Looker storesLooks (saved visualized query results) anddashboards (collections of tiles that show visualized query results) in folders. Access to these folders is controlled by access levels and user permissions.

Important: Be careful when organizing folders. Changes can affect all users who have access to each folder, including your personal folder if other users have access to Looks and dashboards from your folder.

Folder access levels

Auser or agroup of users can have one of two access levels for a folder:

• View: The user or group can see the folder, view the Looks and dashboards inside it, and copy the Looks and dashboards in the folder.

• Manage Access, Edit: The user or group hasView access and can also manage access to the folder and edit the folder and its content (including renaming folders, moving content, and deleting Looks and dashboards).

For more information about content access and permissions, seeControlling user content access andHow content access and permissions interact.

Viewing and managing folder access levels

To manage a folder, you need both the appropriatepermissions from your Looker admin and theManage Access, Edit access level for that folder. This lets you edit the name of a folder, create subfolders, and specify which users can view or manage the folder.

1. Navigate to the folder.

2. Click theToggle Dropdown gear iconsettings.

3. SelectManage Access.

   If you arenot allowed to change access levels, you cannot manage the folder. The permissions levels will not be selectable, and there will not be an option to add a new group or user.

   

4. If a text field with the placeholder textAdd group or user appears after the other groups and users, then you can manage the folder.

   

5. If the folder is a subfolder, Looker shows whether this folder inherits its access-level settings from its parent.

6. If you want to customize access-level settings for a particular set of users and groups, you can add those users and groups to a list and manage each of them individually.

   • To change the access level for a user or group, select the current access level and choose the one that you want instead. You cannot change the ability of Looker admins to manage the folder.

     

   • To remove the access level from a group or user, select the X beside the name.

   • To add one or more groups or users, select theAdd group or user field, choose a group or user, and then select the desired access level. SelectAdd to set the access level for the group or user.

Creating a folder

You can create a new folder within theShared folder or your personal folder. By default, a folder inherits the folder access levels of its parent.

1. Navigate to the parent folder.

2. Click theNew button.

   

3. Select theFolder option.

4. In theCreate folder window, enter a name for the folder.

5. SelectCreate folder.

Setting your default folder

By default, if your admin has enabled thepre-built Looker homepage option, Looker displaysShared folders in the left navigation. If you set a different default folder, it replacesShared folders in the left navigation.

To set a different folder as your default folder:

1. Navigate to the folder that you want to set as your default folder.

2. Click theToggle Dropdown gear iconsettings.

3. SelectSet as your default folder.

The default folder appears in theFolders section of main navigation.

Renaming, moving, or deleting a folder

You can rename, move, or delete subfolders withinShared or your personal folder. However, you cannot change top-level folders, such asShared or your top-level personal folder, in this way.

1. Navigate to the folder.

2. Click theToggle Dropdown gear iconsettings.

3. SelectRename,Move, orDelete.

Important: Use caution when you delete a folder. In a single action you can delete all folder content, which could include subfolders. A Looker adminmight be able to recover the content, but — even if this is possible — the content will be returned to the personal folders of the users who created it and not back to the folder that you deleted.

Copying or moving Looks and dashboards

If you have theManage Access, Edit access level for a folder, you can copy or move its Looks anduser-defined dashboards to another folder. You can also move aLookML dashboard to another folder if you have thedevelop permission on the model that includes the LookML dashboard.

If a dashboard has tiles that are based on Looks, then those Looks must be in the same folder as the dashboard. If you try to move a Look that is used in a dashboard, Looker instead makes acopy of the Look in the new location and keeps the Look in its original location. This ensures that your dashboard doesn't have any missing tiles. If you copy or move a dashboard to a new location, then Looker will copy or move its Looks to the new location as well.

1. Select the checkbox for any items that you want to change. If you have the pre-built Looker homepage enabled and are ingrid view, you can hover over a thumbnail to see the checkmark and then select it to include the Look or dashboard.

2. Once a box is checked, selectCopy orMove.

   

3. In theCopy window orMove window, select the name of a top-level folder on the left to navigate to it.

4. Select a subfolder from the list, or navigate down to a subordinate subfolder. You can also enter the subfolder name into theFilter by title field to filter the list.

5. SelectOK.

Converting Looks to query tiles

You can create a dashboard tile by linking to a saved Look (also known as aLook-linked tile), specifying text, or specifyinga query directly. Saving many Looks that are only needed for a single dashboard can cause clutter. To avoid this, you can convert alltiles that are based on saved Looks to query tiles.

Then, you can choose to delete the source Looks, if they meet the following criteria:

• Not used in another dashboard
• Notmarked as a favorite
• Notscheduled for delivery
• Notpublic

To convert Looks to query tiles, follow these steps:

1. Fromlist view, select one or more dashboards from your folder.

2. Select theConvert Looks to Tiles button.

3. In theConvert All Looks to Tiles dialog, you can select the checkbox to move Looks to the trash and then hover over the link to see the list of Looks that are identified for deletion.

   Looker shows this linkonly if there are Looks that can be deleted safely, such as those that are not scheduled for data delivery, not used in other dashboards, not favorited, or not public.

4. To prevent Looker from deleting the source Looks, make sure that the checkbox is not selected. Looker will keep all the Looks for now. You candelete the Looks manually later to clean up your folders.

5. SelectConvert to convert all the dashboard's Look-linked tiles to query tiles.

Looker replaces each Look-linked tile with a new query tile that uses the same query and visualization settings as the original Look. If you opted to move Looks to the trash, those converted Looks no longer appear in folders.

If you later realize that you need a deleted Look, your Looker adminmight be able to recover it for you, if your Looker admin team has not already emptied Looker's trash as part of their maintenance process.

Deleting Looks and dashboards

If you have theManage Access, Edit access level for a folder, you can delete its Looks and dashboards.

1. Select the checkbox for each Look or dashboard that you want to delete.

2. ClickMove to Trash.

   

3. In the confirmation window, clickOK.

   If you delete a Look that is the source for adashboard tile, the dashboard's Look-linked tile returns anElement not found error.

   For dashboards, the confirmation window may show an option toMove an additional X Looks associated with the above Dashboards to the trash.

   When the option is selected,Move an additional X Looks associated with the above Dashboards to the trash deletes any Looks that are associated with the dashboard. However, Looker only deletes those Looks they aren't scheduled for data delivery, used in other dashboards, favorited, or public. Hover over the link at the bottom of the confirmation window to see the list of Looks that are identified for deletion.

   If you don't see theMove an additional X Looks associated with the above Dashboards to the trash option, Looker hasn't identified any Looks that can be deleted safely.

Note: If you accidentally delete content, your Looker adminmight be able to recover it for you, if your Looker admin team has not already emptied Looker'strash as part of their maintenance process.

Related resource

• Using Studio in Looker