Tableau Building Dashboards

A dashboard combines multiple sheets into one screen. Instead of viewing one chart at a time, a viewer sees sales by region, profit over time, and top products all together. Dashboards tell a complete story at a glance and let viewers interact with all charts simultaneously.

Creating a Dashboard

Click the New Dashboard button at the bottom of the screen — it looks like a small grid with a plus sign. A blank dashboard opens. The left panel shows all the sheets in your workbook. The canvas in the center is where you arrange everything.

Dashboard Layout Panel

The left panel has two tabs: Dashboard and Layout. The Dashboard tab shows available sheets and objects. The Layout tab shows size, position, and padding settings for the selected item on the canvas.

Diagram: Dashboard Panel

+--------------------+-------------------------------------+
|  Dashboard Tab     |  Canvas                             |
|                    |                                     |
|  Sheets:           |  +---------------+---------------+  |
|  - Sales by Region |  | Sales by      | Monthly Trend |  |
|  - Monthly Trend   |  | Region Chart  | Line Chart    |  |
|  - Top Products    |  +---------------+---------------+  |
|                    |  |       Top Products Bar Chart  |  |
|  Objects:          |  +-------------------------------+  |
|  - Text            |  |  Filter Controls here         |  |
|  - Image           |  +-------------------------------+  |
|  - Web Page        |                                     |
|  - Blank           |                                     |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------+

Adding Sheets to a Dashboard

Drag a sheet name from the left panel to the canvas. A blue highlighted zone appears showing where the sheet will land. Release to drop it. Resize by dragging the edge of any sheet container. Drag more sheets and arrange them in a layout that makes logical sense — related charts next to each other, the most important chart largest.

Tiled vs Floating Layout

Tableau offers two positioning modes for every object on the dashboard.

Tiled — Objects snap into a grid. They share space without overlapping. Moving one tile pushes others aside automatically. Tiled layout is cleaner and easier to maintain.

Floating — Objects float anywhere on the canvas, even overlapping other objects. Floating gives precise pixel-level control. Use floating for images, custom logos, or annotation boxes layered over a chart.

Dashboard Size Settings

Go to the Dashboard panel and find the Size section. Set a fixed size, or choose Automatic to let the dashboard resize based on the viewer's screen. Fixed size (e.g., 1200 x 800 pixels) keeps your layout consistent across devices. Automatic works better for mixed screen sizes but requires a responsive layout design.

Adding Text and Titles

Drag a "Text" object from the Objects section in the left panel to the canvas. Type a title, description, or any annotation. Format the text with bold, color, and size using the text editor that appears. Use text objects for dashboard titles, footnotes about data sources, or instructions for viewers.

Adding Images and Logos

Drag an "Image" object to the canvas. Browse to an image file. A company logo in the top left corner makes dashboards look professional and ready for presentations. Keep images lightweight (PNG or JPEG under 100KB) so the dashboard loads quickly.

Containers: Horizontal and Vertical

Containers group multiple objects together. A Horizontal container places objects side by side. A Vertical container stacks them top to bottom. Containers let you control spacing, padding, and background color for a group of objects as one unit. Nested containers (horizontal inside vertical) create flexible multi-column layouts.

Diagram: Container Layout

Vertical Container (full dashboard)
├── Text Object: Dashboard Title
├── Horizontal Container (top row)
│   ├── Map Chart
│   └── Bar Chart (Sales by Category)
├── Horizontal Container (bottom row)
│   ├── Line Chart (Trend over Time)
│   └── Highlight Table (Regional Breakdown)
└── Text Object: Data Source footnote

Formatting the Dashboard

Click Format menu → Dashboard to set background color, default font, and border styles for all objects on the dashboard at once. Individual sheets keep their own formatting unless you override it at the dashboard level. A clean, minimal color scheme — white or light gray background with one accent color — looks most professional.

Device Preview Mode

Click the "Device Preview" button in the toolbar to see how your dashboard looks on desktop, tablet, or phone screens. You can create separate layout versions for each device. Tableau switches layouts automatically based on the viewer's screen size.

Hide and Show Sheet Tabs

Once a dashboard is ready, hide individual sheet tabs from viewers. Right-click a sheet tab at the bottom and select "Hide Sheet." The raw charts disappear from the tab bar but remain visible through the dashboard. Viewers see only the finished dashboard, not the individual sheets behind it.

Summary

Dashboards combine multiple sheets on one canvas for a complete overview. Drag sheets from the left panel to the canvas and arrange them in a grid using tiled mode, or layer them precisely using floating mode. Containers group and align multiple objects together. Text and image objects add titles, annotations, and branding. Set a fixed canvas size for consistent display, or Automatic for responsive layouts. Use Device Preview to test appearance on different screen sizes before publishing.