When you share a Looker Studio dashboard with someone, it’s crucial to ensure that all underlying data sources are using Owner’s Credentials. This setting allows viewers to access the data using your (the owner’s) permissions — without needing access to the actual data sources themselves.
If this is not set correctly, your dashboard viewers might see permission errors, be asked to connect their own data, or be blocked entirely.
⚠️ What Happens If You Don’t Use Owner’s Credentials?
Let’s look at two common scenarios:
1. Using BigQuery or Other Private Looker Studio Data Sources
Suppose you built a dashboard that uses Easy App Reports and it’s connected to BigQuery. If the data source is set to Viewer’s Credentials, each person who opens the dashboard will need to have direct access to your BigQuery project. If they don’t, they’ll see broken charts or errors like:
"Data set not found"
"You don’t have permission to access this resource"
2. Using the Easy App Reports Looker Studio Connector
If you're using our connector and haven't set the credential mode to Owner’s Credentials, then every viewer will be prompted to sign in and authenticate the connector again — even if you intended to manage everything through your account.
This creates confusion, adds friction, and in most cases, blocks the viewer from seeing any data unless they complete the authentication step (and have the right access).
🛠️ How to Fix It
Follow these steps to check and update your dashboard’s data sources:
Open your dashboard in Looker Studio.
In the top menu, go to Resource ▸ Manage added data sources.
Click Edit on any of your Easy App Reports data sources.
In the data source editor, click “Data credentials”.
Choose “Owner’s Credentials”.
Save your changes.
Repeat this process for all other data sources listed.
📌 Tip: If you use templates or duplicate dashboards, always recheck this setting — it may reset to Viewer’s Credentials by default.