Tableau · Quick Reference

Lesson 1 — Introduction to Tableau & BI Cheat Sheet

Tableau

In one line: Before we touch Tableau, we need to understand the world it lives in. Business Intelligence (BI) is the process of collecting raw business data, transforming it into meaningful ...

Key Ideas

1What is Business Intelligence?. Before we touch Tableau, we need to understand the world it lives in. Business Intelligence (BI) is the process of collecting raw business data, transforming it into m...

2What is Tableau?. Tableau is the world's leading data visualization and business intelligence platform. Founded in 2003 and acquired by Salesforce in 2019, Tableau is used by over 1 mil...

3The Tableau Product Ecosystem. Tableau is not a single tool — it's a family of products that cover the entire BI pipeline, from data preparation to publishing. Understanding each product helps you k...

4Installing Tableau Desktop. Let's get Tableau set up on your machine. The process takes about 5–10 minutes. Tableau runs on both Windows and macOS — the interface is identical on both platforms.

5First Look: The Tableau Interface. When you open Tableau Desktop for the first time, you'll see the Start Page. This is your home base for opening workbooks and connecting to data. Let's break down what...