The Checkbox Control in Looker Studio

If you want to give viewers a quick way to switch a filter on and off, the checkbox control in Looker Studio is a useful option to try. It appears as a box that can be checked or unchecked, allowing the viewer to filter the report using a specific true-or-false condition.

Looker Studio is now called Data Studio. The functionality explained in this post is still available, but you’ll now find it under the current Data Studio name.

The main requirement is that the control field must be Boolean. In other words, it needs to return one of two values: true or false.

Let’s explore how the checkbox control in Looker Studio works and how I use a calculated field to let viewers display only products from the Wilson Jones brand.

Visit my post on how to add controls to your report in Data Studio if you need a refresher before getting started.

For the example in this post, I’ve used the Superstore Products dataset. You can also visit my guide on how to add data sources to Data Studio to learn more about the dataset and how to access it.

What is a checkbox control in Looker Studio?

A checkbox control allows the report viewer to activate or deactivate a Boolean condition. When the box is selected, Data Studio filters the compatible charts according to the value represented by the control.

For example, you could create Boolean fields that identify whether:

• A product belongs to a particular brand
• An order was refunded
• A customer is considered active
• A campaign contains a particular word
• A transaction is above a chosen threshold

The control can then act as a simple on-and-off filter. Viewers don’t need to open a list or type a search term: they only need to select or clear the checkbox.

A checkbox control can also be connected to a Boolean parameter. In that case, it sets the parameter to true or false instead of directly filtering a dimension. In this example, however, we’ll use the checkbox control in Looker Studio as a filter.

Why does the control field need to be Boolean?

Unlike a dropdown list, which can display many different dimension values, a Checkbox control represents a two-option condition.

The field therefore needs to answer a yes-or-no question. For example:

Does the product name contain "Wilson Jones"?

The calculated field will return:

• true when the product name contains Wilson Jones
• false when it doesn’t

Because the result is Boolean, Data Studio can use it as the control field for the checkbox.

Example: filter products from Wilson Jones

For this example, I created a new field in the Superstore Products data source. It returns true when the product name contains Wilson Jones and false when it doesn’t.

I named the new calculated field Wilson Jones. Once created, I added it as the Control field in the Checkbox control.

You can read more about creating fields in my posts on custom metrics and calculated dimensions in Data Studio.

How to create the Boolean calculated field

Here’s how I create the field used by the checkbox control in Looker Studio.

1. Go to Resource → Manage added data sources.
2. Click Edit beside the Superstore Products data source.
3. Click Add a field and select Add calculated field.
4. Enter Wilson Jones as the field name.
5. Enter the following formula:

REGEXP_CONTAINS(Product Name, 'Wilson Jones')

Make sure you use the exact name of the product field in your own data source. If it has a different name, select that field when creating the formula.

6. Click Save to create the new field.

The REGEXP_CONTAINS function checks whether each product name contains the text “Wilson Jones”. The output isn’t another text value: it’s a Boolean result of true or false.

How to configure the checkbox control in Looker Studio

Once the Boolean field has been created, return to your report and add a checkbox control.

Here’s how I configure it:

1. Open the Add a control menu.
2. Select the Checkbox control.
3. Place it on the report page.
4. In the control properties, select the new Boolean dimension Wilson Jones as the Control field.

When the viewer activates the control, compatible charts on the page are filtered to include products for which the Wilson Jones field is true.

For example, a table containing product names, quantities and gross revenue will update to show only Wilson Jones products.

Set the default selection

The original version of this control also allowed the default selection to be configured using true or false.

In the version shown in these screenshots:

• Entering true meant the filter was selected by default and displayed a checkmark.
• Entering false set the control to the false value.
• Leaving the setting blank allowed the viewer to choose, and the control initially displayed a minus sign.

For this example, I left the default selection blank so that the viewer could decide whether to apply the Wilson Jones filter.

Because control options can change as Data Studio is updated, I recommend testing the default state in View mode before sharing the report.

How the boolean filter affects your charts

By default, a filter control tries to affect compatible charts on the report page. The charts need to use a data source containing the Boolean field, or another compatible field with the same internal identity.

If you only want the checkbox in Looker Studio to affect one chart or a small set of visualisations, you can group the control with those charts.

This is useful when your report contains several sections and the Wilson Jones filter should only apply to the product table rather than the whole page.

Other ways to use a checkbox control

The Wilson Jones example checks whether a text field contains a particular brand name, but the same approach can be used for many other Boolean conditions.

For example, you could create calculated fields such as:

Revenue > 1000

Status = 'Refunded'

REGEXP_CONTAINS(Campaign, 'Brand')

These could allow viewers to show high-value transactions, refunded orders or brand campaigns with a single click.

You can also use a Checkbox control with a Boolean parameter. The parameter could then be referenced in a calculated field to change how a chart or metric behaves.

Best practices for a checkbox control in Looker Studio

To make the control clear and easy to use, I follow a few simple principles:

• Use a descriptive label: A label such as “Show Wilson Jones products” is clearer than simply writing “Wilson Jones”.
• Check the field type: The control field must return Boolean values rather than text such as “Yes” and “No”.
• Test both states: Make sure the charts display the expected data when the control is selected and cleared.
• Place it near the charts it affects: This helps viewers understand what will change when they select the box.
• Use grouping when necessary: Group the control with specific charts if it shouldn’t filter the entire page.
• Explain the default state: If the filter is active when the report opens, make this clear so viewers don’t misinterpret the results.

Even a short instruction beside the control can make the interaction much more intuitive.

Final thoughts on the checkbox control in Looker Studio

The checkbox control in Looker Studio, now called Data Studio, provides a simple way to activate or deactivate a Boolean filter.

In this example, we used a calculated field to identify Wilson Jones products. The control lets viewers filter the report using that condition without typing a search term or selecting an option from a longer list.

The same approach can be used for brands, transaction types, customer statuses, thresholds and many other true-or-false conditions.

Give it a try, and see whether a checkbox control makes your next Data Studio report quicker and easier to explore.

As always, your questions and comments are more than welcome 🙂

FAQs – Checkbox control in Looker Studio/Data Studio