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Courses / Data and analytics tools

Tableau

Build Tableau views in a practice workspace modeled on Tableau Desktop, with instant checks.

Start lesson 1Practice interviewTake the assessmentPractice the first unit of every course. No account needed.
81lessons
516checked exercises
17projects, cases and exams
Prepares you for Desktop Specialist

Projects, case studies and mock exams

Case study · BeginnerThe case for Express shipping

Use bars, aggregations, filters and dates to decide whether to promote Express shipping.

6 steps · 18 minProject · IntermediateRegional sales dashboard

Build three sheets and an interactive dashboard for a regional sales review, step by step from a stakeholder brief.

8 steps · 30 minCase study · IntermediateThe support backlog

Use calculations, filters and dates on help desk tickets to find what is really behind the backlog.

6 steps · 22 minProject · AdvancedCustomer portfolio dashboard

Build a portfolio dashboard with distinct customer counts, value per customer and a top-customer drilldown.

8 steps · 35 minProject · AdvancedReturns investigation dashboard

Join return records without losing other orders, compare return shares, and connect a reason breakdown.

10 steps · 40 minCase study · AdvancedThe discount problem

Follow the profit trail from one losing sub-category to the discounts behind it, and recommend a fix.

5 steps · 20 minCase study · ExpertWhich customers come back?

Build an annual cohort table, validate its denominator and recommend a fair retention review.

7 steps · 28 minProject · ExpertHelp desk operations dashboard

Deliver team backlog, resolution time and a volume trend without treating open tickets as zero-day resolutions.

10 steps · 40 minProject · ExpertExecutive dashboard and story

Build a sales-and-profit dashboard, compare targets without duplicating them, and deliver a three-point story.

12 steps · 50 minCase study · ExpertHotel cancellations

Separate booking volume, cancellation rate and booked revenue, then choose a testable response.

8 steps · 32 minMock exam · ExpertDesktop Specialist 1

Twenty timed questions and builds in the style of the Tableau Desktop Specialist exam.

20 questions · 40 minMock exam · ExpertDesktop Specialist 2

Thirty original timed questions covering preparation, field properties, analysis and sharing.

30 questions · 53 minMock exam · ExpertData Analyst

Twenty-five timed scenarios covering Desktop, Prep and governed publishing concepts.

25 questions · 44 min

Practice Tableau the way you use it at work: drag fields onto shelves, set up the Marks card, filter, and write calculations in Tableau's own editor. Each exercise checks the view you built, not the clicks you made, and tells you what to change when it isn't right yet.

The course runs from your first bar chart to expert work: dates, filters, the Marks card, calculated fields, table calculations, LOD expressions, dual axis charts, case studies and interview practice, on four datasets (an outdoor gear shop, a bike share, a help desk and hotel bookings). It follows the skills employers test and the Tableau Desktop Specialist exam covers.

Projects that use Tableau

Work one company brief through several tools. Your Tableau stage reads the tables from the stage before.

Project · Greenbasket Market · OutlineThe empty-shelf problemGoogle Sheets → SQL → Tableau · 2 hr
See all projects

Beginner

FreeNo account or card needed. Every lesson in this unit is yours to practice.

First views

Drag fields onto shelves to build bar charts, sort them and filter the data.

4 lessons
1Your first bar chartDrag a dimension and a measure onto Rows and Columns and let Tableau draw the bars.4 exercises · 8 minFree
2Sorting and mark labelsSort bars with the toolbar or the Sort dialog, and print values on the marks.4 exercises · 8 minFree
3FiltersKeep or exclude members, filter dates and measures, and keep the top N.5 exercises · 12 minFree
Practice setBike share questionsEight questions about a city bike share, answered with bars, sorts and filters.Free

Dates and the Marks card

Show change over time and encode more fields with color, size, detail and tooltips.

5 lessons
5Line charts and datesDrill dates up and down and choose between blue date parts and green date values.5 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
6Color, size and detailEncode more fields with Color, Size and Detail, and build stacked bars and scatter plots.5 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
7TooltipsAdd fields to the tooltip without changing the view, and write your own tooltip text.4 exercises · 8 minWith a plan
8Text tables and highlight tablesBuild crosstabs, color them into highlight tables, and show several measures with Measure Names.4 exercises · 10 minWith a plan
Practice setBike share over timeEight bike share questions about time, color, scatter plots and tables.With a plan

Chart types

Pick the right chart: pies, treemaps, areas and histograms, then put them to work on a real question.

