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Table reference

How to use and configure tables.

Tables display your data in a grid of rows and columns. Each column represents a dimension or metric, while each row is one record of your data.

Learn how to add charts to your reports.

In this article:

Tables in Looker Studio

Tables in Looker Studio automatically group your data. Each row in the table displays the unique combination of all the dimensions included in the table definition. Each metric in the table is aggregated according to the aggregation type for that metric (sum, average, count, etc.).

Table examples

Here is some sales data for a fictional pet store. The store sells items for dogs, cats, and birds, with several products in each category.

Date Item Category Qty Sold

10/1/2016

Happy Cat Catnip Cat 1

10/1/2016

Healthy Dog Dog Food Dog 3

10/1/2016

Pretty Bird Bird Seed Bird 5

10/2/2016

Pretty Bird Bird Seed Bird 3

10/2/2016

Happy Cat Catnip Cat 2

10/3/2016

Playful Puppy Toy Dog 6

10/5/2016

Pretty Bird Bird Seed Bird 7

Data continues...

... ... ...

A simple Looker Studio table showing just the category dimension and quantity metric looks like this:

Category Qty Sold
Bird 28
Dog 27
Cat 12

Example table 1

In example 1, Looker Studio has aggregated the quantities sold per category. Since there are only 3 categories in the data set, the table shows just 3 rows.

Now let's add the Item dimension to the table:

Category Item Qty Sold
Bird Pretty Bird Bird Seed 20
Dog Healthy Dog Dog Food 17
Dog Playful Puppy Toy 10
Bird Parrot Perch 8
Cat Happy Cat Catnip

4

Cat Hungry Kitty Cat Food 3

Example table 2

In example 2, the table contains 6 rows, 1 for each item. The quantity sold metric is now aggregated per item.

The metric's aggregation type depends on how the data source is configured. Learn how to change a metric's aggregation type.

Add a table to your report

To add a table to a report:

  1. Edit your report.
  2. At the top, click Add a chart.
  3. Select a default table style.
    1. For example, you can add a standard table, a table where the metrics are displayed as bars, or a table with a heatmap applied.
  4. Drag the chart to the desired location on the page and resize it to the desired dimensions.
  5. Use the properties panel on the right to add metrics and dimensions and to style the table.

Adjust column size

To manually change the size of individual columns in the table, click a column divider and drag it. To resize multiple columns at once, hold the Shift key while dragging a column divider.

To apply automated column resizing, right-click the table, then select one of the Resize columns option:

  • Fit to data sizes each column in the table to the optimum width according to the data.
  • Distribute evenly makes all the columns equal width.
You can also simply double-click on a column divider to apply the Fit to data option.

Watch a demonstration of resizing table columns

A user selects and drags table columns horizontally to resize them.

Configure the chart

Add a new chart or select an existing chart. Then, use the Properties panel to configure the chart's Setup and Style tab properties.

Set up the chart data

The options in the Setup tab of the Properties panel determine how the chart's data is organized and displayed.

Data source

A data source provides the connection between the component and the underlying dataset. 

  • To change the chart's data source, click the current data source name.
  • To view or edit the data source, click Edit. (You must have at least Viewer permission to see this icon.)
  • Click +BLEND DATA to see data from multiple data sources in the same chart. Learn more about data blending.

Date range dimension

This option appears if your data source has a valid date dimension.

Note: This option does not appear for Google Ads or Google Analytics data sources, as these automatically select a dimension of type Date from the data source.

The Date range dimension is used as the basis for limiting the date range of the chart. For example, this is the dimension that is used if you set a date range property for the chart or if a viewer of the report uses a date range control to limit the time frame.

Dimension 

Dimensions are data categories. Dimension values (the data that is contained by the dimension) are names, descriptions, or other characteristics of a category.

Drill down

This option appears on charts that support it.

Drilling down gives viewers a way to reveal additional levels of detail within a chart. When you turn on the Drill down  optioneach dimension that you add becomes another level of detail that you can drill into. Learn more about chart drill down.

Metric

Metrics measure the things that are contained in dimensions and provide the numeric scale and data series for the chart.

