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Tableau | Data visualisation | Analytics

Explain data updates

Tableau 2020.3 lets you choose your Explain Data fields straight from the data source pane, before you analyse a single mark.

Tim Ngwena •12 August 2020 •1 min read •2 min watch •799

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In Tableau 2020.3 you can configure Explain Data fields from the data source pane before doing any analysis
Right-click the data source on the left, then select Choose Fields for Explain Data to open the field-selection interface
The interface is identical to the one previously found inside Explain Data, letting you tick or untick fields such as Profit
Unticked fields are excluded from the Explain Data analysis when you later run it on a mark

0:00In 2020.3, Tableau have continued to add

0:05enhancements to Explain Data.

0:08What you can now do is you can essentially

0:10bring up the fields that you want to use

0:12for

0:12Explain Data before actually going into the

0:14Explain Data interface.

0:16Let me show you how that works here in

0:17Tableau Desktop.

0:18So you can see here I've obviously got this

0:20map from the Superstore default work that

0:23comes with Tableau.

0:24And before you're used to going to this

0:26sort of light bar icon that I'm just

0:28signaling

0:29here on the screen, when you click on that,

0:31you obviously get the ability to work with

0:33Explain Data.

0:34Now this particular country hasn't loaded

0:38any sort of extraordinary sort of metrics

0:41for us to analyze.

0:42But the key thing is that in previous

0:43versions, they added the ability to choose

0:45the fields

0:46that are actually used for the analysis

0:48here.

0:48Check out my video on that in the links

0:51above.

0:51And now what you can do is you can actually

0:53get this interface directly from the data

0:56source pane before you even start doing any

0:59analysis.

1:00You simply do that by going over here to

1:02the left-hand side and then right-clicking

1:04on

1:05the data source in question, then going

1:07down to this option here, Choose Fields for

1:10Explain

1:10Data.

1:11And then when you click on that, you

1:13actually get the same interface that you

1:16got before

1:16when you're in Explain Data choosing the

1:18fields.

1:19And so here you can choose the fields that

1:21are actually used, tick, untick any

1:23particular

1:23field.

1:24So if I go into Profit here, click OK.

1:26And now if I go in here and do some Explain

1:29Data analysis, obviously, again, there's

1:32nothing

1:32extraordinary here.

1:33But I should see that Profit is unticked in

1:36this particular option.

1:37So you can see it's now unticked.

1:39And that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

1:42Be sure to check out my playlist on all the

1:44Explain Data updates over the last few

1:45releases.

1:46I've put them all into one playlist to make

1:48it really easy for you to see sort of all

1:50the small steps that they've been making

1:52over the last few, basically, year or so.

1:55And that's pretty much it.

1:56That's it for the new feature.

1:57If you've enjoyed this video, be sure to

1:59check some of the other videos in this

2:01playlist

2:01on 2020.3.

2:02And of course, subscribe to the channel and

2:05drop a like.

2:06Let us know what kind of content you'd like

2:07to see more of.

2:08If you didn't like the content, also let us

2:10know what we could do better.

2:11That's always valuable feedback.

2:12And thank you, everyone, for who does that

2:14on the channel.

2:15That's it.

Rollup

In Tableau 2020.3 you can pick which fields Explain Data uses before you ever run an analysis, by setting them up straight from the data source pane rather than diving into the Explain Data pane itself.

Previously you could only choose which fields Explain Data considered from inside the Explain Data interface itself, after running it on a mark. This shows the same field selection now available up front.

The Breakdown

Open Explain Data as normal 0:21

Click the lightbulb icon on a mark to bring up Explain Data, which analyses the selected data point using whichever fields are currently enabled.
Right-click the data source for the new option 1:00

Instead of configuring fields from inside Explain Data, right-click the data source in the left-hand pane and select Choose Fields for Explain Data. This must be done before you run the analysis if you want to pre-set which fields are included.
Tick or untick fields in the familiar interface 1:21

The dialog that opens is the same field-selection screen used previously inside Explain Data, so there's nothing new to learn — just tick or untick fields like Profit to include or exclude them.

Use It When

Reach for this when you already know certain fields shouldn't factor into Explain Data's analysis and want that set up once from the data pane, rather than adjusting it every time you open Explain Data on a mark.

How this Rollup was made provenance & method

A Rollup is drafted by AI from the video's transcript, then reviewed and edited by Tim. Everything used to produce this one is listed below — the model, the exact prompt, and the source video — so the process is transparent and reproducible.

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Prompt: The exact Rollup prompt (v2) — the full system prompt, unedited.
Source video: Watch on YouTube
Drafted: 5 July 2026 at 09:38
Reviewed & edited: 5 July 2026 at 09:41 · by Tim Ngwena

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