Video |

Tableau | Data visualisation | Productivity

Workbook optimiser will now clean up for you! New in Tableau 2022.4

The workbook optimizer can now clean up for you with a single click, and it's the most important change they've ever made to it.

Tim Ngwena •16 January 2023 •1 min read •3 min watch •2.7K

Part ofWhat's new in Tableau 2022.4

Watch on YouTube

The 2022.4 workbook optimizer lets you take action on suggestions immediately rather than just reading them
You can ignore a flagged check to move it into the passed set, but this is a workbook-dependent setting you must repeat per workbook
Clicking the gear icon on a suggestion applies the fix automatically, for example hiding unused fields
The optimizer only checks the specific items listed on Tableau's documentation page, so anything not listed is not being checked

0:00In 22.4 Tableau continues to enhance the

0:02workbook optimizer by making the most

0:05important change I

0:06think they've ever made that is allowing

0:08you to take action on the suggestions

0:10straight away.

0:11Let's find out how and let's get started.

0:13So here we are inside of a workbook. I've

0:15literally just

0:16opened the sample workbook that you get

0:18with Tableau, the bottom left option when

0:20you open

0:20up Tableau. Let's go ahead and select

0:22server and you'll see the second option

0:24here is to run the

0:24optimizer. When we do that we get 14 that

0:28pass and six that need action. Now the

0:31first one is

0:32actually a red alert item and when I expand

0:34that you'll see it says unused fields. So

0:36when I open

0:37that up in 22.4 you can actually take

0:39action here straight away and you get two

0:42options. You can

0:43either tell it to ignore these fields

0:44because you want to keep that in and then

0:46it will move that

0:47check out of the list. So if I go ahead and

0:49do that you'll see that it says our unused

0:51fields

0:51won't be considered and it actually moves

0:54it down to the past set. So now that

0:56particular test will

0:58move down and that's it. Now this is a work

1:00book dependent setting so you'll have to do

1:01this for

1:02every workbook where you want that test to

1:04be the case but in essence you can go ahead

1:06and just

1:07leave that there and now that will always

1:10pass. Now if I go here to rerun optimizer

1:12you'll see

1:12that it doesn't come back up because it's

1:14essentially just remembering that setting

1:16that we've had. Let's go ahead and close

1:18this. Let's open up the sample workbook

1:20again and this

1:21time I want to show you what it does when

1:23you take action. It essentially does what

1:25it says on the

1:26tin. It will go ahead and do that

1:27particular action for you. Let's go ahead

1:29to server,

1:30run optimizer, you'll see it opens up again

1:32. This time this is a new workbook, it's not

1:34remembered

1:34the setting that we set up before. We'll go

1:37ahead to unused field. This time I can

1:39actually click on

1:39this gear icon and it will go ahead and un-

1:42remove, un-remove. It will go ahead and

1:45remove those

1:46unused fields and it will now move that

1:48down here to the past section. You can see

1:50unused fields

1:51has been hidden so that's ready to go. So

1:52now when I close this, go to my workbook,

1:55everything is

1:55golden. So that's it, that's the simplest

1:57shortest video I've ever done in a feature

2:00because it's

2:00that simple and it's that easy to do. That

2:02said you have to be aware that then not

2:04everything is

2:05being checked by the workbook optimizer.

2:07The workbook optimizer is checking very

2:08specific

2:09things. If I move my face to the left here

2:11you'll see that it has these options here

2:13on the right

2:13hand side. I'll put a link to this page in

2:15the description and what you have to assume

2:17is that

2:18if it's not mentioned here Tableau is not

2:20checking it. So for example if it's not

2:22mentioning the data

2:23model in here it's also not checking on the

2:25data model and so as Tableau keep adding

2:27these things

2:28in obviously the feature will get better

2:30but if there are optimizations that you've

2:32found in

2:32another guide somewhere else telling you

2:34about best practice and you don't see it in

2:36this list

2:36just assume it's not checking that

2:38particular thing. That's pretty much it for

2:39this video.

2:40Hopefully you've seen the other videos on

2:4222.4 specifically image roles. That is an

2:45amazing

2:45capability that we finally have in Tableau.

2:48Please check that out. I think it's a

2:49really

2:50important video if you use Tableau. That's

2:51it. Thanks for watching. I'll catch you in

2:53the next one.

2:54you

2:54you

2:59[ Silence ]

Rollup

Tableau 2022.4's workbook optimizer moved from just flagging issues to letting you act on its suggestions directly, so you can dismiss or fix problems without leaving the optimizer panel.

Tim opens a standard sample workbook and runs the built-in workbook optimizer from the Server menu to check its passed and flagged items.

The Breakdown

Run the optimizer 0:20

From the Server menu, run the optimizer to see a split of checks that pass and checks that need action, each with a severity level (e.g. a red alert for unused fields).
Ignore a flagged check if you want to keep it as is 0:42

On a flagged item you can choose to ignore it, telling Tableau you're happy with that state; the check then moves into the passed set and won't flag again on that workbook.
Ignoring is workbook-specific 1:00

This ignore setting is remembered per workbook only, so if you want the same check silenced elsewhere you have to repeat the action in each workbook individually.
Apply the suggested fix with one click 1:20

Instead of ignoring, you can click the gear icon on a flagged item to have Tableau actually perform the fix for you — for example automatically hiding unused fields — after which it moves into the passed section.
The optimizer only checks what's listed 2:00

The optimizer only evaluates the specific items documented on Tableau's own checklist page; if something isn't on that list (such as data model best practices), assume it isn't being checked at all, even if other best-practice guides mention it.

Worth Knowing

Ignoring a check is workbook-dependent, so it doesn't carry over to other workbooks — you'll need to set it again each time.
The optimizer's scope is limited to its published checklist; best practices from other sources that aren't on that list won't be flagged even if they apply.

Use It When

Reach for this when you're tidying up a workbook before publishing or handing it off and want quick, one-click fixes for common issues like unused fields, rather than manually hunting them down.

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.

Transcription: On-device — NVIDIA Parakeet v3 for recent videos, OpenAI Whisper large-v3 for earlier ones. The transcript never leaves the machine or gets published.
Drafting: Claude Sonnet 5 in the cloud, from that transcript.
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

Model + prompt + video is everything you'd need to recreate a Rollup like this yourself. The one thing we don't share is the transcript.

Rights. The video and its transcript are the property of TN Media Ltd. Unauthorised use or download is prohibited. © TN Media Ltd.