---
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title: Tableau Public FAQ
collection: tableau
version: current
locale: en-gb
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/tableau/current/en-gb/pro/desktop/public_faq.md
canonical_url: https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/public_faq.htm
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content_type: documentation
content_hash: b744907fc9e1df861abcb8adf8afda06d38c5eb2b438bf5fb8742f7e3076e35a
description: Frequently asked questions about Tableau Public, the free platform for Tableau's commuity.
---
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# Tableau Public FAQ

## What is Tableau Public?

Tableau Public is a free platform to explore, create and share data visualisations using publicly available data online. Visualisations (vizzes) that are published to Tableau Public can be embedded into web pages and blogs, shared via social media or email, and can be made available for download and exploration by other users. You can create vizzes using our free in-platform web authoring, the free Tableau Desktop Public Edition or by using Tableau Desktop Professional Edition. Click Create on Tableau Public to get started – no programming skills are required. To see some of the inspiring visualisations users create using Tableau Public, visit our [homepage](https://public.tableau.com/).

## Who is Tableau Public for?

Tableau Public is for anyone interested in understanding data and sharing those findings as data visualisations with the world. Journalists, writers, bloggers, state and local governments, non-profits, companies and more use Tableau Public to share data stories. Students, professors, analysts and hobbyists use Tableau Public for learning and inspiration. As soon as a workbook is published to Tableau Public, the viz is accessible by anyone on the internet (with some restrictions – see details below), so be sure to only use data that is suitable for a public audience. If you or your organisation wants to analyse non-public data, check out other available [Tableau products](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/products/tableau).

## Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions that aren't covered here, visit the [Tableau Community Forums](https://community.tableau.com/s/) or [Tableau Public Support](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/support/public).

#### Tableau Public Account Issues

[I didn't activate my account in the 48 hours following receipt of the email. Can I still activate it now?](#I)

[I forgot my password. How do I reset it?](#I2)

[How do I change the email address associated with my account?](#How)

[Help! I didn’t receive my activation email and/or password reset email.](#Help!)

[I’ve received notification that my Tableau.com and Tableau Public accounts have been integrated. What does this mean for my Tableau Public account?](#I%E2%80%99ve)

[What if I didn’t receive a verification email after the Tableau.com and Tableau Public account integration?](#What)

[What if I no longer have access to the email address that was linked to my Tableau or Tableau Public account?](#What2)

[What if I want to delete my Tableau Public account?](#What3)

[Will subscription offerings impact my Tableau Public profile?](#Will)

[How much storage space do I get?](#How2)

[Why does my session on Tableau Public keep expiring?](#Why)

#### Using Tableau Public

[How do I customise or edit my profile details, image or banner?](#How3)

[How do I customise how my vizzes are organised and displayed on my profile?](#How16)

[How do I share the visualisations I’ve saved to Tableau Public with others?](#How4)

[What are the different ways that I can sort or filter my search results on Tableau Public?](#What4)

[Can I prevent people from finding the visualisations I've saved to my Tableau Public profile?](#Can)

[Can my viz or the data behind my viz be downloaded by others? What’s the Download link on the viz?](#Can2)

[I’ve made a viz that I’m really proud of. How can I advertise it?](#I've)

[What is the Hire Me button?](#What5)

[How do I activate the Hire Me button on my profile?](#How5)

[What email address will my Hire Me enquiries go to?](#What6)

[How do I contact an author?](#How6)

[How can hiring managers find talent with Tableau skills?](#How7)

[How do I report inappropriate or spam user profiles and content?](#How8)

[Where can I see stats about my vizzes and profile?](#Where)

[Why don't I see any stats on my profile?](#Why2)

[Why did the view count for my viz decrease or reset to zero?](#Why3)

[Do I need to use Tableau Desktop Public Edition if I already have access to Professional Edition?](#Do)

[What types of devices can I use to author vizzes on the Tableau Public website?](#devices)

[Are Tableau Public vizzes responsive?](#Are)

[Are any plug-ins required to view a Tableau viz?](#Are2)

[How can I delete a viz from Tableau Public?](#How9)

[What happens if I delete a workbook from Tableau Public and there are links to it in blogs or other web locations?](#What7)

[How can I make my viz load faster?](#How10)

[How can I see what's new since I last visited Tableau Public?](#How11)

[I’m not able to view the thumbnails for certain vizzes. Is this a bug on Tableau Public?](#I%E2%80%99m)

[How can I make my Tableau Public viz more accessible?](#How12)

[What resources are available to help me create or enhance visualisations?](#What8)

