Modern Charts in Looker Studio: What’s New and How to Upgrade

Apr 27

Looker Studio recently rolled out "Modern Charts," fundamentally upgrading its visualization engine. This isn't just a fresh coat of paint; it's a shift in capabilities, aesthetics, and underlying philosophy. We dove deep in a recent live session – here's the signal from the noise.

This post recaps key insights from Looker Studio Masterclass Live Session. For the full deep dive and Q&A, watch the full video workshop here.

What Exactly Are Modern Charts?

Think of it as Looker Studio swapping out its old charting library for a new one. This new engine enables:

Enhanced Configuration: More granular control over chart elements.
Improved Aesthetics: Updated visual defaults and new options (like gradients).
Usability Tweaks: Subtle changes aimed at better viewer comprehension.

The Catch: Modern Charts are enabled at the report level. New reports get them by default. Existing reports need a manual, irreversible upgrade.

Enabling the Modern Era

Ready to flip the switch on an existing report?

Go to File > Theme and layout (or use the toolbar button).
Find Modern chart under the Theme tab.
Click Enable.
Heed the warning: This action is not directly reversible. (We'll cover a safety net later).

Key Differentiators: Where Modern Charts Shine (and Stumble)

The impact varies by chart type. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Line, Time Series & Area Charts:

Gradient Fills: The most obvious visual change. Optional, but adds depth.
Independent Axis Configuration: This is the game-changer. You can finally control styling (font, size, color, rotation), visibility, and axis lines independently for Left Y, Right Y, and X axes.
Axis Color Matching: Assign axis colors to match their corresponding series – crucial for dual-axis clarity.
Granular Gridlines: Show/hide gridlines per axis to guide the eye intentionally.

2. Bar Charts:

Data Label Coloring: Labels now inherit the bar color – a small but significant quality-of-life improvement.
Axis Control: Same independent configuration benefits as line charts (especially useful for rotating long X-axis labels).
Known Quirk: Bar border color setting currently seems non-functional.
Esoteric Trick: Setting bar width to 0% makes bars vanish. Potential for creative layering? TBD.

3. Scatter & Bubble Charts:

Opacity Control: The killer feature here. Adjusting bubble/dot opacity (e.g., 60-70%) dramatically improves visibility where elements overlap, which was a major limitation of classic bubble charts.
Axis Control: Again, full independent configuration.

4. Pie & Donut Charts:

Adjustable Padding: Create visual separation between segments.
Rounded Corners: Subtle softening for donut charts.
Verdict: A welcome facelift, but the fundamental limitations of pie charts (difficulty comparing angles/arcs) remain. Use sparingly, ideally for 2-3 categories max.

5. Tables:

The Big Fix: Header border radius finally respects the table's overall border radius setting. Hallelujah.
Tip 1 (Alternating Rows): The option disappears if you enable heatmaps/bars on any metric column. A common source of confusion.
Tip 2 (Multi-Sort): Viewers can Shift + Click multiple column headers for multi-level sorting beyond the two levels configurable in edit mode.

Tooltips: A Step Sideways?
The new tooltips are visually cleaner but larger and less information-dense than the classic versions. They can feel detached from the hover point and lack the clear dimension/metric separation of the old style. Usability is debatable; customization remains elusive.

Modern Color Palette & Themes: Accessible Aesthetics

The default color palettes across all themes have been updated.

Key Improvement: Enhanced contrast and differentiation, significantly improving accessibility for various forms of color blindness. The selection prioritizes usability over mere aesthetics – a mature design choice.
Existing themes (Default, Constellation, etc.) now have "Modern" versions with these updated palettes.

Migrating Existing Reports: Proceed with Caution

Upgrading is tempting, but for critical reports, don't just click Enable.

The Safe Migration Strategy:

Make a Copy: Duplicate your report. The copy remains "Classic."
Upgrade the Copy: Enable Modern Charts on the duplicate.
Audit Thoroughly: Check every page, every chart. Look for layout shifts, broken elements, or unexpected visual changes (especially with overlapping elements or heavy customization). Fix as needed.
Prepare the Original:

Go to File > Publishing settings.
1. Turn ON Manual report publishing. This creates a draft state.
2. (Safety Net): Go to File > Version history. Name and save the current version (e.g., "Pre-Modern Chart Upgrade"). This is your rollback point if disaster strikes.

Upgrade the Original: Now, enable Modern Charts on your live report (it's in draft mode).
Implement Fixes: Apply any fixes identified during the copy audit.
Review & Publish: Double-check everything, then publish the changes.

If you need to revert: Use Version history to restore the named version you saved. The Enable button will reappear.

The Verdict

Modern Charts offer significant enhancements, particularly granular axis control and improved accessibility via new color palettes. Opacity in bubble charts and visual tweaks to pies/donuts are also welcome. However, the tooltip change is debatable, and migration requires careful handling for critical reports. Upgrade strategically where the new features offer tangible benefits.

Ready to see it all in action? Watch the full workshop video for live demos, configuration walkthroughs, and extended Q&A.

This workshop is part of our Looker Studio Masterclass series, where we explore advanced techniques for dashboard planning, data connection, transformation, visualization, interaction, sharing, and security.

Siavash (Ahmad) Kanani