Compact number and alignment formatting inconsistently applied in table columns

[vfalchuk]

Hi everyone,
I'm encountering an issue with Looker Studio when formatting table visualizations.

Even though I apply the same settings to multiple columns, such as enabling Compact number format or setting text alignment to center, the formatting is not applied consistently. Some columns display compact numbers as expected (for example, 152047 as 152K), while others keep the full number format even though the same toggle is enabled.

Also, for the first few text columns such as "Manager", "Branch", and "Team Lead", I set alignment to center, but they remain left-aligned in the final table. This happens even after manually toggling the alignment settings or recreating the table from scratch.

I have tried:

Manually toggling and reapplying the compact number and alignment options

Creating a new table from scratch with the same fields

Using calculated fields with zero-width space (CHAR 8203) to force centering

Despite these attempts, the issue persists and appears randomly across different sessions and browsers.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Is there a known workaround or fix?

Thanks in advance!

[a_aleinikov]

Hi @vfalchuk ,
Yes, this is a known rendering issue in Looker Studio — formatting settings like compact numbers and text alignmentsometimes don’t apply consistently, especially in tables with mixed field types or calculated fields. So workarounds:

1. Use calculated fields (e.g., FORMAT_NUMBER(metric, '#,###')) to force number formatting.

2. For alignment issues, try placing the text fields later in the column order — early columns sometimes ignore alignment settings.

3. Avoid copy-pasting widgets or duplicating tables — build from scratch to reduce format bugs.

4. If using blended data or custom formulas, test if simpler fields behave correctly.

This issue has been reported before, but no permanent fix yet. You can also send feedback via Help > Send Feedback to flag it directly to Google.