This blog post focuses on how you can make the most of the Tableau Toolbar (the row of icons/buttons located just under the menu at the top). Below you will find what each icon is and how to use them.
The Tableau toolbar gives you easy access to numerous powerful tools making the software much more straightforward.
Tableau allows you to show or hide the toolbar by either selecting or deselecting the ‘Show Toolbar’ option under ‘Window’ in the menu.
Icons you will find in the Tableau Toolbar:
The first is the Tableau icon. Clicking this icon will take you back to the start page, where you can connect to data sources or open workbooks. If you happen to click on this icon unintentionally, you won’t lose anything that you’re working on; all you have to do is click the icon again to return to your worksheet/dashboard.
The undo icon allows you to reverse your most recent action in the workbook. You can do this as many times as you want, even going right back to the start when you connected to your data source.
The redo icon allows you to repeat the last action that was undone. Just as with the undo icon, you can redo actions as many times as possible. It can be helpful if you’d like to check how you reached a certain point in your workbook or if you click the undo icon too many times!
Clicking the save icon will allow you to save the workbook. Tableau usually saves the workbook in a TWB file which contains information about the different worksheets, dashboards, and stories that you have created. If you would like to include the data source file, you can save it as a TXBX file type by selecting ‘Save as’ from the menu.
Clicking this icon will open the connect to data pane which allows you to quickly add a new data source to your workbook.
You can use this icon to create a new worksheet; it won't erase your current one. The drop-drown arrow also gives you the choice of a new dashboard or story. Alternatively, you could select the buttons at the bottom of the page, just under the worksheet to perform the same actions.
This icon duplicates your worksheet. Alternatively, you can right-click the worksheet/dashboard tab at the bottom of the page that you would like to create a copy of without having to start over.
Clicking this icon will clear the worksheet so you can start over. The drop-down arrow allows you to clear any formatting, manual sizing, axis ranges, filters, sorting, or context.
This icon will switch the fields placed in the rows and columns, altering the orientation of charts.
Use this icon if you would like to sort a list by ascending values (highest to lowest). Alternatively, you could use the sort controls on the axis.
Use this icon if you would like to sort a list by descending values (lowest to highest). Alternatively, you could use the sort controls on the axis.
Use this icon to accentuate elements in your worksheet. Clicking this drop-down icon will give you the option to disable highlighting.
Use this icon if you would like to create a group of different values. For example, you could choose to group values that begin with the letter ‘A’ together to show their combined results.
This icon allows you to show or hide labels on your current worksheet.
This icon fixes the range of the axes to the scale that is currently displayed. Any changes made to the worksheet that affect the data won’t change the axes. To show these changes, you will have to click on the icon again to reset axes.
This drop-down menu changes the amount of space a chart takes up on the view. Selecting ‘entire view’ will use up all the space.
Clicking this icon will give you the option to show or hide different aspects of the workspace. For instance, if you would like to show/hide the caption for a chart, you can select/deselect ‘caption’ from this drop-down icon.
The final one is the presentation mode icon. It is helpful if you’re looking to deliver a presentation using Tableau. Clicking this icon will display the worksheet/dashboard in full-screen mode, hiding the Tableau workspace.