[Launched] Public Preview of Excel connector for Looker Studio

[mannybhatia]

Hello Looker Family,

TLDR: We are happy to announce a preview of the Excel connector for Looker Studio. We would appreciate your feedback once you have a chance to test the feature 

What is the Excel Connector for Studio?

Excel connector is our 1P data connector which enables analysts to directly connect to Excel files. This connector removes the need for converting Excel files to Google Sheets or CSV files. In this release analysts will be able to upload Excel files from their local storage. Once uploaded, analysts will be able to connect to a specific worksheet, data table or specify a range for their data. The connector will also infer the data type of columns. See the link for usage Documentation.

Why is it important?

Excel has over 700 million users and is one of the most used spreadsheet and data storage solutions, used by business users and corporate leaders alike. Support for Excel as a 1P data source fulfills a long standing feature request from both Looker Studio, and Looker users. 

Supporting Excel as a data source also helps Looker users analyze their ad-hoc data in Excel files along with governed data, without needing to model the ad hoc data first. The connector also enables users of Conversational Analytics to analyze data from Excel files.

 Known Limitations and other Notes

• Max supported file size currently is 100MB.
• Maximum supported columns from the Excel sheet is 10k
• Only local Excel files (on the user's computer) can be uploaded. 
• The header row must be a single row.
• All cells within a column should be of the same type.
• Password protected files are not supported.
• Macros are not supported.
• Pivot tables are not supported.

[Eltelera]

Va todo muy rápido 

[KarenJ3]

This is too late. My company has already moved on to a different visualization tool.

There are still too many limitations. It is NOT best practice to keep data files on your laptop. They are always saved either on a shared network drive, or in the cloud.

[TLOY_YBCm]

Of course, storing excels in personal folder/computer is far from best practices 

[mannybhatia]

Supporting Excel files on shared network drives (Google Drive, OneDrive, Sharepoint) is on our roadmap. 

[Cristian_rodrr2]

That means that if I use an Excel file, only I can see the information in the dashboard. Because I create a Looker Studio dashboard with Excel as the database, and I'm the person who can see it, the rest of the company cant see it . Is this a bug or can I fix it? I can't use Google Sheets because it doesn't support it.That means that if I use an Excel file, only I can see the information in the dashboard. Because I create a Looker Studio dashboard with Excel as the database, and I'm the person who can see it, the rest of the company cant´t see anything. Is this a bug or can I fix it? I can't use Google Sheets because it doesn't support it.

[mannybhatia]

The Studio data source based on the Excel file will behave as any other data source created in Studio. You should be able share the report with others, and they should be able to view the data. 

Are you using Looker Studio, or Looker Studio Pro (although it should not make a difference)?

Are you sharing the report with other users in your organization? 

[Cristian_rodrr2]

I create a sell out dashboard since normal looker studio. All my teamates see this:

(All my users are only corporate emails "@isdin.com") but I can see the dashboard since my account perfectly

[mannybhatia]

Hey Cristian, 

Can you please fill out the feedback form and someone from the team would reach out to get additional details. Thanks. 

[Cristian_rodrr2]

Solved

[lcorvera]

Hello Cristian,

I read that you had the same problem that is happening to me. Could you explain how you resolved it?

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,

[Daveplanck]

hi, I can't find the excel connector among the available connectors, Is there a specific reason? Thanks in advance!

[mannybhatia]

You should see the connector later this week.. 

[Mahfan]

I connected Excel but date range control not working ?  

[Paul96]

Hi guys, 

I tested the connection to one of my Excel sheets and it worked well. Now I'm facing the challenge, that I would like to see updated data in Looker Studio. Do you have any ideas? The usual update process is not working for me. 

[yizhu_s]

@mannybhatia Thank you for enabling the Excel Connector - it has become handy for us recently!

I have a similar question to Paul96. We store our Excel files on OneDrive and share them with other co-workers. Our plan is to update the data files every month. However, we're not seeing the new data reflected even after refreshing the fields manually. Could you kindly advice if there's an auto refresh setting, or if we need to reconnect the Excel files to Looker every time we update the data? Thank you.

[mannybhatia]

Hello @yizhu_s and @Paul96 

Thanks for providing feedback!

The released version of the Excel connector works only on the files that are manually uploaded using the connector. For the updated data to be shown in reports, users would need to re-upload the new file, and edit connection to use the updated file. 

We do plan to support live updates from connected storage locations ( Google Drive, OneDrive etc) in the future. Unfortunately, there is no estimated timeline at this time 

[Paul96]

Hi mannybhatia,

thank you very much for sharing this information. Nice to see, that you already plan this feature. Until then, I assume the tool Sheetgo would be helpful to transfer MS Excel content to Google Sheets.