How to Share Looker Studio Report Template

Sharing your Looker Studio masterpiece shouldn't feel like a locked safe. You've built the perfect dashboard, and now you want to hand over the keys so a client or colleague can plug in their own data and get the same amazing insights. This guide will walk you through exactly how to turn any Looker Studio report into a shareable template, making distribution and collaboration incredibly simple.

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Why Share a Report as a Template?

Unlike simply sharing a report for viewing, sharing it as a template allows others to create their own editable copy that connects to their unique data sources. This is a game-changer for several common situations:

• Marketing Agencies: Create a standard monthly performance report, then share the template with each client. They can connect their own Google Analytics and ad accounts to get a customized-yet-consistent report every month without you rebuilding it from scratch.
• In-House Team Leads: Build an official marketing department dashboard and share the template company-wide. Each product line or regional team can make a copy and filter it down to their specific needs, ensuring everyone is looking at the same KPIs.
• Creators and Consultants: If you've developed a genius dashboard for e-commerce analytics or sales funnel tracking, you can sell or share the template with others in your industry, allowing them to instantly level up their reporting.

The goal is efficiency. You build it once, and anyone can reuse it an infinite number of times with their own data.

Understanding the Different Sharing Options

Before creating a template link, it’s vital to understand the difference between Looker Studio's primary sharing roles. Clicking that blue "Share" button presents a few choices, and picking the right one is what makes this process work.

• Can View: This is a read-only role. People with this permission can see the dashboard, interact with filters and date controls, but they are looking at your original, hard-wired data source. They cannot edit anything or save a copy.
• Can Edit: A collaborator. This gives someone permission to modify the original report — adding charts, changing metrics, and altering the layout. They are still working on your original report with your data. This is great for co-building a dashboard, but not for sharing a template.
• Making a Template (The Goal): This isn't a direct "role" but a result of choosing the right sharing setting. You give someone "view" access, and the link you provide allows them to see an icon to "Make a Copy." This copies the entire report structure into their own Looker Studio account, at which point they'll be prompted to connect their own data sources.

For our purposes, we will be focusing on that last option. We want to provide a read-only version that empowers the recipient to become the owner of their own duplicated copy.

How to Share a Looker Studio Report as a Template: Step-by-Step

Ready to generate your magic link? The process is refreshingly straightforward. Follow these steps to prepare your report for sharing as a template.

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1. Open Your Report and Click "Share"

First, open the Looker Studio report you want to share. In the top-right corner of the screen, you'll see a blue "Share" button. Click it to open the sharing dialog box.

2. Adjust the Link Sharing Permissions

Once the sharing box opens, you'll see a section called "Link settings." This controls who can access the report via a direct link. By default, it’s often set to "Restricted," meaning only people you’ve explicitly added can open it.

Click on the dropdown menu and change this setting to "Anyone with the link." To the right of that, another dropdown determines what role those with the link will have. Ensure this is set to "Can view." This is the key step! Giving public "view" access is what allows the "make a copy" icon to appear for anyone who opens the link.

It should look like this: Anyone with the link > Can view.

3. Copy the Report Link

With the permissions set correctly, simply click the "Copy link" button. This URL is your shareable template link. You can now send this link to your clients, colleagues, or customers via email, Slack, or any other channel.

What the Recipient Sees: Using the Template Link

Here’s a quick walkthrough of the simple experience for someone using your newly created link, so you can guide them if needed.

1. Opening the Link: When they open the URL, they will see a view-only version of your report. They won't be able to edit anything on this screen.
2. Making a Copy: In the top-right corner of the header, they need to locate and click the icon that shows two overlapping pages. This is the "Make a copy" button.
3. Selecting New Data Sources: A dialog box will pop up titled "Copy this report." It will list the original data source(s) used in the report and, next to each, a dropdown menu to select a new one. This is where they will connect their own data.
4. Connecting a Data Source: They can click the dropdown to select from their available data sources. If they haven’t connected the source they need yet (like their Google Analytics 4 accounts), they can select a "Create data source" option in the list. This will allow them to authorize and connect a new source on the spot.
5. Finalizing the Copy: Once they’ve mapped their new data source(s) to the originals, they just need to click the "Copy Report" button at the bottom of the dialog box.

And that's it! Looker Studio will create a brand new, fully editable report in their account, powered by their data but using your expertly designed template.

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Best Practices for Creating User-Friendly Templates

A good template works without a complicated instruction manual. To make sure your recipients have a smooth experience, follow these pro tips when building your reports.

1. Use Standard & Accessible Data Sources

For maximum compatibility, build your template using common, easily accessible data connectors like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Ads, or Google Sheets. While third-party connectors are powerful, the people copying your template might not have a license for that connector, which can cause connection issues.

2. Get Data Source Credentials Right

In your report's data source settings (under Resource > Manage added data sources > Edit), you'll see a setting for "Data credentials." Here you have two choices:

• Owner's Credentials: The report uses the credentials of the report owner. This works well for data sources that are public or generic, like a Google Sheet with marketing budget figures.
• Viewer's Credentials: The report will ask whoever is viewing it to access the data using their own credentials. For sources like Google Analytics, this is essential. You must use "Viewer's credentials" so the user can connect their Google Analytics account, not look at yours.

For templates, almost always use "Viewer's Credentials" for platform-specific sources like Google Ads or GA4.

3. Name Everything Clearly

Don't leave charts with the default name "Untitled Table" or metrics as "Record Count." Give everything descriptive names. Instead of a generic title, use "Session to Conversion Rate by Channel." This helps the end user understand exactly what they're looking at without having to reverse-engineer your chart settings.

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4. Include In-Report Documentation

Use the "Text" tool in Looker Studio to add notes and instructions directly onto the report canvas. You can include:

• A "Getting Started" page explaining what the report shows.
• Notes under complex charts to explain the methodology.
• A label like, "Data Source: Your Google Analytics 4 Account."

This little bit of extra effort transforms a confusing dashboard into a friendly, guided experience.

5. Test Your Template Link Incognito

Before sending the template out, always test it yourself. Copy the sharing link, open your browser in Incognito or Private mode, and paste the link. This simulates a user who doesn't have access to your account. If you can see the report and the "Make a copy" button, your permissions are set correctly. If it asks you to log in or request access, double-check your link sharing settings in Step 2.

Final Thoughts

Sharing Looker Studio reports as templates is a powerful way to democratize data and standardize reporting for clients, teams, and the community. By setting the right "view-only" permissions and preparing a user-friendly design, you empower others to bypass hours of setup and connect their data to your analytics masterpiece instantly.

While Looker Studio templates are great for scaling reporting, we know the initial process of building insightful dashboards from scattered data sources can still be a heavy lift. At Graphed, we created a way to skip the manual build process entirely. Simply connect your marketing and sales platforms — like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Shopify, and Salesforce — and then ask for the dashboard you need in plain English. Graphed builds it in seconds, turning hours of tedious work into a simple conversation and getting you from data to decision faster than ever.