Looker stores reports, Looks (saved visualized query results), and dashboards (collections of tiles that show visualized query results) in folders. When you create a report in Looker, you can share it with other users by clicking Save and Share and saving it to a folder to which those users have access. Access to these folders is controlled by access levels and user permissions. Once a report is saved, you can move or copy the report to a different folder, or you can delete the report.
This page guides you through the components of sharing reports by moving and copying them to folders for other users to access in Looker. Read the following sections to learn about these concepts:
Things to know about sharing reports
There are several things to know about sharing reports in Looker:
Reports can't be stored in folders that are nested more than five folder levels deep, and they also can't be stored in folders with custom access levels. This restriction applies to saving, copying, and moving reports, as well as copying or moving folders that contain reports. For example, consider the following use cases:
- You can't save a report in a subfolder that is nested 10 folder levels away from the parent folder.
- You can't move a folder that contains reports to a folder that has custom access levels.
- You can't move a report to a folder that has custom access levels.
- You can move a folder into another folder that has inherited access levels.
A folder that contains reports cannot be deleted. Any reports in the folder must be deleted before the folder can be deleted.
Users can share a report with other users by moving it into a folder that those users have access to.
For more information about content access and permissions, see Controlling user content access and How content access and permissions interact.
If you want to change the access level settings for a folder, see Viewing and managing folder access levels.
Move reports
Once a report is saved, you can move the report to another folder. To move reports, users must have one of the following types of access:
- Admin access to the Looker instance.
- Manage Access, Edit access level to the report's folder
- Manage Access, Edit access level to the folder to which the report will be moved
You can move reports individually, or you can move multiple reports at once.
Move individual reports
To move an individual report to a new folder, follow these steps:
From a folder, click a report's three-dot Options menu .
If the folder contents are displayed in grid view, hold the pointer over a report thumbnail to access the three-dot Actions menu .
Select the Move option to open the Move reports window.
In the Move reports window, select the name of a top-level folder on the left to navigate to it.
Select a subfolder from the list, or navigate down to a subordinate subfolder. You can also enter the subfolder name into the Filter by title field to filter the list.
Click OK.
Move multiple reports
To move multiple reports to a new folder, follow these steps:
From a folder, click the checkbox for any reports that you want to move.
If the folder contents are displayed in grid view, hold the pointer over a report thumbnail to access the Select checkmark , and then select the checkmark to include the report in the bulk move.
Select the Move option in the Reports section of the folder to open the Move reports window.
In the Move reports window, select the name of a top-level folder on the left to navigate to it.
Select a subfolder from the list, or navigate down to a subordinate subfolder. You can also enter the subfolder name into the Filter by title field to filter the list.
Click OK.
Copy reports
To copy reports, users must have one of the following types of access:
- Admin access to the Looker instance
- Manage Access, Edit or View access level to the report's folder
- Manage Access, Edit access level to the folder to which the report will be copied, to save it in a folder other than the parent folder
You can copy reports individually, or you can copy multiple reports at once.
Copy individual reports
To copy an individual report, follow these steps:
From a folder, click a report's three-dot Options menu .
If the folder contents are displayed in grid view, hold the pointer over a report thumbnail to access the three-dot Actions menu .
Select the Copy option to open the Copy reports window to select a folder to save the copy.
In the Copy reports window, select the name of a top-level folder on the left to navigate to it.
Select a subfolder from the list, or navigate down to a subordinate subfolder. You can also enter the subfolder name into the Filter by title field to filter the list.
Click Copy.
Copy multiple reports
To copy multiple reports, follow these steps:
From a folder, click the checkbox for any reports that you want to copy.
If the folder contents are displayed in grid view, hold the pointer over a report thumbnail to access the Select checkmark , and then select the checkmark to include the report in the bulk copy.
Select the Copy option in the Reports section of the folder to open the Copy reports window. Then, select a folder to save the copy.
In the Copy reports window, select the name of a top-level folder on the left to navigate to it.
Select a subfolder from the list, or navigate down to a subordinate subfolder. You can also enter the subfolder name into the Filter by title field to filter the list.
Click Copy.
Delete reports
To delete reports, users must have one of the following types of access:
- Admin access to the Looker instance
- Manage Access, Edit access level to the report's folder
You can delete reports individually, or you can delete multiple reports at once.
Delete individual reports
To delete an individual report, follow these steps:
From a folder, click a report's three-dot Options menu .
If the folder contents are displayed in grid view, hold the pointer over a report thumbnail to access the three-dot Actions menu .
Select the Move to Trash option.
Click the Delete permanently button to confirm, or click the Cancel button to cancel.
Delete multiple reports
To delete multiple reports, follow these steps:
From a folder, select the checkbox for any reports that you want to delete.
If the folder contents are displayed in grid view, hold the pointer over a report thumbnail to access the Select checkmark , and then select the checkmark to include the report in the bulk delete.
Select the Move to Trash option in the Reports section of the folder.
Click the Delete permanently button to confirm, or click the Cancel button to cancel.