How to Link Sheets in Tableau

Building individual charts in Tableau is the first step, but the real power comes alive when you connect them. Creating an interactive experience where clicking on one visual instantly updates another transforms a static report into a dynamic analytical tool. This guide will show you precisely how to link sheets in Tableau, from the super-quick method to more advanced techniques that give you full control.

Why Link Worksheets in Tableau?

Imagine you've built a dashboard for your e-commerce store. On it, you have three components:

• A map showing total sales by state.
• A bar chart breaking down sales by product category.
• A detailed text table with individual order information.

Standing alone, they're informative. But linked together, they become a powerful discovery tool. When you link them, a single click on "California" on the map can instantly filter the bar chart to show only California's sales by category and update the table to display only orders from California. This contextual filtering allows anyone viewing the dashboard to drill down, ask new questions, and uncover insights on their own, without needing to create a new report.

This process of making sheets interact with each other is managed through a feature called Dashboard Actions. Let's get into how to set them up.

The Foundation: Building Your Dashboard

Before you can link anything, your individual worksheets need to be placed onto a single dashboard canvas. If you've already done this, you can skip to the next section. If not, here’s a quickstart.

Let's assume you've already created your three worksheets from the example above: Sales Map, Category Sales, and Order Details.

1. Look at the bottom of your Tableau workbook and click the New Dashboard icon (it looks like a grid or window pane).
2. An empty dashboard canvas will appear. On the left side, under the "Sheets" list, you will see your three worksheets.
3. Drag and drop each worksheet onto the canvas. As you drag, Tableau will show you shaded areas indicating where the sheet will be placed. You can arrange them however you like - for example, the map on top with the bar chart and table below it.

Once your sheets are arranged on the dashboard, you’re ready to make them talk to each other.

Method 1: The Quickest Way with "Use as Filter"

Tableau offers a fantastic one-click shortcut to create a basic filter action. This is the perfect starting point and often covers exactly what you need with minimal effort.

How to Set it Up:

1. On your dashboard, click once on the worksheet you want to use as the "controller." In our example, this would be the Sales Map.
2. You'll notice new icons appear in a gray border around the selected worksheet. Find and click the funnel icon. The tooltip will say "Use as Filter."

That's it! You're done. Tableau has just created a dashboard action for you behind the scenes.

What Happens Next?

Now, go ahead and click on a state in your Sales Map (e.g., Texas). You will see the Category Sales bar chart and the Order Details table immediately update to show data only for Texas. When you click the state again (or click in the white space around it), the filter will clear, and the other visuals will return to showing all the data.

• Pros: Insanely fast and easy. It’s perfect for creating simple drill-down functionality in seconds.
• Cons: Lacks customization. This method automatically creates an action that applies to all other sheets on the dashboard. If you wanted the map to filter the bar chart but not the table, you need more granular control, which brings us to our next method.

Method 2: Full Control with Custom Dashboard Actions

When you need more precision over how your sheets interact, you'll want to configure actions manually. This unlocks the ability to define exactly which sheets act as filters, which sheets get filtered, and what triggers the action itself.

To access the Actions menu, navigate to the top toolbar and go to: Dashboard > Actions...

A dialog box will pop up. Any automatically-generated actions (from using "Use As Filter") will be listed here. You can edit those or create new ones by clicking the "Add Action >" button. Let's look at the three most common and useful types.

1. Creating a Filter Action

Filter actions are the most common type and do exactly what the "Use as Filter" button does, but with more options.

In the Actions menu, click Add Action > Filter... A new configuration window opens with several settings.

Setting Up Your Filter Action:

• Name: First, give your action a descriptive name, like "Filter Map to Other Sheets." This is helpful when managing multiple actions.
• Source Sheets: This drop-down controls which worksheet(s) will trigger the action. Check the box next to Sales Map. This means clicks within the map worksheet will activate the filter. You can select multiple sheets if needed.
• Run Action on: This determines how the user activates the action.
• Target Sheets: This section defines which worksheet(s) will be affected by the filter. By default, it's set to all sheets except the source. To filter only the Category Sales chart, uncheck Order Details.
• Clearing the selection will: This specifies what happens when the user deselects or clears the filter.

Click OK twice to save the filter action.

2. Creating a Highlight Action

Sometimes, filtering data away is too drastic. You may prefer to highlight a segment without hiding others. That's what Highlight Actions do. Instead of hiding non-selected data, they fade it to the background.

Go to Dashboard > Actions... > Add Action > Highlight... The window is similar to the filter setup.

Example: Hover over "Technology" in the bar chart to highlight that category on the map.

• Name: "Highlight Category on Map"
• Source Sheets: Category Sales
• Run Action on: Hover
• Target Sheets: Sales Map

Click OK. Moving your mouse over categories will now highlight corresponding data on the map.

3. Creating a URL Action

URL Actions link out to external websites or files from your dashboard. For example, link from your Order Details table to your company's order system.

Go to Dashboard > Actions... > Add Action > URL...

Configure:

• Source Sheets: Order Details
• Run Action on: Menu (to avoid accidental triggers)
• URL: Compose a URL, e.g., http://www.google.com/search?q= and append a field like <Product Name> from your data source. The full URL might look like http://www.google.com/search?q=<Product Name>.

Click OK. When users click the link in the tooltip, it opens a browser with the search results for that product.

Best Practices for Clear and Intuitive Dashboards

Creating dashboards with multiple actions is powerful but can become overwhelming.

• Provide Guidance: Add a text box with instructions, e.g., "Click a state on the map to filter the charts below."
• Name Your Actions Clearly: Use descriptive names rather than generic ones like "Filter 1."
• Be Cautious with Hover Actions: They respond quickly and can cause clutter or confusion.
• Test Everything: Try your dashboard thoroughly to ensure predictable, user-friendly behavior.

Connecting your sheets with Dashboard Actions transforms static charts into an interactive, exploratory environment. Mastering Filter, Highlight, and URL actions enables you to craft guided analytical paths that empower your users.

While Tableau excels at detailed interactivity, sometimes you need answers quickly without setup. That's why we built Graphed — to let you ask natural language questions like "What were my top 5 product categories in Texas last quarter?" and get instant insights. It simplifies real-time analytics, so you can focus on strategy rather than report creation.