[How can I add viz extensions to my Tableau Public visualisations?](#How13)

[How can I add dashboard extensions to my Tableau Public visualisations?](#How14)

[What are achievements on Tableau Public?](#achievements)

#### Data and Tableau Public

[What kind of data and connectors can I use?](#What9)

[Can I save to Tableau Public a workbook with a live connection to a data source?](#Can3)

[How is data from Google Sheets refreshed on Tableau Public?](#How15)

[Does Tableau Public support .tde files?](#Does)

#### Embedding Tableau Public

[I have my own blog or website. Can I embed my Tableau Public viz there?](#I3)

[What blog services is Tableau Public compatible with?](#What10)

[Where do I get the embed code for a viz from?](#Where2)

#### About Tableau Public

[What kind of technology is a Tableau viz?](#What11)

[What are the system requirements for Tableau Public?](#What12)

[What is the difference between Tableau Desktop Public Edition and Tableau Desktop Professional Edition?](#What13)

[Is Tableau Desktop (Public Edition) available for Mac?](#Is)

[Where do I check to see if Tableau Public is down?](#Where3)

#### About the Tableau Public Help Agent

[What is the Tableau Public Help Agent?](#help-agent1)

[Does the Help Agent use AI?](#help-agent2)

[Why does the Help Agent sometimes respond twice?](#help-agent3)

[Why do I see duplicate links?](#help-agent4)

[Can I use the Help Agent in my language?](#help-agent5)

[Are there limitations to the Help Agent?](#help-agent6)

## Tableau Public Account Issues

#### **I didn't activate my account in the 48 hours following receipt of the email. Can I still activate it now?**

Yes, you can still activate your account. Follow these steps:

1. Select **Forgot your password** and then enter your email address to get a reset password email.
2. Go to your email, open the “Tableau Software Account Activation” email and then select the **Activate Account** link. You’ll be redirected to your profile page.
3. Enter a new password and then re-enter it to confirm.
4. Select **Activate**.

#### **I forgot my password. How do I reset it?**

1. From the Sign In screen, select Forgot Password. Or go directly to the [Reset Password](https://id.tableau.com/resetPassword) page.
2. Enter your email address to get a reset password email.
3. Go to your email, open the “Password reset” email and select the link to reset your password. You’ll be redirected to your profile page.
4. Enter your new password, re-enter it to confirm and select Reset Password.

#### **How do I change the email address associated with my account?**

To change the email address associated with your Tableau Public account, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to [https://public.tableau.com/app/discover](https://public.tableau.com/app/discover).
2. Sign in to Tableau Public.
3. Select your profile icon.
4. Select **Settings**.
5. Select **Change Email**.
6. Enter the new email address you'd like to use.
7. Select **Change Email**.

If you’ve followed the steps above and are not given the option to change your Tableau Public email address, your email may be connected to a Tableau Cloud account. Submit the [Having a problem with your account?](https://id.tableau.com/help) form and indicate that you’re unable to change the email address you use to sign in to your Tableau Public account. Once a customer representative contacts you, they will do the following:

- Send an email to your old email address to see if someone responds or if it bounces.
- Request that you verify your identify by sending a scan of your ID or a utility bill from the new email address you'd like to use.

If you’re requesting a change to a corporate or institutional account, we will require you to send an email from the business domain and an image of your corporate credentials (e.g. work badge).

#### **Help! I didn’t receive my activation email and/or password reset email.**

For security reasons, we use an automatic service to send activation and password reset emails. If you don’t receive your email (and it’s not in your spam folder), it’s possible that it has been removed by a firewall filter. Try requesting your activation or password reset email again from a different device (for example, on your mobile phone instead of your laptop), and on a different network (for example, on your home Wi-Fi, instead of your work Wi-Fi). If you’re still having trouble accessing your account, contact public@tableau.com.

#### **I’ve received notification that my Tableau.com and Tableau Public accounts have been integrated. What does this mean for my Tableau Public account?**

All Tableau Public users can now access both Tableau.com and Tableau Public using a single user account. Check for a verification email sent to the email address you use to sign in to your Tableau Public account. If you already have a verified account, [sign in](https://identity.idp.tableau.com/login).

#### **What if I didn’t receive a verification email after the Tableau.com and Tableau Public account integration?**

If you didn’t receive a verification email and don’t have an existing Tableau account associated with the same email address, you can follow these steps to confirm your account:

1. [Reset your password](https://id.tableau.com/resetPassword).
2. Enter the email address you were previously using to log in to your Tableau Public account.
3. Look for the password reset email in your inbox.
4. Select the reset password URL.
5. Enter your new password.

