One of the first things you need to learn in Tableau is how to save your dashboard — whether it’s finished or still in progress.
When you click Save, you’ll immediately see two options:
Save as .twb or Save as .twbx.
Let’s start with the explanation of .twbx.
.twbx – Tableau Packaged Workbook
The Most Popular Option
This format saves your entire work: the Tableau workbook plus all the data sources included.
It’s super convenient because you can be sure anyone who opens the file will see your dashboard exactly as you intended.
Small disadvantage: the file size can be a bit large
.twb – Tableau Workbook
Lightweight but Not for Every Situation
This format saves only your dashboard structure, without the actual data.
That gives it one big advantage – it’s very lightweight.
However, there’s also one big disadvantage – if someone doesn’t have access to the original data source, they’ll see nothing when they open the file.
You might also come across .tds (Tableau Data Source) and .tdsx (Packaged Tableau Data Source) files. However, they’re not as popular anymore, since most people now work with cloud-based published data sources.
The more we move to the cloud, the less useful these local files become.
So for beginners (like me), it’s enough to just know they exist 😊— no need to dive deep into them right away.
My Small Tip at the End
• Use .twbx when you need to send your dashboard to others or present it without connection issues.
• Use .twb for personal or internal projects, where the data source is always available.
And please — don’t forget to back up your dashboard during your work!
Photo by Aaron Torres on Unsplash