Save & publish

Your dashboard is finished; now it’s time to save and share it. How you do that depends on the app you use. Tableau Public (free, officially called Tableau Desktop Public Edition) can save files on your computer and publish to public.tableau.com, where anyone can see them. Tableau Desktop Free Edition (free) only saves files on your computer and can’t publish anywhere. Tableau Desktop Professional Edition (paid, Creator licence) can publish to your company’s Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server, where only people you give permission can open it.

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

1. 1Save to Tableau Public Save to Tableau Public As... in the Tableau Public File menu: the first publish to your profile.
2. 2Tableau Public sign-in Sign in with the email and password of your free Tableau Public account. No account yet? Click Create one now for free.
3. 3Save As .twbx Pick Tableau Packaged Workbooks (*.twbx) so the Excel data is stored inside the file.
4. 4Publish Workbook Desktop Professional only: the Publish Workbook window sends the workbook to your company’s Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server.
5. 5Visible to everyone Anything saved to Tableau Public, including its data, can be opened by anyone.

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: First save a copy on your computer. In Tableau Desktop (Free or Professional Edition): click File → Save As..., name it Sales Dashboard, choose Save as type: Tableau Packaged Workbooks (*.twbx) (number 3), then click Save. In Tableau Public 2024.1.2 or later, File → Save As... also saves a file on your computer; if you get a file type choice, pick .twbx.

   Tip: A .twb file holds only the workbook “recipe”; the data stays in the separate Excel file. A .twbx file packs the workbook and the Excel data into one file, so that’s the one to send to colleagues. On a Mac the Save window looks different, but the format choice is the same.

2. 2

   Step 2: To publish from Tableau Public, click File → Save to Tableau Public As... (number 1). If your version has no such command in the File menu, use Server → Tableau Public → Save to Tableau Public; that’s also the path in Tableau Desktop Professional.

   Tip: Before publishing, hide the sheets already used in the dashboard so their tabs don’t show online: right-click (Mac: Control-click) the Sales Dashboard dashboard tab at the bottom → Hide All Sheets.

   Watch out: Tableau Desktop Free Edition can’t publish anywhere, Tableau Public included. Free Edition users simply save and send the .twbx file.

3. 3

   Step 3: Enter the Email and Password of your Tableau Public account, then click Sign In (number 2). No account yet? Click the Create one now for free link below that button and follow the sign-up. Once signed in, type Sales Dashboard in the Title box, then click Save. Tableau uploads the workbook with a copy of its data (an extract), then opens your viz in the browser.

   Tip: Using Tableau Desktop Professional and get a message that the data must be an extract? Open the Data Source tab, switch Connection at the top right from Live to Extract, then save to Tableau Public again.

   Watch out: Anything saved to Tableau Public can be opened by anyone (number 5), data included. Never upload confidential company data. This practice file is safe because its data is fictional.

4. 4

   Step 4: Tableau Desktop Professional Edition only: to publish privately, click Server → Sign In... and enter the server address (Tableau Cloud: https://online.tableau.com). Then click Server → Publish Workbook... (number 4), choose a Project, fill in Name, leave Permissions as they are, make sure Include external files is ticked so the Excel file goes along, then click Publish.

   Tip: Publishing to Tableau Cloud/Server needs a Creator licence and an account on your company’s Tableau site. Unlike Tableau Public, a workbook there opens only for people who have permission.