When the Enhanced Content Cleanuppreview feature is enabled, admins and content owners can access an enhanced content management experience in Looker. The Enhanced Content Cleanuppreview feature provides the following capabilities:
- Lets admins and users access a new Unused contentfolder to quickly identify and manage the unused content on a Looker instance.
- Lets admins programmatically schedule content cleanups for an individual piece of content or in bulk, and send automatic notifications to content owners.
- Lets content owners opt out of automated scheduled cleanups of specific content.
- Lets admins and users move content to the trash.
This page provides guidance for enabling and using the Enhanced Content Cleanupfeature for your Looker (original) or Looker (Google Cloud core) instance. This page includes the following sections:
- User and instance requirements
- Enabling Enhanced Content Cleanup
- Things to know
- Navigating the Unused content folder
- Content management for admins
- Content management for users
- Related resources
User and instance requirements
To enable and use the Enhanced Content Cleanuppreview feature , the following requirements must be met:
- Your Looker (original) or Looker (Google Cloud core) instance must be running Looker 26.6 or later, and your Looker (original) instance must be Looker-hosted .
- You must have the Admin role to enable the Enhanced Content Cleanuppreview feature.
- To access the Unused contentfolder, you must have the
save_dashboardsorsave_lookspermission.
Enabling Enhanced Content Cleanup
The Enhanced Content Cleanuppreview feature is disabled by default.
Admins can enable the Enhanced Content Cleanuppreview feature by following these steps:
- In Looker, click the Adminoption in the main navigation menu .
- Click the Previewoption under the Generalsection to open the Preview Featurespage .
- Click the Enhanced Content Cleanupswitch to enable the preview feature.
Things to know
There are several things to know about the Enhanced Content Cleanuppreview feature.
- Content is considered "unused" if it meets one of the following criteria:
- If there are 0 views within the selected time period
- If there are no active schedules configured for the piece of content
- If the piece of content is not under a temporary exclusion (marked as active) by the content owner
- Content can still be considered "unused", even if it is certified .
- Looks can still be considered "unused", even if they are saved to dashboards that are not "unused".
- Trashing content from the Unused contentfolder does not permanently delete the content, but moves it to the Trashfolder. Admins can restore content that has been moved to the trash from the Trashfolder .
- Admins can see all of the unused content across the instance on the Unused contenttab in the Unused contentfolder. Users will only see the content that they own, and the content to which they have Manage Access, Edit access.
- Users will only see the content that they own, and the content to which they have Manage Access, Editaccess on the Scheduled for trashingtab in the Unused contentfolder.
- The dashboard and Look sections of the Unused contentand Scheduled for trashingtabs will display only 30 pieces of content at a time. If there are more than 30 dashboards or 30 Looks, they will be divided across multiple pages for each section. You'll see the page navigation icons >and the text Dashboards (or Looks) 1-30at the bottom of each section.
- Admins can only bulk schedule 30 pieces of content for trashing per schedule, per type of content. For example, one schedule can only include up to 30 dashboards, or 30 Looks. Looks and dashboards must be scheduled for trashing separately in their individual sections.
- When users opt-out content from scheduled trashing, the content will be ineligible for trash scheduling for 90 days.
Navigating the Unused content folder
Looker admins and users with appropriate permissions can find the Unused contentfolder in one of two ways:
- By expanding the Foldersection of the main navigation panel
- By navigating to the top-level folder from within a folder
Once you have opened the Unused contentfolder, you will see the following elements:
- The Time since last use (days)selector: Filters the Unused contentfolder to display content that is unused for the selected number of days. 90 days is selected by default.
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The Total unused contenttile: Displays the percentage of unused content compared to the total content on the instance for the selected timeframe, with the breakdown numbers of dashboards and Looks.
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The Scheduled for trashtile: Displays the total number of pieces of content that are scheduled for trashing, with the breakdown number of dashboards and Looks.
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The Unused contenttab: Lists all unused content for the selected timeframe, organized in a section for Dashboardsand a section for Looks.
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The Scheduled for trashingtab: Lists all unused content that is scheduled for trashing, organized in a section for Dashboardsand a section for Looks.
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Section headers: Specifies the type of content that is listed. Content on both the Unused contentand Scheduled for trashingtabs is organized under separate sections for Dashboardsand Looks, depending on the type of content.