Metrics are aggregations that come from the underlying data set or that are the result of implicitly or explicitly applying an aggregation function, such as COUNT(), SUM(), or AVG(). The metric itself has no defined set of values, so you can’t group by a metric as you can with a dimension.

Learn more about aggregation.

Optional metrics

You can add optional metrics by selecting the Optional metrics switch and selecting metrics from the Add metric field selector. You can also drag and drop metrics from the fields list on the Data panel to the Optional metrics selector.

Metric sliders

Turn on the Metric sliders switch to add a metric slider to your boxplot chart.

Number of Rows

Use the settings in the Number of Rows section to customize the appearance and number of rows that are displayed in your table chart. Number of Rows settings include Pagination and Top N.

When enabled, the Pagination setting separates large table results into multiple pages on the table chart. You can customize how the page navigation is displayed to users with the Table Footer options in the Style tab.  

Use the Per page option to control how many table rows to display per table page. 

The Pagination setting is enabled by default. If you enable the Top N setting, Pagination is disabled.

When enabled, the Top N  setting lets you specify the number of rows to display in the table chart. You can specify the number of rows to display in the Top rows field. 

When you enable the Top N setting, you can also select the Group Others checkbox to aggregate the results that are outside of the specified row limit into one row that will be labeled OthersThis checkbox lets you compare the top N results against the context of the remaining results. 

When Group Others is not enabled, depending on the chart's configuration, the chart may not display all the data.

Show summary row

The Show summary row option toggles the display of a row at the bottom of a table that summarizes each metric column.

Sort your data

Viewers of your reports can sort the data by clicking on a column header. Each click reverses the sort order. For example, click once to sort in ascending (lowest to highest) order, and click again to sort in descending (highest to lowest) order. Viewers can still sort the chart even if the editor has defined a default sort.

If a viewer changes the sort order of a chart, and that chart was sorted by a metric not displayed in the chart, refreshing the page restores the default sorting.

When a secondary sort field is selected, the primary and secondary sort fields are numbered in the table 1 and 2, respectively. Sorting by any other field (by clicking the field name in the table header) removes the primary and secondary sorts.

Set the default sort

The Sort and Secondary sort options in the chart's setup panel control the default sorting behavior. You can select any metric in the chart's data source, or any dimension that is currently displayed in the chart, to use as the primary or secondary sorting field.

The Secondary sort option only appears when there is an appropriate combination of dimensions and metrics in the chart.
When you specify a metric as a sort field, you can edit the field's aggregation. For example, you could include a numeric field in the chart as a SUM, but sort on that same field's AVERAGE value.

Ignore canvas filters in summary row

When the Ignore canvas filters in summary row option is enabled, the summary row displays a complete total, ignoring any viewer-applied filters, such as controls. The total row still includes filter properties.

Default date range

The Default date range property lets you set a timeframe for an individual chart.

Default date range options

Auto Uses the default date range, which is determined by the chart's data source.
Custom Lets you use the calendar widget to select a custom date range for the chart.
Date compare type Displays comparison data for the selected time period.

Learn more about working with dates and time. 

Filter

Filters restrict the data that is displayed in the component by including or excluding the values that you specify. Learn more about the filter property.

Filter options

Filter name Click an existing filter to edit it. Mouse over the filter name and click X to delete it.
+Add a filter Click this option to create a new filter for the chart.

Chart interactions

When the Cross-filtering option is enabled on a chart, that chart acts like a filter control. You can filter the report by clicking or brushing your mouse across the chart. Learn more about cross-filtering.

Stylize the chart

The options in the Style tab control the overall presentation and appearance of the chart.

Title

If you select the Show title checkbox, you can add a title and customize its appearance and placement on the chart.

Title options

Title Provides a text field where report editors can enter a custom title for the chart.

Title font type

Sets the font type for the title text.

Title font size Sets the font size for the title text.
Font styling options Applies bold, italic, or underline styling to the title text.
Title font color Sets the font color for the title text.
Left Aligns the chart title to the left side of the chart.
Center

Centers the chart title above or below the chart.

