Select Background Maps
Tableau comes installed with a set of background maps that you can access to create map views.
By default, Tableau maps appear with a Light background layer provided by Mapbox maps.
The eight background maps that come installed with Tableau are described in this table.
| Background Map | Description |
|---|---|
| Light | A subtle map that puts the emphasis on the marks while providing geographic context. All areas without data appear in white or light grey. |
| Normal | A general-purpose map similar to Light. Land areas without data appear in white or light grey, and bodies of water appear in light blue. |
| Dark | A subtle map that puts the emphasis on marks while providing geographic context. The inverse of the Light map; areas without data appear in black or dark grey. |
| Streets | A general-purpose map that includes major road and transport networks. |
| Outdoors | A general-purpose map that includes terrain and natural features, including bodies of water and parks. |
| Satellite | A stylised map with global satellite imagery. |
| Offline | A map that you can use while not connected to the internet. This background map stores the images that make up the map in a cache on your machine for improved performance and offline access. For more information, see the offline maps section. |
| None | A visualisation that displays data between latitude and longitude on a viz type other than a map. |
Change your background map:
In Tableau select Map > Background Maps and then select the background map you want to use.
Change your default background map in Tableau Desktop (feature deprecated)
Note: Changing your default background map is a legacy feature that only works with WMS maps on Tableau Desktop. We don't recommend using this feature.
You can choose to set your default background map to a Web Map Service (WMS) or offline map. To learn more about using a WMS map, see Use Web Map Services (WMS) Servers.
To specify a default background map:
In Tableau Desktop, select Map > Background Maps > Add WMP Map… or Offline.
Select Map > Background Maps > Set as Default to set the selected background map to the default.
The background map is automatically saved as a Tableau Map Source (.tmsd) file and placed in the Mapsources folder of your My Tableau
Repository. It’s now the default background map for all new worksheets.
Use the Offline background map
You can create and inspect data in a map view offline using the offline background map that comes with Tableau Desktop.
To use the offline background map:
- In Tableau, select Map > Background Maps > Offline
Note: The offline background map uses map images stored on your machine. You can find these images in the following locations:
- On Windows:
C:\Program Files\Tableau\<Tableau Version>\Local\Maps - On Mac:
//Applications/<Tableau Version>.app/Contents/install/local/maps
There are several actions, however, that require Tableau to retrieve a map image that may not be stored. If the new map image isn’t stored on your machine, you won’t be able to load the map until you reconnect to the online map that comes with Tableau.
You may need to reconnect to the online map if you would like to do one or more of the following:
Turn layers on or off – if you decide to turn on a layer that isn’t stored in the cache, Tableau needs to connect to retrieve the necessary information.
Zoom in or out - zooming in or out on a map requires different map images. If the images at the specified zoom level don’t exist in the cache, Tableau needs to retrieve the updated maps.
Pan - panning sometimes requires new map images. If you’re working offline and don’t have the necessary map images and legends stored in the cache, the new images and legends won’t load.
To reconnect to the Tableau map:
- On Tableau Desktop, select Map > Background Maps > Tableau
Note: If you set a map to Offline and then publish the workbook, the published workbook will still use the Offline stored maps, with all of the functionality and limitations of Offline maps noted earlier.