Connect to the Excel file

Tableau needs data before it can draw anything. First download the practice file from the card above and save it somewhere easy to find (e.g. Documents). It’s the same file as in the Power BI course: fictional sales for an office-supplies store, January 2025 to June 2026, with a main Sales sheet (1,096 rows, 11 columns).

12345 Zoom

Click a number on the picture or in this list to highlight that area.

1. 1Sheets list Every sheet in the Excel file: Product, Region, Sales, Sales_Aug, Sales_Jul and Tentang.
2. 2Use Data Interpreter Tidies sheets that have extra titles or notes; the Sales sheet doesn’t need it.
3. 3Canvas Where you drag sheets; the Sales box means this is the table in use.
4. 4Data preview The icon above each column name is its data type: Abc text, # number, a calendar for dates.
5. 5Sheet 1 tab Click it to go to the worksheet and start building charts.

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: On the Start page, in the Connect pane → To a File, click Microsoft Excel. Pick the insyntive-sales-sample.xlsx file you downloaded, then click Open.

   Tip: Already on a worksheet? Use Data → New Data Source to open the same list.

   Watch out: Choose Microsoft Excel, not Text file. Text file is for .csv or .txt files.

2. 2

   Step 2: The Data Source page opens. On the left, Connections shows the file name with Microsoft Excel under it, and Sheets (number 1) lists 6 sheets. Drag Sales onto the canvas, the empty area at the top middle (number 3), or simply double-click its name.

   Tip: Tableau Desktop only: the top right shows Connection with Live and Extract. Leave it on Live for practice. Tableau Public always stores the data as an extract (a snapshot copy of the data), so you don’t need to choose.

3. 3

   Step 3: Look at the data preview below the canvas (number 4). Each column has a data type icon: Abc for text (Product, Region), # for numbers (Quantity, Revenue) and a calendar for dates (Date). Check the values too: in the seventh row (OrderID 10007), Region says "jakarta" in lowercase.

   Tip: The preview only loads the first 1,000 rows (the number at the top right of the grid); your charts still use all 1,096 rows. You can also click a data type icon to change the type, e.g. from number to text.

   Watch out: Leave Use Data Interpreter (number 2) unticked. It tidies sheets with extra title rows or notes, and the Sales sheet is already tidy. It doesn’t change cell values such as "jakarta" or "Bandung " (with a trailing space) either; Module 2 shows how to handle them.

4. 4

   Step 4: Click the Sheet 1 tab at the bottom (number 5) to go to the worksheet. This tab is usually highlighted with a Go to Worksheet hint.

   Tip: To come back here later, click the Data Source tab at the bottom left. Charts are built on worksheets, not on this page.