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The selection checkboxes: Lets users select or deselect either an individual piece of content by selecting the checkbox inline with the content name, or in bulk by selecting the box inline with the Namesubheader.
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The content metadata: Displays metadata for each piece of content.
- The content metadata for the Unused contenttab include the following:
- Name: The name of the dashboard or Look, and the name of the user that created the content.
- Last Used: The date that the dashboard or Look was last viewed.
- Created Date: The date that the dashboard or Look was created.
- Folder: The name of and link to the folder in which the dashboard or Look is saved.
- Is Owner Disabled: The status of the user that created the content. If the user has been disabled on the instance , the status will display Yes.
- The content metadata for the Scheduled for trashingtab include the following:
- Name: The name of the dashboard or Look, the name of the user that created the content, and the total number of times that each piece of content has been viewed.
- Folder: The name of and link to the folder in which the dashboard or Look is saved.
- Planned Deletion Date: The number of days from today that the content will be trashed.
- The content metadata for the Unused contenttab include the following:
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The Sort bymenu: Displays the option for sorting the content.
- The options for sorting the Unused contenttab include the following:
- Name
- Last Used Date
- Created Date
- The options for sorting the Scheduled for trashingtab include the following:
- Name
- Planned Deletion Date
- The options for sorting the Unused contenttab include the following:
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The ^ Ordericon: Lets users sort the content in ascending or descending order. The icon will face downward ( v) or upward ( ^) to indicate the sort direction (ascending or descending).
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The Show items in a gridor Show items in a listicon: Lets you display the content in either grid view (as thumbnails) or as a list. Show items in a gridwill display if the content is organized in list view, and Show items in a listwill display if the content is organized in grid view.
Content management for admins
Admins can use the features of the Unused contentfolder to perform the following actions:
Scheduling content for trashing
To schedule items for trashing, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Unused contentfolder and open the Unused content tab.
- Choose a timeframe from the Time since last use (days)selector. The default selection is 90 days.
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If viewing the content as a list, select pieces of content by clicking the checkbox inline with the content name, or select content in bulk by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader. Click the inline checkbox again to deselect a piece of content, or deselect all selected content by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader.
If you are viewing the content as a grid, you cannot select content in bulk. You can select dashboards or Looks by placing your cursor over the content thumbnail and clicking the Selectcheckbox.
You can click the Show items in a gridor Show items in a listicon to switch between list view or grid view.
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Once the content is selected, click Schedule trashingto open the Schedule move to Trashdialog.
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Input a number of days, with a minimum of 3 days, into the Move to trash in (days)field. 14 days is the default value.
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Input any email addresses into the Notify additional usersfield if there are other users in addition to the content owner that you want to notify of the scheduled trashing.
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Click Schedule Trashto complete the schedule, or click Cancelto cancel.
Once a schedule has been set, the content owner of any dashboards or Looks that are impacted will receive a notification email and will be given the opportunity to opt out of scheduled trashing of their content. Users will also receive a notification in the middle of the cycle, as well as a final warning. If a user chooses to opt out, their content will be removed from the Unused contentfolder and will be ineligible for trash scheduling for 90 days.
The content that is scheduled for trashing will move to the Scheduled for trashingtab, where you can cancel the scheduled trashing , or trash the content now .
Trashing content from the Unused contentfolder does not permanently delete the content, but moves it to the Trashfolder. Admins can restore content that has been moved to the trash from the Trashfolder .
Canceling scheduled trashing
Admins can cancel scheduled trashing for content by following these steps:
- Navigate to the Unused contentfolder and open the Scheduled for trashing tab.
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If viewing the content as a list, select pieces of content by clicking the checkbox inline with the content name, or select content in bulk by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader. Click the inline checkbox again to deselect a piece of content, or deselect all selected content by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader.
If you are viewing the content as a grid, you cannot select content in bulk. You can select dashboards or Looks by placing your cursor over the content thumbnail and clicking the Selectcheckbox.
You can click the Show items in a gridor Show items in a listicon to switch between list view or grid view.
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Once the content is selected, click Mark as activeto opt out the content from a scheduled trashing. Alternatively, click Move to unused content.
The content that is marked as active will be removed from the Unused contentfolder, and will be ineligible for trash scheduling for 90 days. The content that is moved to the Unused contenttab will still be eligible for future scheduled trashings. In either case, content owners will no longer see their content on the Scheduled for trashingtab.
