January 2026 Looker Highlights
Feature Spotlight
- Improved Excel Worksheet Selection in Looker Explores: For creating self-service Explores from Excel files that contain multiple worksheets, the Data upload dialog now lets you specify which Excel worksheet to upload. Previously, the self-service Explore was always based on the first worksheet in the Excel file. Learn more.
- Updates to Conversational Analytics: (This is available Jan 29th) We have enhanced Conversational Analytics in this release to provide more accurate answers, as well as greater clarity regarding its logic and processing. Key improvements include fuzzy searching of field values to improve precision for questions involving filter values, reduced latency, and increased transparency into the model’s reasoning.
Release Highlights
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Favoriting LookML Dashboards now GA: The Favoriting LookML Dashboards Labs feature, which enables LookML dashboards to be marked as favorites and displays them on the Looker Favorites tab, is now out of Labs and generally available. Learn more.
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Tabbed Dashboards are in Preview: The Tabbed Dashboards Labs feature lets dashboard editors organize dashboard content across multiple tabs within a single dashboard. Learn more.
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Dashboard Filter Improvements are in Preview: The new filter improvements include persistent filter selection drop downs, ability to select or deselect all filters, limit condition controls for advanced filters and enable customer filter values by default for boards. Learn More.
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Custom Tooltips are in Preview: The Custom Tooltips Labs feature lets you configure tooltips within the Explore visualization editor using a combination of UI settings and an HTML editor that supports Liquid templating. Learn more.
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Introducing Service Accounts in Looker Original. Looker admins can now create dedicated service accounts for API-only access. Additionally, eligible standard user accounts that are being used for API access can be migrated to the new service account type from the Users page in the Admin panel. Learn more.
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OAuth Setup for SMTP. Custom mail settings that are configured for SMTP servers now support OAuth 2.0 authentication. Learn more.
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Group Role Management Optimizations. The user interface for configuring group mappings for LDAP, SAML, and OpenID Connect has been updated for improved management. The new interface allows administrators to more easily add, edit, remove, and search for group mappings.
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WCAG 2.2 Level AA for Looker. Looker has been issued a VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) outlining Looker’s conformance to WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards. To learn more, reach out to your Looker account team.
New Assets
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[Video] Conversational Analytics with GCP Billing and Looker
Streamline your efforts on ad-hoc requests for Google Cloud cost and usage data! This quick-start guide shows Looker developers how to install a pre-built Looker Block to instantly enable Conversational Analytics. Empower your team to get fast, secure answers directly from your billing data using simple chat prompts. Reclaim your time and empower your team. Watch now. -
[Case Study] Framebridge makes Looker the “engine of everything
Framebridge has a simple yet ambitious mission: to democratize custom framing. Framebridge transformed its data stack by implementing Looker, solving legacy challenges, enabling speed and data governance, and empowering self-service. Read their story. -
[Case Study] Promevo makes data lovable through custom BI solutions on Looker
Promevo is a Google partner serving over 3,000 clients across North America. By choosing Looker and Google Cloud, Promevo unlocked new revenue streams, accelerated development, streamlined financial processes, and laid the foundation for the next generation of intelligent workflows. Read their story. -
[Case Study] Intel’s Design Ecosystem Solutions Analytics team scales data culture with Looker
The Design Ecosystem Analytics Team in Intel’s Central Engineering group supports internal engineering and operations organizations through centralized infrastructure. Looker allowed the group to define a central model that was version-controlled and widely accessible for contributions, while its ability to connect to a large variety of data sources without moving the data enabled them to execute their strategy of innovation without abstraction. Read their story. -
[Video] Leveraging the Looker connector in Looker Studio
This video guide to the Looker Connector shows you how to integrate your modeled LookML data with ad-hoc sources like Google Sheets. Learn to build reports using governed data, automatically inheriting LookML definitions and categorizations. Watch now.
Looker: Your 2026 Strategy Starts Now!
Kick off your year with powerful new capabilities, from creating self-service Explores with specific Excel worksheets to leveraging LookML dashboard favoriting now in General Availability. With tabbed dashboards, filter enhancements, and custom tooltips currently in Preview, you have a wealth of new features and inspiring customer stories to drive your data culture forward throughout 2026.
