Troubleshoot errors from the Looker connector

This page covers the following topics about the Looker connector in Looker Studio:

Looker connector error messages and suggested resolutions

You may encounter the following errors when using the Looker connector in Looker Studio:

Authentication and Authorization
Issue description or error message Explanation Suggested resolution
Looker Studio displays this error message:

No dataset access

Couldn't access the underlying data set due to insufficient permissions

Session has expired or lacks credentials. This includes expired OAuth grants. Try logging in again.
Your authorization to the Looker instance has expired or was revoked. Edit your Looker Studio data source, and then click Reconnect.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

No dataset access

Couldn't access the underlying data set due to insufficient permissions

Couldn't query a specific database table due to lack of permissions
You don't have sufficient Looker permissions to query the Looker Explore. Talk to you Looker admin about granting you the appropriate permissions to query the model that underlies the Explore.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Authorization Required
You must link your Looker and Looker Studio accounts to view Looker data in Looker Studio. Authorize the Looker connector to link any necessary accounts, as described in the View and interact with Looker data on a Looker Studio documentation.
Charts don't render on a downloaded report To download a report that's based on one or more Looker Explores, you must have the download_with_limit or the download_without_limit permission on the underlying LookML model or models that underlie the Explores. Ask your Looker admin to grant you a role that contains the download_with_limit or the download_without_limit permission on the LookML models that underlie the report's Explores. These permissions are available only for Looker Studio Pro users.
Charts don't render in the exported file To view charts on an exported report, you must have the download_with_limit or the download_without_limit permission on the underlying LookML model or models that underlie the Explores. Ask your Looker admin to grant you a role that contains the download_with_limit or the download_without_limit permission on the LookML models that underlie the report's Explores. These permissions are available only for Looker Studio Pro users.
Charts don't render in the scheduled report delivery To view charts on a scheduled report, you must have the download_with_limit or the download_without_limit permission on the underlying LookML model or models that underlie the Explores. If you own the report delivery, you have insufficient Looker permissions to view at least one of the models that are referenced in the delivered report. Ask your Looker admin to grant you a role that contains the schedule_look_emails permission on the LookML models that underlie the report's Explores. This permission is available only for Looker Studio Pro users.

If you are a report recipient and receive this message, notify the sender of the report.
When you're downloading a report, Looker Studio displays this error message:

Due to lack of permissions, some charts using Looker models will not download. Ask your Looker admin to grant permissions.
To view charts on a downloaded report, you must have a role that contains the download_with_limit or the download_without_limit permission on the underlying LookML model or models that underlie the Explores. Ask your Looker admin to grant you a roler that contains the download_with_limit or the download_without_limit permission on the report's underlying LookML models. These permissions are available only for Looker Studio Pro users.
When you're scheduling a report delivery, Looker Studio displays this error message:

Due to lack of permissions, some charts using Looker data will be missing from your scheduled report. Ask your Looker admin to grant permissions.
To schedule a report deliveries, you must have a role that contains the schedule_look_emails permission on the underlying LookML model or models that underlie the Explores. Ask your Looker admin to grant you a role that contains the schedule_look_emails permission on the report's underlying LookML model or models. This permission is available only for Looker Studio Pro users.
On the list of report schedules, Looker Studio displays this error message:

