Tableau is one of the premier business intelligence and data analysis tools on the market today. Learn how to quickly and efficiently add totals and subtotals whether you need them for rows, columns or both. Tableau makes them easy to add to your report.
One of the best parts of Tableau is that there are usually multiple ways to achieve the same outcome, such as adding subtotals or grand totals. The annoying part of it is that the options can sometimes be buried in menus or in different locations or configuration panels.
We’ll explain how to handle the most common issues with Tableau Totals from adding, removing, and formatting them.
Let’s jump in!
Table of Contents
Adding Totals Using the Analytics Panel
In newer versions of Tableau the fastest way to add subtotals or grand totals is to drag and drop the Summarize Totals. When you click on the Summarize Totals button, it will let you drag and drop it into your visual.
When you click on the Analytics tab at the top left corner of the screen, you’ll see a list of options under the Summarize section. Drag and Drop the Totals selection and place it in your visual. Once the mouse goes over the visual you’ll be prompted where to add the Totals.
If you don’t have them already, there are options to add Subtotals or Grand Totals to row or columns.
This method is fast and efficient but becomes annoying when you drag and drop into the wrong location, or if you want to remove or change totals you have to go to the Analysis Menu anyway.
Adding Totals from the Analysis Menu
The subtotal and Grand Total options available in the Analysis drop down menu are much more robust than what’s available in the Analytics panel. Navigate to the top of Tableau’s worksheet view, and click on Analysis, Totals and the various subtotal and grand total options will be available.
The Analysis Menu has several many options above and beyond Totals, but the ones people will be most interested in are:
- Show Row Grand Totals
- Show Column Grand Totals
- Row Totals to Left
- Column Totals to Top
- Remove All Subtotals
- Total All Using – These are the different aggregation methods available, sum, average, min, max
If you’re looking for options related to adding totals and subtotals, they are more than likely in this menu.
Switching Totals from Bottom to Top or from Right to Left
Along with the ability to use the Analysis menu to change the location of grand totals and subtotals in Tableau, users can also right click on a visualization selecting the desired total and move it from bottom to top using the “Column Totals to Top” option.
The selection is dynamic based on whether you are working with column or row totals but the contextual menu will have an option to move right to left or bottom to top.
Quickly Remove Totals and Grand Totals in Tableau
Tableau lets you left click on Subtotals or Grand Totals in a visualization to see additional options. You can change the location from bottom to top, and you can also remove them in this way.
Totals and Grand Totals can also be removed using the Analysis dropdown menu. There’s even an option to remove all subtotals and grand totals at the time same time.
Changing the Formatting of Tableau Subtotals and Grand Totals
To adjust the formatting, font style, size, or color of subtotals or grand totals in Tableau, right click on one of the values in your visual and select Format from the menu. A format Font panel will appear on the left side of the screen.
At the bottom of the panel there are separate options to adjust the Total or Grand Total formatting separately.
There are numerous formatting options available and all of the common text formatting changes you could want are there. You can make totals bold, change their color, make the font bigger, italicized etc. It’s worth checking out, but keep in mind that a simple color scheme that has continuity across your dashboard will make things easier to read. Just because you can add a lot of custom formatting, doesn’t mean that you always should.
Once you finish making your updates you can click the X at the top right corner of the Format Font pane to close out of it.
Conclusion
There are multiple ways to work with totals in Tableau. The fastest is to use the Analytics Panel or various combinations of left clicking or right clicking on a visualization. You can remove totals by left clicking, and you can adjust formatting by right clicking on them. For a more robust set of options, navigate to the Analysis menu at the top of Tableau to add, remove, and make other adjustments to your totals as needed.