Admin settings - Looker Studio Pro

Note: Complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses are also available for Looker (Google Cloud core) instances. For instructions about accepting complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses for a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance, see the Accept complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses for a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance.

This page describes how to accept the complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses that have been allocated to your Looker instance, how to select the Google Cloud project that hosts your Looker Studio Pro content, and how to complete setup for your Looker Studio Pro subscription.

Looker Studio Pro licenses are available at no cost to users of a Looker instance. To get started using Looker Studio Pro, accept and assign your complimentary licenses as part of a new or an existing Looker Studio Pro subscription. For more information about the terms of this offer, see the Complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses offer details page.

This page describes how to accept the complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses that have been allocated to your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance, how to select the Google Cloud project that hosts your Looker Studio Pro content, and how to complete setup for your Looker Studio Pro subscription.

Before you begin

A Looker account is associated with a Looker Studio Pro subscription through the Google Cloud project that hosts Looker Studio Pro content. We recommend that you use a Google Cloud project that is dedicated to your Looker Studio Pro content. We also recommend that you set up a Google Cloud project for your Looker Studio content before you accept your account's allotted complimentary licenses, so that you can complete the setup process for your Looker Studio Pro subscription more expeditiously. For more information about Google Cloud project requirements, see the Start a new Pro subscription documentation page.

Complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses are available for Looker instances that fulfill the following requirements:

• The instance is hosted by Looker.
• If hosted in the Google Cloud, the instance must use Looker 22.16 or later.
• If hosted by other cloud providers, the instance must use Looker 23.4 or later.

Each Looker user who will use Looker Studio must also be a Google Workspace or Cloud Identity user with a Managed Google account.

Note: A Looker account, as defined in your Looker agreement, can be associated with only one Looker Studio Pro subscription.

Required roles

Different permissions are required to perform each of the following tasks:

• Accept complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses
• Set up a self-service subscription to Looker Studio Pro

To get the permission that you need to accept complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses, ask your Looker admin to grant you the Admin Looker role.

To get the permission that you need to set up a self-service subscription to Looker Studio Pro, ask your Identify Access Management administrator to grant you a role containing the lookerstudio.pro.manage permission for the Google Cloud project that hosts your Looker Studio Pro content. The Owner (roles/owner) IAM role and the Looker Studio Pro Manager (roles/lookerstudio.proManager) contain this permission by default, but you may be able to get this permission with custom roles or other predefined roles.

For more information about granting Identify Access Management roles, see Manage access.

Accept Looker Studio Pro licenses

The number of complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses that are allocated to your Looker account is determined by the number of Looker licenses that are included in your Looker agreement. To accept these licenses, follow these steps:

1. In the Admin panel of your Looker instance, navigate to the Platform section and select the Looker Studio Pro page. If your Looker account utilizes multiple instances, you can accept your complimentary licenses in any instance.
2. Select Accept Looker Studio Pro licenses.

Important: By accepting these complimentary licenses, you agree to the Google Cloud Platform Terms of Service. Use of Looker Studio Pro (even when connected to Looker) is subject to the agreement under which you use Google Cloud, not your Looker agreement.

Select a Google Cloud project

After you have accepted the complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses, you must associate your Looker instance with a Google Cloud project.

Important: Once you have associated your Looker instance with a Google Cloud project, disabling Accept Looker Studio Pro licenses automatically converts the complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses to paid licenses within 24 hours, subject to Looker Studio Pro pricing.

To select your Looker Studio Pro Google Cloud project, follow these steps:

1. In the Admin panel of your Looker instance, navigate to the Platform section and select the Looker Studio Pro page.
2. In the Google Cloud Project Number field, enter the project number for the Google Cloud project that hosts your Looker Studio Pro content. Note that the project number is distinct from the project ID.
3. Click Save.

Important: You cannot change the Google Cloud project for an existing Looker Studio Pro subscription. Instead, you can create a new subscription based on a different project, add licenses and users, move any Pro content to the new project, and then cancel the old subscription. To learn more about what happens when you cancel a Looker Studio subscription, see Effects of canceling a Looker Studio subscription.

