---
schema_version: "1"
id: bdff1c49445f31b214f9678f0421ac131510531f1009b93b35bebf1040a52bbc
title: Start Page
collection: tableau
version: current
locale: en-gb
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/environment_startpage.md
canonical_url: https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/environment_startpage.htm
source_site: help.tableau.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 6a423e8a790237526aaab8e90f7ef135f8ea48d893831da338b64aeac97e65d5
description: "Understand the Tableau Desktop start page: Connect, Open, and Discover panes."
---
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# Start Page

The start page in Tableau Desktop is a central location from which you can do the following:

- Connect to your data
- Open your most recently used workbooks
- Discover and explore content produced by the Tableau community

The start page consists of three panes: Connect, Open, and Discover.

### Connect

Connect to data.

![Connect pane on the Tableau start page](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/environment_startpage_connect_pub.png)

On the Connect pane, you can do the following:

- **Connect to data:** Under To a File connect to data stored in Microsoft Excel files, text files, Access files, Tableau extract files, and statistical files, such as SAS, SPSS, and R. Under To a Server, connect to data stored in OData, Google Sheets or connect to data using the Web Data Connector. For more information about how to connect to Google Sheets, see [Google Drive](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/examples_googledrive.htm). For more information about the Web Data Connector, see [Web Data Connector 2.0](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/examples_web_data_connector.htm)

### Open

Click the Open from Tableau Public link to find workbooks you have saved to Tableau Public.