How to Merge Header Cells in Tableau
This guide covers how to merge header cells, a common challenge when moving Excel-based documents into Tableau.
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In Tableau, Dimensions are merged automatically based on their values, but there’s no feature to merge cells for measures, except by pivoting the data. This trick uses a Placeholder as a workaround.
Step-by-Step: Merging Header Cells
- Connect Placeholder data to your data source by following the provided guide.
How to Add a Placeholder to Your Tableau Data Source
This method explains how to connect Placeholder data, giving you more flexibility—similar to Excel—and enabling a broader range of visualizations.
- Create two calculated fields to use as headers.
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- Set the appropriate values for each header using the calculated fields.
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Since you can only apply one format per measure, if you need different formats, you'll need to split the measure and create separate calculated fields for each one.
- Place the calculated fields in the appropriate positions on the screen.
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