Top-N Tables in Data Studio: Showing the Ten Rows That Matter

• Sort by the metric people act on
• Limit the rows
• Group the long tail
• Show share, not just totals

Long tables are one of the quickest ways to lose a reader in a Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) report. I’m Harsh Khubchandani, an independent Data Studio consultant in New Delhi, and most of the tables I build show a top ten rather than everything.

§Sort by the metric people act on

A top-N table is only useful if the sort matches the decision. For a campaign table, that may be spend or conversions rather than clicks. I set the primary sort deliberately and add a secondary sort so ties appear in a predictable order.

§Limit the rows

I set the number of rows per page to ten or fifteen and hide pagination where I can. Anyone who needs the full list gets a separate detail page or an export.

§Group the long tail

Sometimes the rest still matters. I use a calculated field with a CASE statement to label everything outside the main items as “Other”, so the total still adds up without a hundred tiny rows.

§Show share, not just totals

A “percent of total” comparison next to the main metric tells readers how concentrated the results are, which is often the real story.

If your tables have grown too long to read, I offer a free 30-minute review. Details at datastudioconsultant.com.