Still have questions about your account? Contact public@tableau.com.

#### **What if I no longer have access to the email address that was linked to my Tableau or Tableau Public account?**

Follow the steps in the section [How do I change my email address associated with my account?](#How)

#### **What if I want to delete my Tableau Public account?**

You can delete your Tableau Public profile including your visualisations, favourites, follows and profile data directly from your account settings page.

1. Sign in to Tableau Public.
2. From your profile icon, select **Settings**.
3. Go to the **Delete Tableau Public Profile** section, and then select **Delete My Tableau Public Profile**.
4. Enter the email address associated with your Tableau Public profile, and then select **Delete**.

If you navigate back to Tableau Public in future after deleting your profile, a new blank account will be created that will be connected to your Tableau account. For more information about our privacy practices, see [Privacy Information](https://www.salesforce.com/company/legal).

#### **Will subscription offerings impact my Tableau Public profile?**

Subscription offerings will not affect your Tableau Public profile. If you currently pay for other Tableau products, contact your sales rep to learn how this impacts you. If you are curious about the new offerings, you can learn more on our [pricing page](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/pricing).

#### **How much storage space do I get?**

We provide ten gigabytes (10 GB) of storage space for your content.

#### **Why does my session on Tableau Public keep expiring?**

Tableau Public requires you to sign in frequently if you have not given consent for functional cookies. These are required to preserve your sign-in session. To configure your cookies on the Tableau Public site:

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the [homepage](https://public.tableau.com/) and select **Cookie Preferences**.
2. Select **Functional Cookies**.
3. Select the toggle to turn on functional cookies.
4. Select **Save Settings**.

[Back to Top](#Frequent)

## Using Tableau Public

#### **How do I customise or edit my profile details, image or banner?**

When you sign up for Tableau Public, an account profile is generated for you that includes the name you entered when creating the account. Once you've verified your email address, you can edit your profile to add details about yourself including a bio, your title, location and social media links. You can also upload a profile picture and customise your profile banner.

For all profile customisations, start by selecting your profile icon and then select **My Profile**.

- To edit your profile details, select **Edit Profile**. Make any applicable changes, and then select **Save**.
- To add or change a profile picture, hover over the existing picture (this will be a placeholder image if you haven't added one yet), and then select **Update profile picture**. Select a picture, adjust the cropping and then select **Save**.
- To customise the colour and style of your profile banner, select **Customise Banner** in the top-right corner of the banner. Choose a colour from the colour picker, select a pattern and then select **Save**.

#### How do I customise how my vizzes are organised and displayed on my profile?

Tableau Public users with 10 or more published visible vizzes can organise the vizzes on their profile page to be displayed in categories. You can let AI in Tableau suggest category names, or you can manually add your own custom category names.

The first time you select Organise Your Vizzes from your profile page, any vizzes published within the last two weeks appear in the Recent category. All other vizzes appear in the Other category.

From the Organise Your Vizzes page, you can choose to organise your vizzes into Categories or to list all of your vizzes together by Date Published. Select Save Organisation when you’ve finished making changes.

The Auto-Categorise button uses AI in Tableau to sort your vizzes into the available categories. When you select Auto-Categorise,

- if you haven't manually added any category names yet, AI in Tableau automatically generates category name suggestions and organises your vizzes into those categories.
- if you’ve manually added your own category names before selecting Auto-Categorise, your vizzes are sorted into your custom categories or the Other category.

**Note**: If you’ve already manually or automatically categorised your vizzes and you want AI in Tableau to suggest new category names, you must first delete all existing category names (except Recent and Other, which can't be deleted), and then select Auto-Categorise.

> [!WARNING]
> 
> Every time you select **Auto-Categorise**, any previous organisation (whether automated or manual) is reset, and AI in Tableau re-sorts all of your vizzes into the available categories.

**Manually add a new category name**

1. From the Organise Your Vizzes page, ensure that Organise by is set to Categories.
2. In the Categories text field, enter a category name and then select the enter key or the + icon.

**Note**: Category names can’t exceed six words.

**Rename a category**

Select the Actions drop-down menu for the category that you want to update and then select Rename. Enter a new name and then select Update. The Recent and Other categories can’t be renamed.

**Delete a category name**

Select the **x** icon on the category name. Or select the Actions drop-down menu for the category that you want to delete, and then select Delete. The Recent and Other categories can’t be deleted.

**Reorder categories**

Click and hold the dotted icon on the category name, and then drag and drop the category in the order you prefer. The Other category can’t be reordered.

