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Tableau | Tool strategy | Productivity

Install multiple versions of Tableau (Windows): Tableau Quick Tip

Here's how to keep multiple versions of Tableau on your machine while making sure the right one opens your workbooks by default.

Tim Ngwena •11 June 2016 •1 min read •3 min watch •857

Saving a workbook in a newer Tableau version upgrades it and can lock you out of editing it in an older version, which matters if your Tableau Server hasn't been upgraded in line.
You can download any previous version of Tableau by searching for 'alternate download site Tableau' and keeping the installer files on your machine.
Running the installer for your preferred version and choosing 'repair' (not uninstall) re-edits the registry to make that version the default.
A new desktop shortcut confirms the repair process has finished and that version is now the default.
You can still open non-default versions manually to test betas, but take care not to save your workbook in an older version.

0:00Hey, Tim here. And today I'm going to be

0:02showing you how to install multiple

0:04versions of Tableau

0:05on your desktop. Now, one of the challenges

0:08of running, let's say, Tableau 9.3, and

0:10also

0:10testing the beta, or maybe in your

0:12organization, you're rolling out a newer

0:15version of Tableau,

0:16but you still need to keep the old version

0:19running, is that the default version is

0:21what

0:21opens your workbook. So I've just installed

0:24Tableau 10, the beta on my machine. And so

0:27when I double click an existing workbook

0:29that was edited in 9.3, Tableau 10 opens it

0:33. And

0:33I get this warning saying that when I save

0:35this workbook in Tableau 10, it's going to

0:37upgrade the workbook. Now, when you do this

0:40, you basically prevent yourself from

0:42editing

0:43it in the older version. And this can

0:46almost lock you out of that work. If let's

0:49say you

0:49haven't upgraded your Tableau server in

0:52line with Tableau 10. And so a way to avoid

0:56that

0:57is to basically reinstall the version that

1:00you'd like to be the default, again, and

1:03you

1:04can actually get the download files from

1:06the internet, if you just go to Google and

1:09type

1:10in alternate download site Tableau, it

1:12brings you to this page. And you have all

1:14previous

1:15versions of Tableau, you can download them.

1:18And then basically just keep these files

1:20somewhere

1:21on your machine. So I brought this file

1:23onto my desktop in this particular case,

1:25this is

1:26Tableau 9.3.2. And when I double click that

1:29and run the installation, I get this sort

1:32of different setup screen, it actually

1:35asked me if I want to modify my setup. And

1:37if I

1:37click repair, instead of uninstall, then it

1:40runs through the installation process.

1:43Again,

1:44it basically looks through all the files,

1:46and edits the registry for me to make 9.3.2

1:50the default version. And so if we just let

2:00this complete. And as you see, it's

2:05complete,

2:05it's put a new shortcut on my desktop. So

2:08that's how I know that that process is done

2:10.

2:10And now when I double click the workbook,

2:13it opens it by default in the version that

2:16I want to use day in day out for production

2:19. And that's really handy, because you can

2:22still

2:22partake in testing the beaters. And if you

2:25need to use the version that isn't your

2:28daily

2:29driver, then you can basically open that

2:32separately and then open your workbook

2:34manually, you

2:35still have to make sure that you don't save

2:38as an older version. But otherwise, that's

2:41it. It's a very neat way of making sure you

2:44can use two versions of tableau, maybe even

2:47more, but keeping one version as your

2:49default. That's it.

2:50Let's do it!

In this short video, I’ll show you how to install multiple versions of Tableau on the same desktop.