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Changing Sheets in Tableau Using Parameters

This post was originally published on The Data School blog between 2018 and July 2025, before our program was renamed to MIP’s Analytics Career Accelerator. References throughout this article to “The Data School” or “DS” all refer to what is now MIP’s Analytics Career Accelerator. The program, its people, and its commitment to launching outstanding analytics careers remain the same – just under a new name.

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Tableau provides many ways to use parameters to produce custom types of interaction on a dashboard. Parameters can even be used to hide/show sheets. There may be a variety of reasons you may want to use a parameter to switch between two sheets:

  1. There may not be enough space on your dashboard.
  2. A client may prefer data in a table format while charts may be clearer (Give them both options).
  3. You may want to have two similar sheets that hide/show to reveal a story using a parameter.

 

Tutorial

Here is how to use a parameter in Tableau to switch between two (or more) sheets in a dashboard.

The first step involves creating multiple sheets. In this tutorial, I used the superstore data to create a table and a line chart showing the same data in different formats. In the dashboard, I would like to only show one of these charts at a time and give the user the option to change between them using a parameter.

Superstore Data, Sales By Year and Month (Table)

Line Chart

Superstore Data, Sales By Year and Month (Line)

 

Next, start creating your dashboard. Create a vertical or horizontal container and drop in your sheets. The order won’t matter as one will always be visible and fill the entire container.

 

Then, create a parameter with “String” as the data type and list the name for each sheet as values. You can choose any name, but this name will be shown in your parameter drop down.

 

Next, create a calculated field and put in the parameter you just created.

 

For each sheet, show the parameter and select the correct name in the parameter for the sheet. Then drag the calculated field to filters and select the only option. Repeat this for every sheet you wish to show/hide.

 

Finally, return to the dashboard and hide the titles for each sheet on the dashboard and add the parameter to the dashboard.

 

If you wish to have a title for the sheets, add a “Text” object to the dashboard and insert the parameter value.

 

The result is a parameter that will let you show one sheet at a time based on the parameter selection. Check out the Tableau Public workbook here if you need help.

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