**Add or remove vizzes for a specific category**

1. Select the Actions drop-down menu for the category that you want to update, and then select Add Vizzes. Or select the Add Vizzes button in the description of an empty category.
2. Tick the box for each viz that you want to add to the category.
3. Select Save.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> 
> Select Save Organisation on the Organise Your Vizzes page to save any changes you make to category names or how your vizzes are organised.

You can also manually change the categories that a viz appears in from an individual viz card. Select the More Actions (...) menu on a viz card, and then use the Viz Category drop-down to select and clear tick boxes for the available category names. Select Apply to save the changes.

**Notes**:  

- You can add a viz to multiple categories, but each viz must exist in at least one category. You can’t remove a viz from a category if that’s the only category the viz is assigned to.
- If you delete a category name, any vizzes in that category that aren’t also assigned to another category are automatically moved to the Other category.
- If you organise by category, any new vizzes that you publish are automatically added to the Recent category.

#### **How do I share the visualisations I’ve saved to Tableau Public with others?**

Once you [save your work to Tableau Public](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/publish_workbooks_tableaupublic.htm), you can share it by sending people the link to the visualisation’s homepage via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. To embed the viz in your own website, select the viz homepage, select Share and then copy the Embed Code.

#### **What are the different ways that I can sort or filter my search results on Tableau Public?**

When you search for vizzes or authors on Tableau Public, you can use sorting and filtering to surface results that matter to you.

For vizzes, you can sort by relevance, view count or published date.

- **Relevant** (Default): See vizzes that most closely match your search terms, that have been published recently and that have high view and favourite counts.
- **View count**: See results sorted by highest view count.
- **Recently published**: See results sorted by the initial published date.

You can also filter results to only see vizzes that can be downloaded or copied.

For authors, you can sort by relevance, number of followers or by recent activity.

- **Relevant** (Default): See authors that most closely match your search terms and that have a high follower count.
- **Follower count**: See results sorted by highest number of followers.
- **Recently active**: See results sorted by authors who have recently published a workbook or updated the metadata for an existing workbook.

You can also filter results to only see authors that are available for hire.

#### **Can I prevent people from finding the visualisations I've saved to my Tableau Public profile?**

Tableau Public is meant as a platform for sharing data visualisations on the web. However, you can hide vizzes on your profile. This feature can be handy when, for example, you want to save a draft of your work in progress. You can find all of your hidden vizzes on your profile page under the Hidden tab. Visitors to your profile page can’t see your hidden vizzes.

**Note**: Anyone who knows (or stumbles across) the URL for the viz can see it, so be sure not to use this service for data that isn’t meant for sharing.

#### **Can my viz or the data behind my viz be downloaded by others? What’s the Download link on the viz?**

By default, any Tableau Public viz as well as the underlying data can be downloaded by clicking the **Download** link in the lower-right corner of the viz. The workbook (TWBX file) can be opened by anyone with Tableau Desktop (Professional or Public Edition). You can toggle off the ability to download the workbook and the underlying data set in the viz settings. You can also set the default behaviour for new vizzes in your profile settings.

#### **I've made a viz that I'm really proud of. How can I advertise it?**

First of all, congratulations on building this viz! Start by checking out a guest blog post written by Ryan Sleeper on [Making Your Tableau Public Viz Go Viral](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/blog/5-tips-making-your-tableau-public-viz-go-viral).

We also welcome Viz of the Day submissions. To nominate a viz, select the viz that you want to nominate, and then select the **Nominate for Viz of the Day** button.

#### **What is the Hire Me button?**

The Hire Me button allows Tableau Public authors to indicate to the community they are available for hire and allows customers to see which authors are available. Customers can fill in a form to contact the author. The author will receive an email enquiry from the customer that they can choose to respond to.

#### **How do I activate the Hire Me button on my profile?**

1. Sign in to your Tableau Public account.
2. From your profile icon, Select **My Profile**.
3. Select **Edit Profile**.
4. Check the **Available for Hire** box.
5. Confirm your preferred contact email address.
6. Select **Save**.

#### **What email address will my Hire Me enquiries go to?**

All Hire Me email inquiries and responses will be delivered to the email address that you specified in your profile details.

#### **How do I contact an author?**

Authors who are available for hire can be identified by a Hire Me button on their profile. To contact an author:

1. From the author's profile page, select **Hire Me**.
2. Enter your message in the text field.
3. Select **Send**.

#### **How can hiring managers find talent with Tableau skills?**

You can share your listing on the [Job Listings Community Forum](https://community.tableau.com/s/group/0F94T000000gQaLSAU/job-listings).

