Where is the Text Shelf in Tableau?
Searching for the Text shelf in Tableau can feel a bit like looking for your keys when they're already in your hand - you know it’s somewhere obvious, but where? If you’re asking "Where is the Text shelf?" you’re asking one of the most common questions for anyone new to Tableau. This article will show you exactly where to find it, explain what it does, and walk through several practical examples to make your visualizations clearer and more professional.
The Easiest Way to Find the Text Shelf
Let's solve the big question right away. The Text shelf is located on the Marks card.
When you open a new worksheet in Tableau, look to the left of your blank canvas, just below the "Rows" and "Columns" shelves. You'll see a box labeled "Marks." Inside this card, you'll find several properties you can use to control the appearance of your data points, or "marks." These typically include Color, Size, Text, Detail, and Tooltip.
The Text shelf is right there, waiting for you to drag fields onto it. Its primary job is simple: to control and display text labels directly on your data points. This is different from the Tooltip shelf, which only shows information when you hover your mouse over a mark.
What Does the Text Shelf Actually Do?
Now that you’ve found it, what’s its purpose? In short, the Text shelf turns the underlying data values into visible labels on your chart. When you move a field from your Data pane (the list of Dimensions and Measures on the left) to the Text shelf, Tableau uses the values from that field as labels for each mark in your view.
Think about a simple bar chart showing sales for different product categories. Without labels, you have to hover over each bar or guess the value from the axis. But if you drag your "Sales" measure onto the Text shelf, the exact sales figure will appear directly on or next to each bar. It removes the guesswork and makes your visualization immediately easier to understand.
This is the foundation of many powerful visualization techniques in Tableau, from simple labels to complex, highly-customized text tables.
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A Step-By-Step Guide: Labeling a Simple Chart
Let's walk through a classic example using Tableau's built-in Superstore sample dataset. We’ll build a bar chart and add labels using the Text shelf.
Step 1: Create a Basic Visualization
First, we need something to label. Let's create a horizontal bar chart showing Sales by Sub-Category.
- Drag the Sub-Category dimension from the Data pane to the Rows shelf.
- Drag the Sales measure from the Data pane to the Columns shelf.
You now have a basic bar chart. For a bit of polish, click the "Sort" icon on the axis or toolbar to arrange the bars from highest to lowest sales.
Step 2: Drag Your Measure to the Text Shelf
Now for the main event. Find the Sales measure in the Data pane again. This time, click and drag it directly onto the Text shelf on the Marks card.
Instantly, you'll see the exact SUM(Sales) figure appear at the end of each bar. That's it! You've successfully used the Text shelf to label your data.
The default label might look something like "330007." Now let's make it look cleaner.
Step 3: Format the Labels
Plain numbers are good, but formatted numbers are better. To turn that raw number into a clean currency format:
- On the Marks card, right-click the SUM(Sales) pill that's on the Text shelf.
- Select Format… from the menu.
- The Format pane will open on the left. Under the "Numbers" dropdown, choose Currency (Custom).
- You can set the Decimal places to 0 and Display Units to Thousands (K) to keep the labels tidy. Now your "330007" label will read as "$330K." Much better!
Level Up: Advanced Text Label Customization
The Text shelf can do much more than display a single number. You can combine multiple fields, add clarifying text, and change the formatting to build incredibly descriptive labels.
Click on the Text shelf on the Marks card. A small window with a "..." button will appear. Click that button to open the Edit Label dialog box.
This box is a simple text editor where you can mix static text and dynamic fields.
Example 1: Combining Multiple Fields
Let’s say you want each label to show both the total sales and the total profit for each sub-category. In the Edit Label window, you can arrange the fields like this:
First line of your text editor, drag SUM(Sales) here. Then add a new line and drag SUM(Profit) below it. It would appear like this:
<SUM(Sales)>, <SUM(Profit)>
Click "OK," and you'll see two lines of text on each bar. One showing the sales, the other showing the profit.
Example 2: Adding Descriptive Static Text
You can also type directly into the editor to give your labels more context. Let’s try making it more descriptive:
Sales: <SUM(Sales)>, Profit: <SUM(Profit)>
Now your labels read as "Sales: $330K" and "Profit: $41K," leaving no doubt about what the numbers mean. You can use this to add context, units, or any other information you need directly into your chart.
You can also change the font, size, boldness, and color of different parts of the label right inside this editor, giving you total control over the appearance.
More Than Just Labels: Creative Uses for the Text Shelf
The Text shelf is incredibly versatile. Here are a few other ways you can use it.
1. Creating a Text Table (Crosstab)
The Text shelf is essential for building spreadsheet-style tables. If you want to see a table of Sales by Region and Category:
- Drag Region to Columns.
- Drag Category to Rows.
- Drag Sales to the Text shelf.
Tableau will automatically create a text table, placing the SUM(Sales) value in the cell at the intersection of each category and region. You’ll notice the mark type in the Marks dropdown has automatically changed to "Text." When you're making tables, the text shelf is doing all the heavy lifting.
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2. Labeling Specific Points on a Scatter Plot
In a scatter plot, most points aren't that interesting, but outliers are. The Text shelf can help you identify them. Let's say you build a scatter plot of Profit vs. Sales for each Customer.
- Drag Sales to Columns and Profit to Rows.
- Drag Customer Name to the Detail shelf. This creates a data point (mark) for each customer.
- Now, drag Customer Name from the Detail shelf to the Text shelf.
Your chart will become a chaotic mess of overlapping names! This is not useful yet. But now you can right-click anywhere in the view and select "Mark Labels" > "Never Show." The labels all disappear. Now, you can click on just one or two outlier points, right-click, and select "Mark Label" > "Always Show" to label just the customers you want to investigate.
3. Conditional Labeling
Here's a clever trick: you can use a calculated field to decide which labels to show. For example, if you only want to label sub-categories with more than $200,000 in sales:
- Create a calculated field called "High Sales Label."
- Use the following formula:
IF SUM([Sales]) > 200000 THEN STR(SUM([Sales])) END - Drag this new calculated field onto the Text shelf instead of the original
SUM(Sales)pill.
Only the bars representing sub-categories with sales over $200,000 will get a label. This is a great way to reduce clutter while still highlighting the most important data points.
Final Thoughts
The Text shelf, once you know to find it on the Marks card, goes from being a mystery to being one of your most-used tools in Tableau. It's the key to adding clear, concise labels that turn a basic chart into a self-explanatory report. By mastering its simple drag-and-drop functionality and the advanced options in the Edit Label window, you can take full control over how you present information.
We know that learning the ins and outs of tools like Tableau takes time and patience - time that you could be spending on strategy instead of tweaking visualizations. That's a big reason why we created Graphed. We designed it to eliminate the steep learning curve by connecting directly to your data sources and allowing you to build real-time marketing and sales dashboards using simple, natural language. Instead of clicking and dragging pills, you can just ask a question and get a fully interactive report in seconds. If you're looking for a faster way to get from data to decision, give Graphed a try.
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