Create alerts on a chart

You can set up an alert that will notify you and your stakeholders when a chart on your Looker Studio report meets criteria that you specify. The notification includes a link to your original report.

In this article:

Requirements to use alerts

• You must have at least the Viewer role on a report to create an alert.
• You must have at least the Viewer role on the underlying data source of a chart to create an alert on that chart.
• You can only create alerts on Looker Studio Pro content. To upgrade your content, see the Upgrade Looker Studio content to Looker Studio Pro article.

Create a new alert

1. View the report that you want to create an alert on. 
   • Make sure that you are in View mode. You cannot add alerts while you’re in Edit mode.
   • The report must be a Looker Studio Pro report. To upgrade your content, see the Upgrade Looker Studio content to Looker Studio Pro article.
2. Hover over the chart that you want to create an alert on, and select the Create & view alerts bell icon.
   The Create Alert dialog appears.
3. Enter the details for your alert:
   • Name: In the Name field, enter a name for your alert.
   • Description: (Optional) In the Description field, add a description about the alert.
   • Access: In the Access field, select whether the alert rules is visible to all viewers of the report or to the alert owner only.
   • Recipients: (Optional) In the Recipients field, enter a list of email addresses.
     • Recipients must be members of your organization. External email aliases are not allowed.
     • As the alert's creator, you are always included in the recipient list.
   • Alert rules: In the Alert rules field, select a field that you want to alert on, and then select the condition that the field should meet. The condition options differ based on the data type of the field.
     • To add another condition with AND logic, add a new field and conditions to the Alert rules field.
     • Alert conditions do not support OR logic. If you want to create another condition with OR logic, consider creating a separate alert with a different condition.
   • Start time: In the Start time field, set the date and time that you want Looker Studio Pro to begin checking the alert conditions.
   • Repeat: In the Repeat field, select the frequency with which Looker Studio Pro will check that the alert conditions have been met. When the alert conditions are met, Looker Studio Pro will send the alert notification email.
     To create personalized alert frequencies, such as every Tuesday and Thursday or every two weeks on Friday, select Custom in the Repeat field.
4. Select Save.

Receive alert notifications

Looker Studio Pro checks the alert condition at the specified frequency. If the alert condition is met, Looker Studio Pro sends an email notification from [email protected] to all recipients. The notification includes the following information:

• The condition that was met.
• The time that the condition was met.
• The value of the field that triggered the condition.
• A link to the Looker Studio report. 
• A link to unsubscribe from the alert. Clicking this link  and providing confirmation removes the recipient from the Recipients list of the alert.
  • This link is not included in the notification that is sent to the alert creator.

Alerts run only against the default filter values. If you edit filter values, those edits will not be applied to the alert condition. 

If the report changes such that the alert condition would no longer have the same meaning, Looker Studio Pro deactivates the alert the next time the alert runs and sends a notification email to the alert owner with the reason for the deactivation. The following changes can trigger alert deactivation:

• The alert condition query failed to run.
• A chart with an alert was deleted.
• A report with an alert was deleted.
• The underlying data source of an alert condition was deleted.
• The alert owner no longer had the Viewer role on the report.
• The alert owner no longer had the Viewer role on the data source.
• A report editor disabled all alerts on the report.
• A field in the alert condition was deleted from the underlying data source.
• The definition of a field that was used in an alert condition was edited.
• A dimension was added to or removed from a chart with an alert.
• The default filter values of a report were changed.

Edit an existing alert

You can edit alerts that you have created. You can't edit alerts that other users have created. To edit one of your alerts, follow these steps:

1. View the report that has the alert that you want to edit.  (Make sure that you are in View mode. You cannot edit alerts while you’re in Edit mode.)
2. Hover over the chart with the alert, and select the Create & view alerts bell icon.
   The Create & view alerts dialog appears.
3. To the right of the alert that you want to edit, click the three-dot More Options button.
4. Select Edit. The Edit Alert dialog appears.
5. Update the alert details.
6. Click Save.

Pause or delete alerts

Alerts are active by default. You can pause or delete a single alert that you own, or you can pause all alerts on a report. You can't delete alerts that other users have created.

Pause or delete an alert

To stop an individual alert that you own, you can either pause or delete it by following these steps:

1. View the report that you want to edit an alert on. (Make sure that you are in View mode. You cannot edit alerts while you’re  in Edit mode.)
2. Hover over the chart that you want to create an alert on, and select the Create & view alerts bell icon.
   The Create & view alerts dialog appears.
3. To the right of the alert that you want to edit, select More .
   • If the Active toggle is enabled, the alert is active, which means that Looker Studio Pro is checking the alert condition on the specified frequency.
   • To pause the alert, select the Active toggle. The toggle changes to Inactive.
   • To unpause the alert, select the Inactive toggle. The toggle changes to Active.
   • To delete the alert, select Delete .

Pause all alerts on a report

To stop all alerts on a report, you can disable the creation and viewing of alerts on a report by following these steps:

1. View the report that you want to disable alerts on.
2. Click Share.
3. In the Share with people and groups dialog, click the Open settings gear button.
4. In the Report access settings dialog, select Disable alerts creation & viewing for viewers.
5. Click the Return to sharing list back arrow button .
6. Click Done.

All alerts will be deactivated, and users will not be able to create new alerts or see existing alerts.

If you later enable alert creation and viewing for the report, Looker Studio Pro does not automatically reactivate any alerts. If you want Looker Studio Pro to check an alert condition on the report, activate the alert.

Effects of canceling your Looker Studio Pro subscription

If you cancel your Looker Studio Pro subscription, all alerts will be deactivated and cannot be reactivated without a Looker Studio Pro subscription. You will not be able to create new alerts nor view existing alerts.

If you renew your Looker Studio Pro subscription, you will be able to view and reactivate any alerts that were previously created.

Limitations of alerts

• Blended data sources are not supported.
• Data sources using the Looker connector are not supported.
• Running totals are not supported.
• Calculated fields are not supported.
• Alert conditions do not support OR logic. Consider creating multiple alerts instead.
• You can include up to 50 email addresses on an alert.
• The person who created the alert is always included in the recipient list. Additional recipients are optional.
• Alert recipients must be members of your organization. External email aliases and trusted domains are not allowed.
• The alert schedule is based on your operating system's time zone. You can't change this setting inside Looker Studio.
• Alert conditions run only against default filter values.
• You can't test alerts.
• You can't restore a deleted alert.

Related resources

 Schedule automatic report delivery