#### **How do I report inappropriate or spam user profiles and content?**

You can report profiles and content on Tableau Public that don’t follow the [Tableau Public Data Policy](https://public.tableau.com/app/data-policy). This includes profiles and content that are spam, inappropriate or misleading, hateful or harassment, intellectual property infringement or a privacy violation.

1. On a user profile, select the ⋯ menu, then select Report User. Or, on the detailed view of a viz, from the viz toolbar, select the Report Viz icon.
2. Select the reason that you’re reporting the user or content. Under Additional Information, include details about how the profile or content violates the [Tableau Public Data Policy](https://public.tableau.com/app/data-policy).
3. Select Submit.

#### **Where can I see stats about my vizzes and profile?**

While signed in to Tableau Public, select your profile icon, then select My Profile. On the Vizzes tab, you see how many times each viz has been favourited, loved, marked as insightful and nominated for Viz of the Day.

To see how users have interacted with your vizzes and profile over the past 30 days, select the **Stats** tab. Each tab shows the percentage increase or decrease compared to the previous 30 days and a chart displaying the progression of the stat over time.

- Viewed: The number of views for all of your vizzes, along with your top 5 vizzes by views
- Favorited: The number of times that all of your vizzes were favourited, along with your top 5 vizzes by favorites
- Inspired: The number of times that other users indicated that your work was the inspiration for their work, along with your top 5 vizzes used as inspiration
- Followed: The number of followers you have on Tableau Public

#### **Why don't I see any stats on my profile?**

The stats tab provides insights when others view or favourite vizzes that you create, credit your vizzes as inspiration or follow you. If you don't see any stats on your profile, create and publish more visualisations for others to explore. You can create and publish vizzes for free using in-platform Web Authoring or by downloading Tableau Desktop Public Edition.

#### **Why did the view count for my viz decrease or reset to zero?**

A view count on Tableau Public represents the number of times your workbook is viewed, including views on the Tableau Public platform and on other websites where the viz is embedded. [Workbooks are composed of sheets](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/environ_workbooksandsheets.htm), which can be in the form of worksheets (also referred to as views), dashboards or stories. The view count for a viz on Tableau Public is counted at the sheet level (a worksheet, dashboard or story), and aggregated per workbook. So deleting or adding a sheet in a workbook will impact your total view count.

Events that decrease view count include:

- A worksheet, dashboard or story that has been viewed on Tableau Public or embedded in another site is removed from the workbook.
- A worksheet, dashboard or story that has been viewed on Tableau Public or embedded in another site is renamed.
- From Tableau Desktop, you save a workbook to your profile with the same name as an existing workbook and click Yes to overwrite an existing workbook when saving. This overwrites the existing workbook on your profile, which Tableau Public treats as a brand-new workbook with a view count of zero.

Events where view count will not decrease:

- From your browser, you edit an existing workbook on your profile without deleting or renaming any worksheets, dashboards or stories that have been viewed on Tableau Public or embedded in another site.
- From Tableau Desktop, you edit an existing workbook on your profile without deleting or renaming any worksheets, dashboards or stories that have been viewed on Tableau Public or embedded in another site.

#### **Do I need to use Tableau Desktop Public Edition if I already have access to Professional Edition?**

No, Tableau Desktop is available as part of a Creator licence. With Tableau Desktop Professional or Public Edition, you can save your workbook to the Tableau Public platform or save locally. However, you can’t save to Tableau Public with Tableau Desktop Free Edition. For information on how to publish a workbook to Tableau Public or save locally, see [Save Workbooks with Tableau Public](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/publish_workbooks_tableaupublic.htm).

#### **What types of devices can I use to author vizzes on the Tableau Public website?**

You can use a desktop or laptop computer to create or edit vizzes with web authoring. Mobile devices aren’t supported for web authoring.

#### **Are Tableau Public vizzes responsive?**

When embedding vizzes in your website, you can optimise them for use across different devices and screen sizes:

1. Set the dashboard size to automatic or range.
2. Build different dashboards of different sizes (e.g. a large one for desktop computers and a small one for mobile devices). Then, save the dashboards under different names and have your content management system (CMS) swap out the embed code according to the size of your browser or screen. You can also define different dashboard sizes and the respective content within the app before publishing the viz. You can then save your viz as normal and use a single embed code in your CMS. The Tableau Public server will serve up the dashboard that is most suitable for the size of the browser window.

#### **Are any plug-ins required to view a Tableau viz?**

No plug-ins are required. All you need is a web browser with JavaScript activated.