7 lessons
10Pie chartsBuild a pie with the Pie mark and Angle, label it, and know when bars work better.4 exercises · 8 minWith a plan
11Treemaps and packed bubblesShow parts of a whole as nested rectangles or bubbles, sized and colored by measures.4 exercises · 9 minWith a plan
12Area chartsStack areas over time, read the total, and turn the stack into shares.4 exercises · 9 minWith a plan
13Histograms and binsGroup a measure into bins and count how many rows fall into each one.4 exercises · 9 minWith a plan
Case studyThe case for Express shippingUse bars, aggregations, filters and dates to decide whether to promote Express shipping.With a plan
Interview setTableau basicsEight interview questions on Tableau basics, from easy to hard, including two quick builds.With a plan
Practice setHelp desk chartsEight help desk questions, each with the chart that fits it.With a plan

Intermediate

Calculations

Write row level and aggregate calculations with logic, text and dates, and handle NULLs on purpose.

6 lessons
17Calculated fieldsWrite row-level calculations with arithmetic, IF, DATEDIFF and SPLIT.5 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
18IF, CASE and NULLsSort rows into groups with IF, CASE and IIF, and handle empty values on purpose.5 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
19String functionsSplit, trim, search and reshape text fields, and know which tests care about capital letters.5 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
20Date functionsMeasure time between dates, shift and truncate dates, and pull out date parts.5 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
21Aggregation and COUNTDSwitch between Sum, Average and Count (Distinct), and write aggregate calculations.5 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
Practice setHelp desk calculationsTen help desk questions that need IF, CASE, NULL handling, strings, dates and ratios.With a plan

Organize and analyze

Group members, build hierarchies, add totals, and compare marks with reference lines and trends.

6 lessons
23GroupsCombine members of a dimension into groups, with or without an Other bucket.4 exercises · 10 minWith a plan
24Hierarchies and drill downStack related dimensions into a hierarchy and drill from the summary to the detail.4 exercises · 9 minWith a plan
25Grand totals and subtotalsAdd grand totals and subtotals to tables, and know how Tableau totals an average.4 exercises · 9 minWith a plan
26Reference lines, bands and distributionsAdd average and constant lines, shade bands and distributions, per table or per pane.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
27Trend linesFit a trend line to a scatter or a time axis, one per color, and read R-squared.4 exercises · 9 minWith a plan
Practice setOrganizing bike share dataEight bike share tasks with groups, hierarchies, totals, reference lines and trends.With a plan

Table calculations, parameters and sets

Compute across the view, and let readers change it with parameters and sets.

6 lessons
29Quick table calculationsRunning totals, percent of total and year over year change, and how Compute Using works.5 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
30RankingRank marks with Quick Table Calculation and RANK, handle ties, and rank within groups.5 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
31Moving averages and LOOKUPSmooth a line with a moving average and compare each period with the one before.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
32ParametersLet readers change a number, a threshold or even the measure, with a parameter control.4 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
33SetsSplit a dimension into In and Out with a fixed list, a Top rule or a condition, and combine sets.5 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
Practice setTable calcs, parameters and setsEight tasks on trips and orders: running totals, shares, ranks, moving windows, parameters and sets.With a plan

Dashboards and stories

Lay out sheets on a dashboard, connect them with actions and tell a story, then build a dashboard from a brief.

7 lessons
35Dashboard basicsPut sheets on a dashboard, arrange them side by side or stacked, size the dashboard and add a title and a note.5 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
36Filter and highlight actionsLet readers click one chart to filter or highlight the others, and decide what happens when they clear the selection.5 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
37StoriesTurn sheets and dashboards into a sequence of story points with captions, and see that each point keeps its own filters.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
ProjectRegional sales dashboardBuild three sheets and an interactive dashboard for a regional sales review, step by step from a stakeholder brief.With a plan
Case studyThe support backlogUse calculations, filters and dates on help desk tickets to find what is really behind the backlog.With a plan
Interview setDashboards and calculationsEight interview questions on dashboards, actions, calculations and the order of operations, with two quick builds.With a plan
Practice setBike share and help desk dashboardsEight exercises on the bike share and help desk data: layouts, filter and highlight actions, filter cards and story points.With a plan

Advanced

Level of detail

Control the level of a calculation with FIXED, INCLUDE and EXCLUDE, and the order Tableau applies filters.

4 lessons
42LOD expressions with FIXEDCompute values per customer or per region whatever the view shows, and group by them.4 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
43INCLUDE and EXCLUDECompute at a finer level with INCLUDE, or ignore a dimension in the view with EXCLUDE.4 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
44Context filters and the order of operationsKnow the order Tableau applies filters and LODs, and use context filters to change it.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
Practice setLevel of detail on two datasetsEight tasks with FIXED, INCLUDE, EXCLUDE and context filters on orders and help desk tickets.With a plan

Advanced charts

Combination charts, bullet graphs, Gantt charts, box plots and Pareto charts, and when each one answers the question.

