Unable to Share Looker Studio Report (Error: “An unknown error occurred — please try again later”)

Looker Q&A Looker Studio
1

I’m facing an issue while trying to share my Looker Studio report. Whenever I click on the “Share” button and try to grant access (either to specific users or via link sharing), I receive the error message:

“An unknown error occurred — please try again later.”

Steps I’ve already tried:

  1. Originally, the report was connected to an uploaded CSV file — I learned that uploaded CSVs can’t be shared, so I reconnected the data source to Google Sheets instead.

  2. Verified that both the Google Sheet and Looker report have “Anyone with the link → Viewer” permissions.

  3. Tried opening the shared link in Incognito mode, but it still fails to load.

  4. Made a copy of the report (with a copied data source) and attempted sharing again — same result.

  5. Confirmed that the Google Sheet itself opens normally in the browser (so file permissions are not the issue).

  6. Tried from multiple browsers and cleared cache/cookies — issue persists.

Environment details:

  • Looker Studio (Free version)

  • Data source: Google Sheets (connected directly)

  • Error occurs on both personal Gmail and company account

  • Report URL: (optional — can include shortened version)

1 Like
2

Same issue. Watching to see if a solution comes up

3

Hey,

Hope you’re keeping well.

This error can happen when the underlying data source or report permissions are mismatched at the Google Drive level, even if they appear correct in Looker Studio. In the report, open Resource > Manage added data sources and confirm the Google Sheets connector is owned by the same account you’re using to share. If the data source was added under a different account, re-add it while signed in as the report owner. Also check that the Google Sheet is in a shared Drive or has explicit access granted to all intended viewers. If the issue persists, try exporting and re-importing the report via File > Download report and recreate the data source, as this can clear corrupted sharing metadata.

Thanks and regards,
Taz

4

Where did you learn this?