#### **How can I delete a viz from Tableau Public?**

To delete a viz from Tableau Public, go to your profile page, select the **More Actions** icon for the viz you want to delete and then select **Delete This Viz**.

#### **What happens if I delete a workbook from Tableau Public and there are links to it in blogs or other web locations?**

Once a workbook is deleted from Tableau Public, it can’t be retrieved from Tableau Public by anyone. All links or other references to it that may have been shared will not be able to load the viz and will display an error message on the page. This also applies to vizzes embedded in other websites.

#### **How can I make my viz load faster?**

To maximise the probability of fast load times and interactivity, take these steps and make any necessary modifications:

1. Simplify your data
    
    - Use only data relevant to analysis. Cut useless rows and columns, and use data source filters.
    - Aggregate data to the highest level of detail possible for the desired visualisation. For example, if a viz only shows data by year but your data source has records by day, then aggregate data in the source file to year.
    - Pre-build complex calculations into the data source as much as possible.
    - Normalise tables with relationships. If you have data with different levels of detail resulting in repeated values, split the data into separate tables and define a relationship between tables in the Tableau Desktop data source pane. More info on normalisation and relationships.
2. Limit the number of filters
    - Excessive filters on a view will create a more complex query, which takes longer to return results. Double-check your filters and remove any that aren’t necessary.
    - Use include filters. Exclude filters load the entire domain of a dimension, while include filters do not. An include filter runs much faster than an exclude filter, especially for dimensions with many members. Use continuous date filters. Continuous date filters (relative and range-of-date filters) can take advantage of the indexing properties in your database and are faster than discrete date filters.
    - Use Boolean or numeric filters. Computers process integers and Booleans (t/f) much faster than strings.
    - Use parameters and action filters. These reduce the query load (and work across data sources).
3. Minimise the number of marks (data points)
    - Similar to data aggregation, can the marks in the visualisation be grouped together in any way? For example, instead of showing the dollar amount of every single customer order in a bar chart, can they be grouped together into just product category or region?
4. Delete unused sheets, stories and dashboards

Here are additional resources to optimise your workbook for performance:

- [Optimise Workbook Performance](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/performance_tips.htm)
- [Make Visualisations Faster](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/perf_visualization.htm)
- [Streamline Your Workbook](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/wbo_streamline.htm)
- [Tableau Performance Optimisation](https://medium.com/@key2market/tableau-performance-optimization-2c8d4d53358) (on the Medium website)
- [Six tips to make your dashboards more performant](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/blog/6-tips-make-your-dashboards-more-performant)
- [Designing Efficient Workbooks](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/learn/whitepapers/designing-efficient-workbooks)

#### **How can I see what's new since I last visited Tableau Public?**

The Recent Activity channel helps you keep up with the latest updates from your network. See vizzes that have been published or favourited by authors that you follow since you last visited the site so you don't miss anything. Sign in to [Tableau Public](https://public.tableau.com/) to see your personalised Recent Activity channel on the homepage.

#### **I’m not able to view the thumbnails for certain vizzes. Is this a bug on Tableau Public?**

We’ve had reports from a few users that thumbnails for some vizzes are either blocked or don’t show up on Tableau Public. This is likely due to the use of an ad blocker on your browser. If you’re experiencing this issue, we recommend turning off the ad blocker and reloading the web page. To remedy this issue, you can allowlist public.tableau.com.

#### **How can I make my Tableau Public viz more accessible?**

To make your digital content accessible, it should follow the four Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

Here are three ways to make your viz more accessible to users using assistive technologies:

**Allow Access**

Enable the ability to **Let others download or make a copy of this viz** on Tableau Public. This is one of the most important things you can do for user accessibility. This step lets users access the View Data page, which has a table of data that assistive technologies, like screen readers, can read.

Select the **Settings** icon in the toolbar. Under **Allow Access**, switch the option to **Let others download or make a copy of this viz** to **on**.

**Add more text**

Provide descriptive text in titles, captions, headings, legends and filters to provide context to users who are using assistive technology. Think about your views as a supplement to the text you use to describe it.

Use these guidelines to adapt the visual nature of Tableau to meet the needs of all of your users.

- Use text in titles and captions to describe your visualisations and what you are showing.
- Use text in headings on legends or filters to describe the control and what it does.
- Add alternative text (alt text) to visualisations.
- Use simple, easy-to-understand language. Avoid jargon, acronyms or abbreviations.

**Use accessible colour and contrast**

Using colour on your viz helps distinguish marks in your view. However, for users with visual impairments, using colour alone doesn’t provide enough of a distinction.

