Beginner’s guide to combine multiple dashboards into one using Tableau desktop
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When we first dive into Tableau, most of us begin with Tableau Public – a great free data visualization tool for learning. But it lacks collaboration features. So as soon as we move into team-based projects, where we need to collaborate with others who have built their charts or dashboards, Tableau Public starts to feel limited.
That’s where Tableau Desktop comes in. It offers for advanced features for merging dashboards, managing multiple data sources and working collaboratively. Fortunately, Tableau provides a 14-day free trial of the Desktop version, giving teams a chance to explore these features before making a commitment.
Why Combine Dashboards?
When working as a team, it’s common for each member to create their own Tableau dashboards. But when it is time to present or consolidate findings, you will want everything in one place – a single dashboard that tells the full story.
Let’s walk through the exact steps I followed to merge multiple dashboards using Tableau Desktop.
🗂️Step 1: Save your respective dashboard as tableau workbooks
Go to File > Save as
Choose either:
Tableau Packaged Workbook (.twbx) /Tableau Workbook (.txb)
Give an appropriate file name and save it
🧹Step 2: Clean up and organize each workbook before combining
Before combining dashboards, should be cleaned and simplified:
Close any worksheets that are not being used in the final dashboard. This keeps the file lean and manageable.
Close unused data sources:
Go to Data > [Data Source Name] > Close
Replace duplicate or similar data sources
Go to Data > [Data Source Name] > Replace Data Source
Organise Calculated fields
It’s a good practice to move each team member’s calculated fields into separate folders within the data pane. This makes it easier to locate and manage calculations later, avoid confusion and accidental edits and troubleshoot issues if corrections are needed during or after merging.
Doing all these ensures that when all dashboards are brought together, the final workbook remains clean, consistent and easy to navigate.
📂Step 3: Open one file as Primary Workbook
Choose one of the .twb or .twbx files as your base or main workbook and open it in Tableau Desktop. This is where you will bring all other dashboards.
📋Step 4: Import dashboards via copy paste
To combine dashboards from multiple team members, you will need to manually copy them from their respective Tableau files into the main workbook.
Before you begin:
Make sure you have collected all your teammates’ tableau workbooks and saved them locally on your system. You will need access to each file to open them in Tableau Desktop for copy-paste.
Here is how to bring dashboards into main workbook:
Open each teammates’ workbook in a new Tableau window.
Go to the worksheet or dashboard you want to import.
Right-click the tab (at the bottom of the screen) and select Copy.
Switch back to the main workbook window.
Right new in a new worksheet in the tab area and paste.
Repeat this process for all dashboards and worksheets you want to include in your unified dashboard. Ensure all the data sources are included. Rename sheets to avoid confusion.
🧩Step 5: Build your combined dashboard
Once all the required worksheets from the different dashboards are copied:
Create a new dashboard (Dashboard > New Dashboard)
Drag and drop visualisations from the various worksheets into this unified dashboard layout.
Arrange and resize components to create a unified, polished view.
Now you have a single, comprehensive dashboard built from multiple team contributions- ready for sharing, publishing or presenting. I am also sharing a helpful article which guided us during our project: Merging Your Datasets to Enhance Performance in Tableau.
