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Copying and Pasting Between Workbooks

When you are working with multiple workbooks, you may find that you are constantly setting up the same formatting, groups, and calculations in each one. Did you know that instead of creating these from scratch each time you can simply copy and paste between workbooks? In version 3.6 or later, you can copy and paste formatting as well as custom fields like ad-hoc groups, calculated fields, and sets.

Here's how it works.

Copying and Pasting Custom Fields

You can copy and paste custom fields between workbooks that use the same data source. For example, the workbooks below contain student performance data across several schools. The first workbook contains a grouped field that categorizes majors (e.g., Science Majors, Liberal Arts Majors, etc.). Instead of creating that group in every new workbook, simply copy and paste the grouped field from one workbook to another.

To copy and paste custom fields:

Right-click the field you want to copy in the Data window and select Copy.
In the workbook you want to paste the field into, right-click the Data window and select Paste.

Copying and Pasting Formatting

You can copy and paste formatting between any two worksheets within the same workbook or across workbooks even if they use different data sources. Formatting that applies to specific fields will only copy over if those fields exist in the new workbook.

To copy and paste formatting:

Select the worksheet that has the formatting you want to copy.
Select Edit > Copy Formatting.
Select the workshet you want to copy the formatting to.
Select Edit > Paste Formatting.

Copy and paste formatting between worksheets.

You can also copy and paste formatting using the worksheet tabs along the bottom of the workbook. Simply right-click the tab and select Copy. Then in the new workbook, you can select one or more worksheets to apply the formatting to. This is a really easy way to copy formatting to an entire workbook.

Copy and paste formatting between worksheets using the worksheet tabs.

Note:Copying and pasting formatting does not copy manual sizing, zoom settings, and default label orientation. Also, if you have formatting applied to individual reference lines and annotations, it will not be copied to the new worksheet.

To Learn More

Learn more about Copying and Pasting from Tableau by searching for Copy & Paste in the Tableau Online Help.
Contact Tableau Technical Support at: (206) 633 3400 x2.
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