Use these guidelines when using colour in your views:

- Use a colour palette with enough contrast and assign colours that differ from each other on the light-dark spectrum. Tableau provides a colour-blind palette that you can use to help you select suitable colours for your view.
- Use additional differentiators such as shapes, size and labels to distinguish line marks.
- Make sure that the colour contrast for text is strong and meets the contrast ratio standards of 4.5:1 (3:1 for large text). Use [contrast analyser](https://www.tpgi.com/color-contrast-checker/) tools to select the best text colours and backgrounds with sufficient contrast ratios.

#### **What resources are available to help me create or enhance visualisations?**

- [Tableau Exchange](https://exchange.tableau.com/) offers extensions that add new dashboard functionalities and viz types to your visual analysis for free. Use the filters to find dashboard and viz extensions that work with Tableau Public.
- Access [sample data sets](https://public.tableau.com/app/learn/sample-data) and data sources.
- Explore Tableau Public [community resources](https://public.tableau.com/app/learn/community-resources) to share your work, learn from others and participate in skill-based challenges.

#### **How can I add viz extensions to my Tableau Public visualisations?**

1. From your worksheet, expand the Mark type dropdown on the Marks card. Under Viz Extensions, select Add Extension.
    
    - To add a new extension, select Works with Tableau Public. Search for and select an extension and then select Open.
    - To add a .trex file you previously downloaded, select Access Local Viz Extensions.
2. Open the extension you want to use. For more information, see [Add Viz Extensions to your worksheet](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/viz_extensions.htm).

#### **How can I add dashboard extensions to my Tableau Public visualisations?**

From your dashboard sheet, drag Extension from the Objects section to the dashboard.

- To add a new extension, search for and select an extension, and then select Add to Dashboard. Verify that Works with Tableau Public is selected.
- To add a .trex file you previously downloaded, select Access Local Extensions. For more information, see [Use Dashboard Extensions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/dashboard_extensions.htm).

#### **What are achievements on Tableau Public?**

Achievements are awarded for having a Viz of the Day or for being a Tableau Ambassador, a Tableau Visionary or an Iron Viz finalist or winner. A user’s profile displays any achievements. To see details and associated vizzes for an achievement, select the achievement. An achievement must be from 2011 or later to appear on a user’s Tableau Public profile. If an achievement is missing from your Tableau Public profile, contact public@tableau.com.

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## Data and Tableau Public

#### **What kind of data and connectors can I use?**

Tableau Public supports data in a variety of formats, including Microsoft Excel, multiple text file formats and statistical files. You can also use connectors for Google Drive and OData. For information about connecting to data on Tableau Public, see [Creators: Connect to Data on the Web](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/creator_connect.htm#tableau-public).

If you don’t have your own data, the Tableau Public website has published data sources available for you to use to create vizzes. For more information, see the [Work with Published Data Sources on Tableau Public](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/public_pds.htm).

#### **Can I save to Tableau Public a workbook with a live connection to a data source?**

Tableau Public only supports extracted data sources and does not support live connections to data. However, authors have the option to allow Tableau Public to automatically refresh data sources connecting to Google Sheets every 24 hours. For all other data sources (for example, Excel or a CSV), automatic refresh on Tableau Public is not supported. For more information, see [How is data from Google Sheets refreshed on Tableau Public?](#How15)

#### **How is data from Google Sheets refreshed on Tableau Public?**

When you publish a workbook to Public, an extract of the data sources is created, including any data sources that connect to Google Sheets. Every 24 hours, Tableau Public will automatically refresh Google Sheets data sources, meaning any changes in the Google Sheet will be reflected in the data source of the connected workbook on Tableau Public. If your data source uses [relationships](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/relate_tables.htm), all logical tables must be a Google Sheets connection for the data source to automatically refresh. To help balance the load of refreshing the many workbooks and data sources connecting to Google Sheets, Tableau Public will automatically assign a workbook to one of three time frames when the refresh will occur daily. Although you can’t customise the refresh schedule to a different frequency or time-of-day, the author can initiate a refresh by clicking Request Update. Tableau Public will refresh the data source connecting to Google Sheets, and any changes will automatically be reflected in the workbook.

#### **Does Tableau Public support .tde files?**

2024.2 is the last version of Tableau Desktop that supports any .tde-based workbooks, data sources or bookmarks. Versions 2024.3 and beyond only support .hyper format. For more information, see [Extract Upgrade to .hyper Format](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/extracting_upgrade.htm).

