How to Link Two Sheets in Tableau Dashboard

Building individual worksheets in Tableau is powerful, but the real impact comes when you combine them into an interactive dashboard. Seeing your sheets sit side-by-side is a start, but making them talk to one another elevates your report from a static image to a dynamic analytical tool. This tutorial will show you exactly how to link two or more sheets on a Tableau dashboard, allowing users to click on one visualization to filter and update another.

Why Link Sheets in a Tableau Dashboard?

Linking sheets transforms the user experience. Instead of presenting a wall of data, you create a guided analytical path. When a user can click on a high-level category and instantly see the detailed breakdown in an adjacent chart, they are more engaged and can uncover insights more intuitively. This interactivity is at the heart of effective business intelligence.

Here are the primary benefits:

• Creates a High-Level to Detailed View: Users can start with a broad overview (like sales by region) and then click a specific region to drill down into the details (like sales by product within that region) on a separate sheet.
• Improves User Experience: Instead of applying multiple filters from cluttered dropdown menus, users can interact directly with the charts and graphs. It’s a more natural and intuitive way to explore the data.
• Reduces Clutter: You can use one summary sheet to control several detailed sheets. This keeps your main dashboard clean while still providing access to granular information when needed. For instance, a single map of the United States could be used to filter a line chart of sales over time, a bar chart of top products, and a table of customer names.

The Core Concept: Tableau Actions

The magic that makes this interactivity possible is a feature called Tableau Actions. Don’t let the name intimidate you, an "Action" is just a rule you create on your dashboard. You are essentially telling Tableau, "When a user does something on this source sheet, I want you to do something else to this target sheet."

There are several types of actions, but for linking sheets, we will focus on the most common and versatile one: the Filter Action. A Filter Action uses the data from a mark you select in one sheet (the source) to filter the data in another sheet (the target).

Getting Started: Set Up Your Analysis

Before we can create an action, we need a dashboard with at least two worksheets. Let’s imagine we’re using Tableau's Sample Superstore dataset and have created two simple sheets:

1. Sheet 1: Sales by Category. A basic horizontal bar chart showing the sum of sales for the three main product categories: Furniture, Office Supplies, and Technology.
2. Sheet 2: Sales by Sub-Category. Another horizontal bar chart showing the sum of sales for all the various sub-categories, such as Chairs, Tables, Binders, Phones, etc.

Without linking them, these two charts are just two separate pieces of information. Our goal is to set it up so that when a user clicks on "Technology" in the first chart, the second chart automatically updates to show the sales for only the technology-related sub-categories (like Phones, Accessories, Machines, and Copiers).

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Filter Action

Once you have your two sheets built and placed on a new dashboard, you're ready to create the action that links them together. The process is simple and only takes a minute inside the Tableau dashboard view.

Step 1: Open the Actions Menu

With your dashboard open, navigate to the top menu bar. Click on Dashboard and then select Actions... from the dropdown menu. This will open the main Actions dialog box where all your dashboard's interactive rules will live.

Step 2: Add a New Filter Action

In the Actions dialog box, click the Add Action > button. A list of action types will appear. Select Filter.... This is the most common and powerful action type for linking sheets as it directly filters one sheet based on a selection in another.

Step 3: Configure the Filter Action

This is where you define the rule. A new dialog box will pop up with several options to configure. Let's walk through each one:

• Name: Tableau automatically populates a default name like "Filter 1." It’s a very good habit to change this to something descriptive, like "Filter Sub-Category by Category". If you have multiple actions on a single dashboard, clear naming will save you a lot of time down the road.
• Source Sheets: This is where you tell Tableau where the action starts. In our example, we want users to click on the Sales by Category chart. So, check the box next to that sheet in the list. Ensure the other sheet (Sales by Sub-Category) is unchecked here.
• Run Action on: This setting determines how the user triggers the action.
• Target Sheets: This is the sheet that will be affected by the action - the one that gets filtered. In the list, check the box next to Sales by Sub-Category. Make sure the source sheet (Sales by Category) is unchecked here.
• Clearing the selection will: This important setting defines what happens when a user clicks off the mark they selected.

Once you’ve configured these settings, click OK twice – once to close the filter configuration and again to close the main Actions dialog box.

Step 4: Test Your Linked Sheets

You’re all set! Now it’s time to test your work. On your dashboard, click any of the bars in your "Sales by Category" chart. For example, if you click the "Technology" bar, your "Sales by Sub-Category" chart should instantly update to show data only for Phones, Copiers, Machines, and Accessories. If you then click an empty space in the first chart, the second chart will return to showing all sub-categories (because we chose "Show all values" when clearing the selection).

Congratulations, you have now successfully linked two sheets on your dashboard!

Additional Tips and Tricks for Linking Sheets

What we've just created is a fundamental building block. From here, you can customize your dashboard's interactivity in even more powerful ways.

Linking One Sheet to Multiple Target Sheets

You’re not limited to a one-to-one relationship. A single source sheet can filter dozens of other sheets. In the Filter Action setup (Step 3), simply check the boxes for all the worksheets you want to be affected in the Target Sheets section. For instance, a single map chart (our source) could be used to filter a line chart of sales, a bar chart of profit, and a detailed data table all at once.

Using a Sheet as a Navigation Button (Go to Sheet Action)

Sometimes you don’t want to filter a chart on the same dashboard, you want to navigate to an entirely different, more detailed dashboard or sheet. To do this, in Step 2, instead of adding a "Filter" action, add a Go to Sheet... action. The configuration is even simpler. You select a source sheet (like a sheet that looks like a "View Details" button) and then a single target sheet or dashboard to navigate to when it’s clicked.

Using Highlight Actions

If filtering feels too dramatic, try a Highlight Action. Instead of making non-relevant data disappear, this action simply grays it out, keeping the selected data fully colored and in the foreground. This provides context by showing the part-to-whole relationship. The setup is identical to a filter action - just select "Highlight" instead of "Filter" in Step 2.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

If your filter action isn’t behaving as you expect, here are a couple of quick things to check:

• Source and Target Sheets are Mixed Up: The most common mistake is accidentally checking the wrong boxes in the Action configuration. Double-check that your Source Sheet list only contains the sheet you want users to click on, and the Target Sheet list contains the sheet(s) you want to be changed.
• The Wrong Field is Filtering: By default, Tableau tries to filter on all shared fields. If your sheets have multiple fields in common (like Date, Region, and Category), you might want to specify exactly which field should be used for the action. In the filter configuration window, there is a "Target Filters" section. You can switch this from "All Fields" to "Selected Fields" to manually define the linking field(s).
• Forgetting About an Existing Action: If a view is filtering in a strange way, go to Dashboard > Actions... to see if there's an old or unintended action running that you forgot about. You can easily edit or remove it from this menu.

Final Thoughts

Mastering Dashboard Actions is a key step in moving beyond static reports and creating genuinely useful analytical tools in Tableau. By linking your worksheets, you empower others to explore data on their own terms, follow their curiosity, and find answers in an intuitive, visual way.

Of course, becoming proficient with tools like Tableau involves a learning curve - from connecting data sources to configuring dashboards, actions, and filters. We built Graphed to simplify this entire process. Instead of manually clicking through menus, you can connect your data sources in seconds and create real-time, interactive dashboards just by asking in plain English. Because our AI handles the setup, you move from data to decisions in a fraction of the time, letting you focus on the insights, not the configuration.