Some Looker data may be missing from your report deliveries. Ask your Looker admin to grant permissions to deliver all data in this report.
To view charts on a scheduled report, you must have a role that contains the schedule_look_emails permission on the underlying LookML model or models that underlie the Explores. Ask your Looker admin to grant you a role that contains the schedule_look_emails permission on the report's underlying LookML model or models. This permission is available only for Looker Studio Pro users.
Connectivity
Issue description or error message Explanation Suggested resolution
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Looker connection failed
Looker Studio couldn't connect to the Looker instance that you specified
  • Confirm that the Looker instance URL is correct and that there are no trailing spaces.
  • The Looker connector is valid only for specific configurations and versions of Looker instances.
  • Looker (original) instances that have the Enable Allowlist feature enabled may require special setup — Contact Support.
  • Confirm that the API Host URL in the Looker instance is configured properly.
Looker Studio displays an HTTP 400 error The Looker server couldn't process Looker Studio's connection request because it interpreted the request as malformed or invalid.
A chart from a report that you've already created is broken Something about the connection to the Looker instance has changed.
  • Edit your Looker Studio data source, and then click Reconnect.
  • Confirm that the Looker Studio connector is enabled in the Looker instance.
  • Looker instances that have the Enable Allowlist feature enabled may require special setup — Contact Support.
  • Confirm that the API endpoint for the Looker instance is configured properly.
Data configuration
Issue description or error message Explanation Suggested resolution
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Couldn't complete the report query

Looker Studio couldn't get data from the Explore. Reach out to your admin for more information.
There may be a mismatch between the data structure that Looker Studio expects to receive from your Looker Explore and the data it actually receives. Looker Studio can't parse or display the data because it's malformed, incomplete, or structured in an unexpected way.
  • In your Looker Studio data source, click Edit connection, then click Refresh fields.
  • Run the same query in the Looker Explore. If the query fails, the issue is within Looker itself and needs to be addressed by a Looker developer.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

LookML model configuration error
Looker Studio couldn't run the query because a specified LookML model or view either doesn't exist or isn't correctly configured. Verify that the Looker Explore's underlying LookML is correct, and then retry the query.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Invalid filter expression
The syntax, logic, or field references within a filter expression are incorrect. Check the filter expression, and then retry the query.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Couldn't complete the report query

A filter is not allowed by the LookML model configuration.
The filter expression in your query is explicitly restricted by the Looker Explore's underlying LookML. The LookML may include an always_filter parameter that requires a field to be filtered, filter suggestions or allowed values that restrict what values you can use for that filter, or forbid filtering on the field altogether. The LookML is working as intended. If the restriction is preventing you from doing a necessary analysis, reach out to your Looker admin or developer. They may be able to adjust the LookML to accommodate your use case.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

No Explores found
The model that you selected may not have any Explores associated with it, or you may not have access to its Explores. Select a different Looker model, or ask your Looker admin to grant you permission to access the LookML model.
Query configuration
Issue description or error message Explanation Suggested resolution
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Query timed out
Looker Studio successfully sent the query to Looker, but Looker's connection to the data's underlying database (like BigQuery, Redshift, or Snowflake) timed out before the database could finish running the query and send the data back. If the timeout was caused by an overly complex query, try simplifying the query by applying stricter filters, reducing the number of dimensions and measures in your charts, or, if possible, using more aggregated metrics and fewer raw, granular dimensions.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Query limit exceeded
The query result set is too large for Looker to stream incrementally. Reduce the number of rows and try again, or contact your admin to adjust streaming settings.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Couldn't complete the report query

Looker Studio couldn't get data from the Explore. Reach out to your admin for more information.
The report query may contain grammatical errors (such as unexpected characters), misplaced keywords, or incorrect structure. The query couldn't be parsed by the database or failed to run because of limits or conditions that were set by the admin. Check the syntax of any fields that you manually entered, and then retry the query.
Looker Studio displays this error message:

Database connection timed out

The connection to the underlying database within Looker timed out before completing the query
Looker's connection to the data's underlying database (like BigQuery, Redshift, or Snowflake) has timed out. Try the same query again later in case the query timeout was caused by load on the database.

If this error persists, talk to your Looker admin about increasing the database connection timeout limit.

Report a problem

Report problems with the Looker connector to the Support team.

If you're a Looker Studio Pro customer and experience problems that are related to Looker Studio features other than the Looker connector, contact Cloud Customer Care.

If you're using the free version of Looker Studio, post your question or issue in the Looker Studio Community.