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## Embedding Tableau Public

#### **I have my own blog or website. Can I embed my Tableau Public viz there?**

Yes. Once you have saved your data visualisation on Tableau Public, you can look up the [embed code](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/embed.htm#copy-the-embed-code) and use it in your own webpage or blog. Be sure you use the generated embed code and not just the URL of the visualisation’s homepage, so as to only embed the viz without the borders around it.

#### **What blog services is Tableau Public compatible with?**

- Blogger by Google (blogger.com)
- Typepad (typepad.com) – Make sure to edit your posts in HTML mode rather than Rich Text. Otherwise, the Tableau Public embed codes aren’t preserved.
- WordPress (wordpress.org) – WordPress is completely customisable and can be used for almost anything. Web host required.
- Squarespace (squarespace.com) – Make sure you use a code block.

#### **Where do I get the embed code for a viz from?**

You can get the embed code for any viz by clicking the **Share** icon in the viz footer.

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## About Tableau Public

#### **What kind of technology is a Tableau viz?**

A Tableau viz is essentially an AJAX-based JavaScript application.

#### **What are the system requirements for Tableau Public?**

For a complete list of specs and system requirements, see the [Tableau Public Technical Specifications](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/products/techspecs?_gl=1*1c1iitx*_ga*R0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjEuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuR0ExLjIuMTY3ODYzNzk4MC4xNjUwNjMzOTk4*_ga_8YLN0SNXVS*MTczNDk2MTAwNC40NjguMS4xNzM0OTY3NjM4LjAuMC4w&_ga=2.8539120.438975916.1734961010-GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.1.GA1.1.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.1.GA1.1.GA1.2.GA1.1.GA1.2.GA1.1.GA1.1.GA1.1.GA1.1.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.1.GA1.1.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.1.GA1.1.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.1.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.GA1.2.1678637980.1650633998&_gac=1.162121166.1731615356.CjwKCAiA3Na5BhAZEiwAzrfagHjFDqoZtLBX1ajgwHvvxnCqQ5v6yePz7d6E_qG_i-mIq8vEDyhD8BoCHuMQAvD_BwE#public) page.

#### **What is the difference between Tableau Desktop Public Edition and Tableau Desktop Professional Edition?**

When using Tableau Desktop Public Edition, note the following:

- Tableau Desktop Public Edition gives you the option to either share workbooks publicly to your Tableau Public profile or save workbooks locally. Workbooks and data published to your Tableau Public profile are not private and are freely accessible to anyone.
- Tableau Desktop Public Edition automatically saves your work for you every few minutes. This feature is turned on by default, but you can turn it off from the toolbar under Help > Settings and Performance > Enable Autosave.
- Tableau Public is limited to 15M rows of data per workbook. For more information about logic tables and data sources, see [The Tableau Data Model](https://help.tableau.com/current/server-linux/en-gb/datasource_datamodel.htm).
- You can’t connect to other servers such as Tableau Online or an Internal Tableau Server. You can only connect to Tableau Public.
- Data connectors are [limited](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/creator_connect.htm).

#### **Is Tableau Desktop (Public Edition) available for Mac?**

Yes! Check out our [download page](https://www.tableau.com/en-gb/products/public/download) for more details. Download the latest version and give it a try.

#### **Where do I check to see if Tableau Public is down?**

You can check the status of Tableau Public on the [Tableau Trust](https://trust.salesforce.com/) site.

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## About the Tableau Public Help Agent

#### **What is the Tableau Public Help Agent?**

The Help Agent answers questions about Tableau Public capabilities, community features and learning resources. To get started, select the agent icon in the bottom-right corner of a Tableau Public webpage.

#### **Does the Help Agent use AI?**

Yes, the Help Agent uses generative AI to answer your questions. For information about how generative AI works in Tableau, see [AI in Tableau and the Einstein Trust Layer](#).

#### **Why does the Help Agent sometimes respond twice?**

The Help Agent replies as soon as it finds something relevant. However, the Help Agent might revise its response. In that case, you’ll see a vertical bar ‘|’ and the word ‘revised’ after the message. Without the ability to revise its responses, the agent would take longer to respond, and we want the agent to be as fast as it can be.

#### **Why do I see duplicate links?**

This is a known issue. The Help Agent might occasionally include the same link more than once in a response.

#### **Can I use the Help Agent in my language?**

The Help Agent currently supports only English.

#### **Are there limitations to the Help Agent?**

The Help Agent can’t access your account, profile data or any other data on the Tableau Public website. The answers are limited to content found in the [official Tableau help documentation](https://help.tableau.com).

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