April 2026 Looker Highlights
Kick off the spring with powerful new Looker capabilities! Our March and April releases (26.4 and 26.6) bridge the gap between governed, trusted metrics and the need for rapid, ad-hoc analysis. From embedding conversational AI to uploading your own datasets, we’re empowering every user to be a data hero.
1. Conversational Analytics
The world of AI is moving beyond simple chatbots to fully integrated conversations.
- Embedded Conversational Analytics (GA): Embed the full “Conversational Analytics” experience into your own apps via iframes. Users can now navigate to /embed/conversations to chat with their Explores.
- Conversational Analytics in Looker via Looker API (GA): Developers can now programmatically manage agents, conversations, messages, and chat to build custom AI workflows.
- Gemini Enterprise Integration (Public Preview): You can now publish your Looker Agents directly into Gemini Enterprise so business users can access insights across the Google ecosystem.
- New Modes for Conversational Analytics: Conversational Analytics now offers new modes for asking questions (fast and thinking modes).
2. Advanced Self-Service & Exploration
We’re making it easier for non-technical users to find and analyze data without needing LookML.
- Self-Service Explores (GA): Drag-and-drop CSVs or Excel files to analyze them instantly.
- New: Support for OAuth-based Google Sheets connectivity and the ability to re-import/update existing files.
- New: Numerical dimensions are now hidden by default, auto-generating “Sum” measures instead for a cleaner start.
- NextGen Explore (Public Preview): A completely redesigned UI with a modern look-and-feel, drag-and-drop data tables, and an integrated Insight Assistant.
- Visualization Assistant (GA): Use natural language to generate Highcharts JSON code for deep chart customizations.
- AI Quickstarts & Expression Assistant (Public Preview): Automatically generate “starting point” queries (quick starts) and use natural language to write complex Looker Expressions (LEXP) for table calcs.
3. Governance, Security & Performance
Keeping your instance clean and your data trusted is a core focus of these releases.
- Content Certification (GA): A new framework with three levels: Ungoverned (caution badge), Standard, and Certified. Certification is automatically revoked if the content is edited.
- Enhanced Content Search (Public Preview): Search by metadata, creator, folder, or certification status with real-time auto-suggestions and a dedicated Search Results Page.
- Automated Content Cleanup (Public Preview): Admins now have an “Unused Content” dashboard to identify and bulk-trash obsolete assets with automated owner notifications and opt-out links.
- 10x Row Limit Increase (Public Preview): We’ve increased row limits up to 50,000 for tables, scatterplots, and geoplots—now including support for Merged Queries and PDF/PNG rendering.
- IP Allowlist for Looker Core (GA): Restrict access to Looker URLs by IP address, now with parity to Looker original.
- Dashboard Tile Limits (Public Preview): Admins can now set limits on tiles per dashboard/tab to prevent performance bloat via the Content Guardrails page.
4. Developer Tools
For the power users and LookML developers, we have several major platform updates.
- Looker Continuous Integration (Public Preview): Automated service account creation and a new GitHub repository management table for more reliable LookML testing.
- Native Custom Calendars (Public Preview): No more LookML hacks for 4-4-5 or fiscal calendars. Map your custom timeframes directly in a calendar_definition block with Period-over-Period support.
- Dataplex Universal Catalog Integration (Public Preview): Looker (Google Cloud core) now integrates with Dataplex Universal Catalog, providing a unified discovery and management experience for your Looker metadata.
5. UI & Visualization Refinements
- Tabbed Dashboards (GA): Support for paginated reporting and adding visualizations directly to specific tabs from Explores.
- Dashboard Filter Enhancements (GA): “Select All,” “Clear Filter,” and streamlined dropdown buttons. Filter suggestion menus now stay open during multiple selections.
- Custom Tooltips (GA): Now supports Funnel, Timeline, Single Record, Google Maps, Pie, Sankey, Waterfall, and Boxplot charts.
- Table Visualization Improvements (Public Preview): New formatting for headers/cells, row/column pinning (freezing), and front-end pagination.
- Merge Query Experience (Public Preview): Better performance and support for unlimited rows when using BigQuery connections.
- Looker Mobile (v2.2.0): Now supports tabbed dashboards and link navigation. Fixes for dashboard rendering/zoom and login issues are included.
The Future of BI Starts Today
This month’s releases represent a leap forward in making data truly conversational, accessible, and governed at scale. Whether you are a developer building custom AI workflows with the new Conversational Analytics API, an analyst leveraging Self-Service Explores to merge local data with the source of truth, or a business leader relying on Content Certification for confident decision-making, Looker is evolving to meet you where you work. Our updates are designed to strip away technical friction, allowing your team to focus on what matters most: turning insights into action.
Explore these new features today in your Admin > Preview (or Labs for Looker Core on Google Cloud) panel and start building your 2026 data strategy with the most powerful version of Looker yet.