Setting Tableau Permissions at the Project, Content and Publishing Level

According to Statista, the global average cost of a data breach rose to $4.88 million in 2024, up from $4.45 million in 2023. With the rising costs of data breaches, businesses are more focused than ever on securing their data.

This is where Tableau plays a crucial role. The software allows businesses to connect, analyze, and share their data through interactive dashboards and reports.Not everyone in a company needs or should access every report, which is why Tableau’s user permissions are essential. These permissions control who can view, edit, and share content, helping to secure sensitive information while allowing teams to collaborate effectively. In this guide, we’ll break down how permissions work on the project, publishing, and content levels, and how to set them up for smooth, secure data sharing.

What You’ll Learn in This Guide

• Understanding Tableau Permissions: Overview of how permissions control access to data and content.
• Permission Levels: Explains permissions at the project, content, and publishing levels.
• Saving, Overwriting, and Saving a Copy: Details on the permissions needed for these actions.
• Best Practices for Managing Permissions: Tips for ensuring efficient permission management and avoiding common pitfalls.
• Advanced Scheduling with ATRS: Overview of ATRS capabilities for advanced scheduling and automation of Tableau reports.

Working With Tableau Data and Workbooks

With Tableau, users can connect their data sources and create visualizations to uncover trends, spot outliers, and make predictions. The platform integrates with Salesforce’s Einstein AI, adding advanced analytics to its tools.

For years, Tableau was known for its simple drag-and-drop interface, making it a favorite for data visualization. Today, with expanded data management and Tableau access levels, it has become a powerful tool for IT teams as well.

Tableau workbooks for example, are like Excel files that help users visualize and analyze data for informed decisions. They contain sheets, which can be:

• Dashboards– A collection of visualizations.
• Worksheets– Individual charts or tables.
• Stories– A sequence of visualizations that tell a data-driven story.

Users can create, delete, duplicate, or hide sheets as needed.

Tableau user permissions control who can view, edit, or share workbooks and other content. If a user doesn’t have access to a project or report, they can request permission from the owner. This helps businesses protect sensitive data while allowing teams to collaborate efficiently.

Tableau User Permissions

Permission rules in Tableau are applied at different levels:

• Project Level– Sets default permissions for all content within a project.
• Content Level– Allows specific workbooks, views, or data sources to have unique permissions.
• Publishing from Tableau Desktop– Users can define permissions when uploading new content.

This flexibility ensures businesses can control data access based on team roles and security needs. Here are the steps you must take to set permissions in each:

Setting Project Permissions

Projects in Tableau help organize content and control access. Instead of depending only on administrators, businesses can assign management rights to specific users. This allows teams to organize, share and secure content within their projects.

Follow these steps to set project permissions:

Open Project Permissions

• Navigate to the project.
• Click the Actions menu (...)and select Permissions.
• The permissions dialog will open, showing permission rules at the top and an effective permissions grid Each content type (e.g., Workbooks) has its own tab.

Review Current Permissions

• Select a row at the top to see the corresponding effective permissions grid below.
• Hover over a capability to see why it is allowed or denied for a specific user.

Modify Existing Permissions

• Select the correct tab for the content type.
• Click on a capability to change its status.

Create a New Group or Rule

• Click + Add Group/User Rule and search for a user or group.
• Choose a predefined template from the dropdown or set custom permissions by clicking the capabilities.
• One click = Allowed, two clicks = Denied, three clicks = Unspecified.

Save Changes

• Click Save to apply changes.
• If using the "None" template, the button will show "Delete Rule" instead.

This way you can ensure only authorized individuals can access and edit content, keeping critical data secure.

Publishing Permissions

When you publish in Tableau you share data visualizations, dashboards, or workbooks on a server or online platform. Once published, others can access the data sources and use them to create their own analyses.

