is enabled, dashboard editors can change the size and layout of dashboard tiles with more granularity. If the preview feature is disabled, any dashboard tiles that were resized during its enablement will revert to Looker's original sizing constraints.

Internal Dashboard Theming

This preview feature is enabled by default.

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.

Tile Download Default Options

This preview feature is disabled by default.

When this preview feature is enabled, dashboard editors can set default row and column limits for dashboard tile downloads. Dashboard viewers can choose to edit these values when downloading the tile.

Labs features (Looker (original) only)

The following features are available only on Looker (original) instances. These features aren't fully developed and may be significantly changed or completely removed in future releases. Don't use them for production workloads.

BI Engine Symmetric Aggregates

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

When the BI Engine Symmetric Aggregates feature is enabled, for queries that use symmetric aggregates, Looker generates experimental SQL patterns that execute faster on the BigQuery BI Engine. This feature has 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.

In-database merge queries

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

This feature improves performance and allows for unlimited rows of data being joined for merged queries when both queries being merged use the same BigQuery connection. By default, merged queries are processed in Looker memory, and therefore each query is limited to 5,000 rows that can be joined. When the In-database merge queries feature is enabled and both queries are from the same BigQuery connection, the join of the queries is run in the BigQuery database itself. See the Merging results from different Explores documentation page for more information.

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.

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 the dashboard includes.

Access Studio in Looker

Important: Starting on December 4, 2025, new instances or instances that have not already enabled Looker reports cannot enable Looker reports.

This Labs feature 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.

SQL Runner Vis

This Labs feature is disabled by default.

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

Tiered Support Access

This Labs feature is enabled by default.

Enabling the Tiered Support Access 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 feature enables legacy support access.