6 lessons
46Dual axis and combination chartsOverlay two measures, give each its own mark type, and decide when to synchronize axes.4 exercises · 10 minWith a plan
47Bullet graphsCompare actual values with a target per row, using Show Me or reference lines built by hand.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
48Gantt chartsDraw durations as bars that start at a date and run for a number of days, and handle items that haven't ended yet.4 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
49Box and whisker plotsShow the spread of values with box plots: the median, the middle half and the outliers, per category.4 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
50Pareto chartsCombine sorted bars with a running percent of total line to see how few members make up most of the total.5 exercises · 13 minWith a plan
Practice setAdvanced charts on two datasetsEight exercises on bike trips and help desk tickets: Pareto charts, box plots, bullet graphs, Gantt charts and a combination chart.With a plan

Maps and data sources

Map geographic fields, and combine tables with joins, relationships and blends.

7 lessons
52Filled mapsMap states from a geographic field, color them by a measure, and choose a measure that compares places fairly.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
53Symbol mapsPlace a circle on each city or state and size it by a measure, with a second measure on color.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
54Joins and unionsJoin tables on the Data Source page, pick the right join type, and spot when a join duplicates values.5 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
55RelationshipsRelate tables in the logical layer so each keeps its own level of detail, and compare sales with targets without duplicates.4 exercises · 12 minWith a plan
56Data blendingCombine a second data source with the first through linking fields, and read secondary fields shown as ATTR.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
57Extracts and data source filtersFilter a whole data source, switch between live and extract connections, and know where these filters sit in the order of operations.4 exercises · 11 minWith a plan
Practice setMaps, joins and relationshipsEight exercises that combine maps with joins, relationships, blends and data source filters.With a plan

Advanced interactivity

Parameter and set actions, show and hide, URL actions.

8 lessons
59Parameter actionsUse dashboard selections to pass field values into a parameter and control its clearing behavior.4 exercises · 17 minWith a plan
60Set actionsAssign, add or remove selected members from a set and define what clearing does.4 exercises · 17 minWith a plan
61Show/hide and URL actionsLet readers reveal optional dashboard content and open a contextual link from a mark.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan
ProjectCustomer portfolio dashboardBuild a portfolio dashboard with distinct customer counts, value per customer and a top-customer drilldown.With a plan
ProjectReturns investigation dashboardJoin return records without losing other orders, compare return shares, and connect a reason breakdown.With a plan
Case studyThe discount problemFollow the profit trail from one losing sub-category to the discounts behind it, and recommend a fix.With a plan
Interview setAdvanced analyst interviewsEight scenarios that test model grain, data preparation, analytics and safe publishing decisions.With a plan
Practice setInteractive operations dashboardsChoose and test action settings on fresh bike-share and support questions.With a plan

Expert

Expert analysis patterns

Cohorts, period comparisons, segmentation and polished formatting.

6 lessons
67Cohort retentionCompare repeat purchasing at the same time since each customer first ordered.4 exercises · 18 minWith a plan
68Year to date and prior periodCompare equal year-to-date windows and calculate growth without mixing periods.4 exercises · 18 minWith a plan
69Customer segmentationBuild customer segments at the customer grain and keep their counts distinct.4 exercises · 18 minWith a plan
70FormattingFormat numbers, panes and dashboards so readers can interpret the view without guessing.4 exercises · 14 minWith a plan
Case studyWhich customers come back?Build an annual cohort table, validate its denominator and recommend a fair retention review.With a plan
Practice setExpert patterns on fresh questionsApply customer and account analysis patterns to orders, bike trips and support tickets.With a plan

Capstone projects

End-to-end builds from a stakeholder brief.

4 lessons
ProjectHelp desk operations dashboardDeliver team backlog, resolution time and a volume trend without treating open tickets as zero-day resolutions.With a plan
ProjectExecutive dashboard and storyBuild a sales-and-profit dashboard, compare targets without duplicating them, and deliver a three-point story.With a plan
Case studyHotel cancellationsSeparate booking volume, cancellation rate and booked revenue, then choose a testable response.With a plan
Practice setDashboard delivery practiceEight fresh help desk and bike share tasks that review the dashboard handoff skills.With a plan

Exam and interview prep

Follow the evidence to a recommendation, and sit a timed mock exam in the style of the Desktop Specialist.

5 lessons
Mock examDesktop Specialist 1Twenty timed questions and builds in the style of the Tableau Desktop Specialist exam.With a plan
Mock examDesktop Specialist 2Thirty original timed questions covering preparation, field properties, analysis and sharing.With a plan
Mock examData AnalystTwenty-five timed scenarios covering Desktop, Prep and governed publishing concepts.With a plan
Interview setExpert analyst interviewsExplain eight difficult decisions about LOD filters, cohorts, time comparisons, actions and performance.With a plan
Practice setCertification review practiceEight new scenarios revisit source grain, calculations, dashboard behavior and publishing.With a plan

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