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Combining Sheet Links and Dashboards

You probably have discovered how useful hyperlinks can be in Tableau. You can use URL links to connect views of data to external resources such as maps, customer data, and more. Moreover, you can use sheet links to connect multiple Tableau worksheets into an analytical flow.

However, you may not have realized that you can combine sheet links with dashboards to drill down and see more details across the multiple views in a dashboard.

Here's how it works.

Unlike URL links that link to external resources, sheet links send information to other Tableau worksheets. For example, below are two views from the same workbook. The scatter plot on the left (Sheet 1) shows the relationship between square footage and price of houses sold in a specific area. That view is linked to the map view on the right (Sheet 2). For any selected house in the scatter plot, you can see other houses on the map that are comparable to it.

Following the sheet link automatically jumps you from one worksheet to the next.
Two views that are linked together using sheet links.
Now let's look at these same views, but this time within the context of a dashboard. The dashboard below has three views: the scatter plot and the map from the example above along with a map of the 911 responses in the surrounding area. This last view was created using a different data source than the others.
Three views in a dashboard.
This time, when you follow the sheet link, the views are updated directly in the dashboard as shown below.
When you follow a sheet link in a dashboard, the views are updated directly in the dashboard.
As you explore you can continue to drill into more information because all of the views have been connected using sheet links. In this example, after looking at comparable houses, you may want to see the nearby 911 responses.
Drill into more information using sheet links.
Notice that sheet links can even filter across different data sources. The 911 view uses a completely different data source than the other two views.

To add a sheet link:

Select Data > Hyperlinks. Then click the Add Sheet Link button.
Select Data > Hyperlinks to add a sheet link.
 

To Learn More

  • Learn more about Sheet Links by searching for Sheet Links in the Tableau Online Help.
  • Contact Tableau Technical Support at: (206) 633 3400 x513
  • Learn this trick and many more at the Tips and Tricks index. Don't forget to bookmark it.