Google drive files not available for import in Looker Studio

I uploaded some files to my Google Drive. They do not display when I try to import them into Looker Studio. I can see the files clearly from Google Sheets though. I need to connect them to Looker Studio to complete a project i am working on for my Data Analyst certification. Any advice on how to resolve this would be appreciated.

More information:

I’ve already tried the following troubleshooting steps, but none have worked:

  • Confirmed that I’m signed into the correct Google account in both Looker Studio and Google Sheets.

  • Checked my permissions—I own the sheets and have full access.

  • Cleared cache and cookies, and tried a different browser.

  • Verified that there are no Google Workspace admin restrictions on my account.

  • Checked the Google Workspace Status Dashboard, and no outages are reported.

I just figured out how to do this:

  1. Upload the files to Google Drive
  2. Open Google Sheets
  3. Open the files in Google Sheets
  4. Go to File > Save as Google Sheets
  5. Open Looker Studio
  6. Start your project (In my case it was creating a new report)
  7. Use the “Google Sheets” Google Connector
  8. The files will now display under the “Owned by me” menu.

A couple of notes. After hours of frustration with this, I left those opened/converted to “Google Sheets” open in my browser, before completing steps 5-7 above. My assumption is once saved as Google Sheets, the effect is permanent until you remove them from your Google Drive.