Tableau Desktop and Web Authoring Help

Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud let you control how views interact with data sources so you can keep data fresh and improve performance.

Refresh Data

If a data source is changed (for example, with new fields, field names, or data values), the view reflects those changes the next time you load the page. To manually update data while you interact with a view, such as performing several actions at once without updating between each one, click the refresh icon on the toolbar.

When you refresh data, Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud clear any cache and retrieve the latest information from the data source. If you're working with a complex view or a large data source, refreshing data can take a long time.

Pause Automatic Updates

As you interact with a view, the server sometimes has to query the data source to update the view. To temporarily stop updates so you can more quickly interact with a view, click the pause icon on the toolbar.

Click the resume icon to again automatically query the data source as needed.

Stop long-running actions

When an interaction takes a long time to load, a dialog appears that allows you to stop the action. If you stop, the viz goes into a suspended state similar to pausing automatic updates.

After stopping an action, you can choose to:

• Cancel the action and return to the previous state. To do so, use the Undo button in the toolbar.
• Allow the action to finish. To do so, use the Resume Auto Updates button in the toolbar.
• Continue working but without the viz updating. The behavior is the same as pausing automatic updates. When you're ready for the viz to update, use the Resume Auto Updates button in the toolbar.

When you do resume automatic updates, be aware it can take a while to complete the action.