# Copy and Paste: New Tableau 2021.4

> 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:** 2021-12-06
- **Format:** Video · 8 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Tool strategy
- **Tools:** Tableau (cloud, dashboards, formatting)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/copy-and-paste-new-tableau-2021-4
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ5fC4CqoYg

I walk through the new copy and paste feature in Tableau 2021.4, showing how to duplicate dashboard items like text boxes and containers, copy objects across dashboards and between desktop and web edit. I also cover the many quirks and limitations you'll run into when using it.

## Key takeaways

- Copy and paste places items two pixels diagonally from the original when selected, or defaults to the top left when you deselect first
- You can copy objects across different dashboards and between desktop and web edit, ideal for logos, text, notes and images
- There's no snap-to-grid support, so floating layouts give you more control when positioning pasted items
- Pasted objects don't reliably retain their original width and height, especially when moving between desktop and web edit
- You can't copy sheets, sheet-dependent items like filters, parameters and legends, or any container that holds those items

## Chapters

- 0:00 Pasting text boxes on a dashboard
- 1:10 Copying styled containers
- 2:13 Copying across dashboards and web edit
- 3:54 Inconsistent dimensions bug
- 4:36 Limitations and what you can't copy
- 7:02 Confusing duplicate workflows

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/copy-and-paste-new-tableau-2021-4

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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