Add users to your Looker Studio Pro subscription

To finish setting up your new Looker Studio Pro subscription, add users to your subscription and assign them licenses. You can complete these step in the following ways, per your preference:

• In the Google Cloud console
• In Looker Studio

If you have an existing Looker Studio Pro subscription, your complimentary licenses have been applied automatically to your existing Looker Studio Pro users, and they can now use Looker Studio Pro.

Add users in the Google Cloud console

To finish setting up your new Looker Studio Pro subscription in the Google Cloud console, follow these steps from the Looker Studio Pro page in the Admin panel of your Looker instance:

1. Click Add users, which opens the Looker Studio Pro homepage within the Google Cloud console.
2. Click Subscribe to open the Buy Looker Studio Pro licenses panel.

3. In the Add users/groups field, add the email addresses of users or groups to your subscription.

   • The Total licenses field displays the total number of licenses that are required to support the number of users that you have added.
   • The Current no-cost Pro licenses line item displays the number of complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses that have been allocated to your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance.
   • Select Auto assign available licenses to subscribed groups to automatically assign available licenses to new users who join or who are added to Google Groups that are part of the subscription.
   Note: If the number of users that you have added exceeds the number of complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses that are allocated to your Looker instance, the Total monthly cost line item displays the cost of the additional licenses that you are purchasing.

4. Click Buy.

If you need to decrease the number of licenses that are used with your Looker Studio Pro subscription, select Manage access to remove users from your subscription, and then select Add/remove licenses. For more information, see Remove users from a Pro subscription.

Add users in Looker Studio

To finish setting up your new Looker Studio Pro subscription in Looker Studio, follow these steps from the Looker Studio Pro page in the Admin panel of your Looker instance:

1. Click add users in Looker Studio Pro.
2. Set up a new Looker Studio Pro subscription by following the steps that are outlined in Start a new Pro subscription.

Transfer complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses to a different subscription

You can transfer complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses from one Pro subscription to another Pro subscription. Set up the new subscription first, then follow these steps in your Looker instance to associate the instance with the new subscription:

1. In the Admin panel of your Looker instance, navigate to the Platform section and select the Looker Studio Pro page.
2. In the Google Cloud Project Number field, enter the project number for the new Google Cloud project selection. Note that the project number is distince from the project ID.
3. Click Save.

The Google Cloud Project Number field now displays the Google Cloud project number for the new Looker Studio Pro subscription.

Important: Looker Studio Pro licenses in the original Google Cloud project will be converted to paid licenses, subject to Looker Studio Pro pricing. To avoid being charged for these licenses, cancel the original subscription.

Effects of canceling a Looker Studio Pro subscription

If the Looker Studio Pro subscription is canceled, Looker will no longer recognize the subscription. Although the Google Cloud console will continue to reflect that the Looker (Google Cloud core) instance and the Looker Studio Pro subscription are linked, you will no longer be billed for Looker Studio Pro usage on the Google Cloud project. Your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance's Looker Studio Pro licenses are still available if you reinstate your subscription (within the 30-day grace period) or if you initiate a new subscription. The no-cost version of Looker Studio is also available for use.

For more information about the effects of canceling a Looker Studio Pro subscription or deleting a Google Cloud project that is associated with a canceled subscription, see Cancel a Looker Studio Pro subscription.

Troubleshooting complimentary licenses

Errors may occur when accepting complimentary Looker Studio Pro licenses or when adding users to a Looker Studio Pro subscription.

Error: You have reached your license limit

There is a discrepancy between the number of users who are assigned to a Looker Studio Pro subscription and the number of complimentary licenses that are available for the subscription, and your subscription is incurring an unexpected cost.

Example error message

You have reached your license limit. To add more users, either delete some existing users/groups or purchase additional licenses.

Steps to resolve

1. In Looker Studio select Pro subscriptions from the left navigation to open the list of Looker Studio Pro subscriptions.
2. Looker Studio displays the number of complimentary licenses that are available for the Google Cloud project that hosts your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance. For that project, under Actions, select Manage subscription.
3. Navigate to the Review and confirm Looker Studio Pro licenses step, and review the number of licenses in the Number of licenses to buy field.
4. Enter the total number of licenses that you want to use, including the number of complimentary licenses that are available for the subscription.

For example, if there are 10 complimentary licenses available, add 10 users to your subscription to use all licenses. If you add 11 users, you will be charged for 1 additional license. If you increase the Number of licenses to buy field to 11, you will be charged for 1 additional license.