Right Aligns the chart title to the right side of the chart.
Top Positions the chart title at the top of the chart.
Bottom Positions the chart title at the bottom of the chart.

General

By default, the table position is set to  Vertical. To transpose the table, click the  Horizontal button.

Conditional formatting

Click the Add button to apply conditional formatting rules to the table chart. Learn more about conditional formatting in Looker Studio charts.

Table Header

These options control the appearance of the table header and column labels.

Show header Shows or hides the table header. Note that viewers can't sort tables with hidden headers.
Wrap text Wraps header text.
Show field descriptions

Inserts an info icon The info icon. in column headers that displays the description for each field in a tooltip. Viewers can hover their cursor over the info icon to view the field description. Field descriptions are sourced from the Description column in the data source.

Show field descriptions is automatically enabled for charts that are connected to a Looker or Search Ads 360 data source.
Header font color Sets the font color of the table header.
Header font size Sets the font size of the table header.
Header font family Sets the font family of the table header.

Table Colors

These options control the colors of the table borders and cells.

Header background color Sets the color of the table header background.
Cell border color Sets the color of the border between rows.
Odd/Even row color Sets the color of odd or even rows in the table.

Table Labels

These options control the appearance of the table data.

Font color Sets the font color of the data.
Font size Sets the font size of the data.
Font family Sets the font family of the data.
Heatmap text contrast Sets the font color automatically when displaying a heatmap. Choose from 3 levels of contrast, low, medium, or high.

Table Body

These options control the appearance of the table body.

Row numbers Adds row numbering as the leftmost column of the table.
Auto-height Resizes row height to fit the content.
Wrap text Wraps long text in the table body.
Horizontal scrolling

Adds a horizontal scrollbar to the bottom of the table.

When Horizontal scrolling is enabled, users can freeze columns while viewing the report.
Freeze column number

Freeze all columns up to the selected column number.

Freezing columns is unavailable when the table is transposed.

These options control the appearance of the table footer. 

Compact pagination Reduces the vertical spacing of the pagination controls.
Footer border color Sets the footer border color.
Footer border weight Sets the thickness of the footer border.
Footer border style Sets the line style of the footer border.

Missing data

This option controls how to display missing values. For example, when data is missing from the table, you can choose to show blanks, hyphens, or the words "no data."

Dimension and metric appearance

These options control the display of your dimension and metric columns. Each column in your table has a corresponding numbered section in the properties panel: from left to right, the first metric in the table is Column #1, the second metric is Column #2, and so on. You can set the following options for each column:

Number display

  • Number - displays the metric value "as is."
  • Heatmap - displays the metric value with a colored background, the intensity of which shows how that value compares to the other values in that column.
    Use the Heatmap text contrast option (in the Table Labels section above) to set the font color automatically to provide better readability of your data labels. Choose from 3 levels of contrast: Low, Medium, or High.
  • Bar - displays the metric value as a horizontal bar. You can change the bar color and include the numeric value, as well, if desired.
Alignment Aligns the data in the column left, right, or center.
Compact Numbers

Rounds numbers and displays the unit indicator. For example, 553,939 becomes 553.9K.

Decimal Precision Sets the number of decimal places in metric values.
Show target Appears when the column type is set to Bar. Shows a target line for the value set in the target value field, similar to a bullet chart.
Show axis Displays an X-axis for the bar chart.

Chart header

The chart header lets viewers perform various actions on the chart, such as exporting the data, drilling up or down, or sorting the chart. Chart header options are as follows:

Show on hover (default) Three vertical dots appear when you mouse over the chart header. Click these to access the header options.
Always show The header options always appear.
Do not show The header options never appear. Note that report viewers can always access the options by right-clicking the chart.
Color Sets the color of the chart header options.

Limits of tables

The number of dimensions and metrics you can add depends on the data source used by that table:

  • Tables based on "fixed schema" data sources, such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, Display & Video 360, and other Google marketing products data sources can have up to 10 dimensions and 20 metrics.
  • Tables based on "flexible schema" data sources, such as Google Sheets, BigQuery, and SQL databases can have up to 100 dimensions and 100 metrics.

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