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Confirm the action in the Mark these items as active?dialog or Move selected items to unused contentdialog. Click Cancelto cancel the action.
Trashing content now
In addition to scheduling trashings to occur in the future, admins can choose to trash content now . To trash content now, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Unused contentfolder and open either the Unused content tab or the Scheduled for trashingtab.
- If viewing content on the Unused contenttab, choose a timeframe from the Time since last use (days)selector. The default selection is 90 days.
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If viewing the content as a list, select pieces of content by clicking the checkbox inline with the content name, or select content in bulk by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader. Click the inline checkbox again to deselect a piece of content, or deselect all selected content by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader.
If you are viewing the content as a grid, you cannot select content in bulk. You can select dashboards or Looks by placing your cursor over the content thumbnail and clicking the Selectcheckbox.
You can click the Show items in a gridor Show items in a listicon to switch between list view or grid view.
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Once the content is selected, click Trash nowto open the Move selected items to trashdialog.
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Click Move to trashto confirm, or Cancelto cancel.
Trashing content from the Unused contentfolder does not permanently delete the content, but moves it to the Trashfolder. Admins can restore content that has been moved to the trash from the Trashfolder .
Content management for users
Users that have the required permissions and have either Manage Access, Edit access to content, or own content, can use the features of the Unused contentfolder to perform the following actions:
Identify and opt-out content from scheduled trashing
Users are automatically alerted by email when a piece of content that they own is scheduled for trashing by an admin. The email that users receive lists the following criteria in a table:
- The name of the content, and a link to the content in Looker.
- The type of content (Look or dashboard).
- The content owner (admins can send notification emails to more users than just the content owner).
- The number of days since the content was last used.
- The number of days until the content will be moved to the trash.
- The Reviewlink to navigate to the Scheduled for trashingtab in the Unused contentfolder, where the owner can opt the content out from trashing.
Users can also identify when content that they own has been scheduled for trashing by viewing the Scheduled for trashingtab. In addition to content that they own, users can also view and opt-out any content from trashing that they have Manage Access, Edit access to.
To opt a piece of content out from scheduled trashing, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Unused contentfolder and open the Scheduled for trashing tab. Alternatively, click the Reviewlink in the notification email to open Scheduled for trashingtab.
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If viewing the content as a list, select pieces of content by clicking the checkbox inline with the content name, or select content in bulk by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader. Click the inline checkbox again to deselect a piece of content, or deselect all selected content by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader.
If you are viewing the content as a grid, you cannot select content in bulk. You can select dashboards or Looks by placing your cursor over the content thumbnail and clicking the Selectcheckbox.
You can click the Show items in a gridor Show items in a listicon to switch between list view or grid view.
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Once the content is selected, click Mark as activeto open the Mark these items as active?dialog.
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Click Mark as activeto confirm, or Cancelto cancel.
The content that is marked as active will be removed from the Unused contentfolder, and will be ineligible for trash scheduling for 90 days.
Trashing content now
In addition to opting content out of scheduled trashing, users can also choose to immediately trash content that they own, or to trash content to which they have Manage Access, Edit access.
To trash content now, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Unused contentfolder and open either the Unused content tab or the Scheduled for trashingtab.
- If viewing content on the Unused contenttab, choose a timeframe from the Time since last use (days)selector. The default selection is 90 days.
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If viewing the content as a list, select pieces of content by clicking the checkbox inline with the content name, or select content in bulk by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader. Click the inline checkbox again to deselect a piece of content, or deselect all selected content by clicking the box inline with the Namesubheader.
If you are viewing the content as a grid, you cannot select content in bulk. You can select dashboards or Looks by placing your cursor over the content thumbnail and clicking the Selectcheckbox.
You can click the Show items in a gridor Show items in a listicon to switch between list view or grid view.
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Once the content is selected, click Trash nowto open the Move selected items to trashdialog.
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Click Move to trashto confirm, or Cancelto cancel.
Trashing content from the Unused contentfolder does not permanently delete the content, but moves it to the Trashfolder. Admins can restore content that has been moved to the trash from the Trashfolder .
Related resources
- Learn more about finding and viewing content in Looker
- Learn more about organizing and managing access to content
- Learn more about restoring content from the Trashfolder (for admins)
