# 20+ Windows Tableau Desktop shortcuts you should know.

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2020-09-13
- **Format:** Video · 15 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Productivity
- **Tools:** Tableau (calculated fields, dashboards, formatting, shortcuts)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/20-windows-tableau-desktop-shortcuts-you-should-know
- **Watch:** https://youtu.be/xRTzYyfSyDo

I walk Windows Tableau Desktop users through 20+ keyboard shortcuts, from opening new workbooks and worksheets to moving fields onto shelves, rotating charts, resizing table cells and nudging floating objects. I demonstrate each one live and point you to the official documentation for the full list.

## Key takeaways

- Control N opens a new workbook and Control M creates a new worksheet, while Control Tab and Control Shift Tab cycle forwards and backwards through sheets.
- Control F shifts focus to the data search pane mid-calculation, but only works when your cursor is outside the modal calculation window.
- Alt Shift plus a letter drops a selected field onto a shelf without the mouse: O for colour, L for detail, F for filter, and X/Y for the column and row axes.
- Control W rotates a chart 90 degrees and Control L flips column label orientation, though Control L fails if labels are set to custom rather than automatic.
- Holding Control with arrow keys resizes table cells, and Alt Shift Backspace clears a worksheet instantly.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Intro and documentation
- 0:48 New workbooks and worksheets
- 3:25 Sheet description with Control E
- 3:59 Search pane focus with Control F
- 6:23 Refreshing data and the data pane
- 7:17 Moving fields to shelves with Alt Shift
- 10:21 Rotating charts and labels
- 12:00 Clearing sheets and floating objects
- 13:38 Resizing table cells
- 14:50 Wrap-up and Server shortcuts

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/20-windows-tableau-desktop-shortcuts-you-should-know

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena