The goal of this course is to help you build real, hands-on skills for getting your data clean, organized, and ready to use in reports and dashboards. By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Connect to different types of data sources, including spreadsheets, databases, and PDFs, and manage those connections with ease.
• Clean messy data by removing extra fields, fixing data types, grouping similar values, and handling missing or unexpected entries.
• Combine data using joins and unions, and troubleshoot common issues when working with multiple tables.
• Apply filters, rename fields, and create calculated fields to shape your data in ways that support better reporting.
• Use Tableau Prep tools like the Profile Pane, Clean Step, and Data Interpreter to explore and organize your data visually.
• Build, save, and reuse data flows that make it easy to keep your data clean and up to date for your team.

Need different skills or topics? If your team requires different topics or tools, additional skills or custom approach, this course may be further adjusted to accommodate. We offer additional Tableau, reporting, data analytics, visualization and other related topics that may be blended with this course for a track that best suits your needs.  

This introductory-level course is designed for beginners who are new to Tableau Prep and want to learn how to prepare and clean data for reporting or dashboards. It is a great fit for analysts, business professionals, operations staff, and anyone who works with data and wants to make it more usable and accurate. You do not need any experience with Tableau Prep, but it helps to be familiar with basic data concepts like tables and fields.

Please note that this list of topics is based on our standard course offering, evolved from typical industry uses and trends. We will work with you to tune this course and level of coverage to target the skills you need most. Course agenda, topics and labs are subject to adjust during live delivery in response to student skill level, interests and participation.  

Exploring Tableau Prep

• Understanding Tableau Products
• Tableau User Roles
• What is Tableau Prep?
• The Start Page
• Opening an Existing Flow
• Tableau Prep Workspace
• Visual Dictionary
• Basic Steps of Data Preparation

Connecting to Data

• Connecting to Data
• Types of Data Sources
• Adding a Connection
• Initial SQL
• Accessing Data in PDFs
• The Input Pane
• The Data Interpreter
• Key for the Data Interpreter
• Editing or Removing a Connection
• Replacing a Data Connection
• Starting a New Flow
• Saving a Flow

The Input Step

• What is the Input Step?
• Input Step Cleaning
• Hiding Fields
• Removing Unwanted Fields
• Filtering
• Renaming Fields
• Changing Data Types
• Including Row Numbers
• Changes Tab
• Settings Tab
• Data Sample Tab
• Sampling Methods
• Tables Tab
• Union Multiple Tables
• Understanding Linked Keys and Joining Data
• Refreshing Data

Examining the Data

• Understanding Steps
• Step Types
• Adding or Inserting Steps
• Adding a Clean Step
• The Profile Pane
• The Toolbar
• Size and Value Details
• Nulls, Outliers, and Unexpected Values
• Distribution of Values or Unique Values
• Searching for Fields and Values
• Editing, Sorting, and Filtering Values
• Reordering Fields (Moving Profile Cards)
• Highlighting
• Changing Data Types
• Using and Adding Data Roles
• Basics of Data Preparation

Cleaning (Clean Step)

• Adding a Clean Step
• Using Smart Recommendations
• Applying Cleaning Operations
• Cleaning Options
• Quick Cleaning Operations: Strings
• Quick Cleaning Operations: Dates
• Viewing Your Changes
• Order of Operations
• Renaming Fields in Bulk
• Merging Fields
• Grouping Values
• Mapping Multiple Values to a Single Selected Field
• Creating a Group by Selecting Multiple Values
• Adding Values Not in the Group
• Using Fuzzy Match
• Pausing Updates

Integration (Join and Union Steps)

• Combining Data
• Union
• Join
• Join Types
• Joining Tables
• Common Join Issues

Transformation

• Filtering Methods
• The Aggregate Step
• Aggregating or Grouping Data
• The Pivot Step and Calculated Fields
• Pivoting Data
• The Pivot Step
• Pivoting Columns to Rows
• Pivoting Rows to Columns
• Calculated Fields
• Calculating Level of Detail
• Using Calculation Editor and Visual Calculation Editor
• Calculating Rank or Row Number
• Ranking Information
• Creating a Rank Calculation
• Tile Calculations
• Using Multi-Row Calculations
• New Rows Step
• Using Parameters in Flows
• Creating a Parameter
• Using a Parameter

The Output Step

• Saving or Packaging Flows
• Viewing Flow Output in Tableau Desktop
• Understanding .hyper
• The Output Step
• Creating Extracts
• Saving to External Databases
• Creating Published Data Sources
• Refreshing Data
• Reusable Flow Steps

Organizing the Flow

• Reorganizing the Flow Layout
• Moving Steps
• Grouping Steps
• Removing Steps
• Adding Descriptions to Flow Steps and Change Entries
• Using Flow Navigator