Follow these steps to set publishing permissions:

• In the publishing window, click "Edit" beside the summary of your current settings.
• In the window that pops up, assign specific permissions or a role by choosing an existing user or group, then click "Edit" or "Add." Make the necessary changes in the Add/Edit Permissions window. Click "Apply" to save and keep making changes, or click "OK" to close the window.
• To remove a permission, select the user or group and click "Remove."

Content Level Permissions

In Tableau, "content" means any visual analysis created, like dashboards, worksheets, data sources, and workbooks. It’s the visual result of data analysis shared within Tableau.

If project asset permissions are customizable, you can change permissions for specific assets. This doesn’t apply to assets in locked projects.

Follow these step to set content level Tableau permissions:

• Go to the asset (like a workbook, data source, or flow).
• Click the Actions menu (…) and select "Permissions."

The permissions dialog will open. It has two sections: permission rules at the top and the effective permissions grid below. (Note: There are no tabs in this dialog.)

• When you select a row at the top, the effective permissions grid will update. Use this to check the permissions. Hover over a square to see why a permission is allowed or denied for that user.
• To change an existing permission, click on a capability.
• To add a new rule, click "+ Add Group/User Rule", then search for a user or group. Choose a template or create a custom rule by clicking the capabilities. One click sets a capability to "Allowed," two clicks sets it to "Denied," and three clicks removes the selection (Unspecified).
• Click Save when done.
• If the "None" template is selected, the button will say "Delete Rule."

Saving, Publishing, and Overwriting

Saving is the same as publishing. The permission to "Overwrite" and "Save a Copy" can only be given to users with roles that allow publishing, such as Administrator, Creator, or Explorer (can publish). Users with Explorer or Viewer roles can’t publish, overwrite, or save a copy.

• "Publish" allows a user to add content to a project.
• "Overwrite" lets a user replace existing content. When this happens, the user becomes the new owner. It also allows minor edits to existing content, like changing a metric description or updating synonyms for a data role, without changing ownership.
• "Save a Copy" lets a user create a new copy of content, typically when editing online. This option saves the user’s changes.

A user cannot "Save" or "Save As" unless they have the "Publish" permission for at least one project, because content must be published into a project.

In web editing, the "Save" option in the File menu only appears for the content owner. If someone else has "Overwrite" permission, they must use "File > Save As" and rename the workbook to overwrite the original content. A user with only the "Save a Copy" permission will see an error if they try to use the same name, as they can't overwrite the content.

If a user without ownership overwrites content, they become the new owner and gain full permissions. The original owner’s access is now based on their user permissions, not ownership.

Best Practices for Managing Permissions in Tableau

Understand how permissions work to ensure your content is managed and shared properly. Here are some key considerations:

Learn Your Organization’s Practices

Consult with your Tableau administrator to understand your organization’s permission guidelines. In many cases, administrators lock permissions at the project level, which means you won’t be able to set custom permissions for your content. Even if you set permissions during publishing, the server administrator may modify them later.

Reduce Management Tasks

Setting unique permissions for content can create additional management tasks. It’s important to track which content has custom permissions and understand which exceptions apply to each.

Publish Quickly by Accepting Default Permissions Settings

Save time by accepting the default permissions when publishing. If needed, you or your administrator can later update permissions or Tableau access levels on the server.

Get Advanced Scheduling and Automation for Tableau with ATRS

Advanced Tableau Report Scheduler (ATRS) takes Tableau’s native capabilities to the next level by offering advanced scheduling and distribution features. With ATRS, you can easily schedule Tableau report exports at specific times or set up recurring schedules—whether hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. Plus, the tool offers flexibility with custom scheduling options like 4-4-5 or every other day.

But that’s not all—ATRS also enables event and trigger-based scheduling, meaning reports can be triggered automatically based on specific conditions. Whether it's when a database record is updated, when data is received, or when an unread email appears in a folder, ATRS makes automating your Tableau reports easier than ever.

Ready to take your Tableau workflows to the next level? Start using ATRS today to unlock powerful scheduling and distribution features that make reporting more efficient and streamlined.