How to Copy from Tableau to Excel

Need to get your data out of a Tableau dashboard and into an Excel spreadsheet? You’re in the right place. Moving your analysis from Tableau’s interactive environment to Excel’s familiar grid is a common task, whether you're creating a static report, sharing numbers with a colleague, or need to perform further calculations. This guide will walk you through the various ways to export your data, from a simple summary table to the full underlying dataset.

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For a Quick Data Grab: Exporting as a Crosstab

The most straightforward method is exporting your view as a crosstab, which is essentially a text-based table that mirrors the visualization you've built. This method is perfect when you need the summarized data exactly as it appears in your Tableau worksheet.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Navigate to the specific worksheet in your Tableau workbook that contains the data you want to export.
2. In the top menu bar, click on Worksheet.
3. From the dropdown menu, hover over Export.
4. Select Crosstab to Excel from the side menu.
5. Tableau will prompt you to save the file. Give it a name, choose a location, and click Save.

Tableau will automatically generate and open an Excel file containing your data. The columns and rows will be structured just like your visualization, making it an ideal choice for quickly sharing a summary table.

When to use this method: You have a chart or table in Tableau (like a text table or a bar chart showing sales by region) and you want that exact summary in Excel format.

For a Deeper Analysis: Using the "View Data" Option

What if you don't want the summary, but the detailed, row-level data behind the visualization? For that, the "View Data" feature is your best friend. It lets you see the individual records that are being aggregated to create your charts.

Accessing the Full Underlying Data

You can get to the full data in a couple of ways, depending on where you are in Tableau.

1. From a Worksheet:

• Right-click anywhere on your visualization where there isn't a specific data mark (like the white space of the chart).
• Select View Data from the context menu. You can also click the small "View Data" icon, which looks like a small grid with a magnifying glass, in the tooltip that appears when you hover over a mark.
• A new window will pop up. At the top, you'll see two tabs: Summary and Full data.
• Click on the Full data tab. This displays all the rows from your data source that are being used to create the current view, including all relevant dimensions and measures.
• Click the Export All button at the top of the window.
• Save the CSV file, which you can then easily open in Excel.

2. From a Dashboard:

• First, click on the specific sheet within the dashboard that contains the data you're interested in. Selecting the sheet makes it active.
• Once activated, you should see an "Export" icon (a box with an arrow pointing down and out) appear in the sheet's border. Click it.
• Tableau will open the same "View Data" window as described above, where you can select the "Full data" tab and click "Export All."

When to use this method: You need an export of all the individual rows backing your visualization, not just the final summarized numbers. This is great for doing your own pivot tables or checks in Excel.

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The Classic Copy and Paste: Working with Data Marks

Sometimes you only need a small, specific subset of the data from your visualization. In these cases, a quick copy and paste is often the fastest way to get what you need.

How to Copy Specific Data Points

1. Click and drag your mouse over the data marks (the bars, points, or sections of your chart) that you want to copy. This will highlight them. To select multiple, non-adjacent marks, hold down the Ctrl key (Cmd on Mac) while clicking each one.
2. Once you've selected the marks, hover over one of them and a tooltip will appear.
3. In the tooltip, click the View Data icon (the small table with the magnifying glass).
4. In the pop-up window, ensure the Summary tab is selected. This will show you the summarized data for only the points you highlighted.
5. You can highlight the rows you want, right-click and choose Copy, or you can use the Export All button to get just this selection.

A Simpler Alternative: Copy Data

For an even quicker copy, after selecting your data marks, right-click on one of the selected marks and choose Copy > Data. This copies the summary data directly to your clipboard. You can then navigate to Excel and simply paste the values into a worksheet.

When to use this method: You only need a few specific numbers from a chart - for example, the sales figures for your top three products from a bar chart.

Tips for a Clean Export and Common Pitfalls

Getting the data out is one thing, getting it out cleanly is another. Here are a few tips to make the transition from Tableau to Excel as smooth as possible.

• Prepare Your View First: Before exporting, make sure your Tableau worksheet is clean. Remove any dimensions, filters, or fields you don't need in your final Excel file. This will simplify your output and save you cleanup time later.
• Understand the Output: Remember the basic rule: "Crosstab to Excel" gives you the view (what you see), while "View Data" gives you the individual rows (the underlying information). Choosing the right one upfront saves headaches.
• Check Data Formatting in Excel: After pasting or exporting, do a quick check in Excel. Sometimes numbers can be imported as text. Use Excel’s "Text to Columns" feature or formatting tools to ensure your data types are correct for any future calculations.

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Final Thoughts

Moving data from Tableau to Excel is a common step in the analytics workflow. Whether you're using the simple crosstab export for a quick summary, viewing the full data for deeper analysis, or just copying a few values, Tableau provides flexible options to get your data where it needs to go.

The whole process of manually exporting data from one tool to another often highlights a bigger issue: your performance insights are scattered, and building a single, cohesive report can turn into a manual chore. This is one of the main reasons we built Graphed. Instead of creating visualizations in one platform and needing to export them for analysis in another, you can connect your data sources directly to us. We let you ask questions in plain English and build live, interactive dashboards in seconds - no rebuilding required. It helps your team skip the busywork and get straight to the insights.