What are Tableau versions?
Tableau versions represent different software releases of Tableau products. Each release contains a set of new features, bug fixes, enhancements to the existing features, or other improvements to the Tableau products. Tableau regularly releases upgrades to its products, which fall into two categories: new releases and maintenance releases. The new releases focus on introducing new features, enhancements, and bug fixes. In contrast, the maintenance releases primarily focus on resolving any existing issues and hence provide stabilization to the existing products.
Access the respective products to learn more about the latest Tableau version. Below is a sample Tableau Desktop version.
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Key Takeaways
- Tableau versions represent different software releases of Tableau products that contain new features, bug fixes, enhancements to existing features, or other improvements to the products.
- Tableau regularly releases upgrades to their products, which fall into two categories, i.e., new releases and maintenance releases.
- Tableau provides a list of versions released across the different time cycles for all its suite of products.
- You can find the versions of your Tableau products to determine whether you need to upgrade to a higher version.
- You can upgrade your latest Tableau version by downloading the latest version you want to upgrade and then following the instructions to install the downloaded version.
Tableau Versions List
Tableau provides a list of versions released across the different time cycles for all its suite of products.
The product releases encompass different Tableau products along with the current/latest version available for the product and previously released versions.
As you can see, the current/latest version of Tableau Desktop is highlighted on the webpage. Click on Expand All to view all the release versions for the Tableau Desktop.
Similarly, you can click on a Tableau product on the left navigation under the Product Releases. You will see all the current and previous released versions applicable to that selected Tableau Product.
How to Find your Tableau Version?
To find your Tableau product version installed on your machine, you may follow the steps outlined below:
- Tableau Desktop:
- If you are keen to find out what version of Tableau Desktop you are using, then follow the steps highlighted below:
- Windows Users:
- Launch Tableau Desktop on your machine
- Select Help – About Tableau from the top menu
- Mac Users:
- Launch Tableau Desktop on your machine
- Select Tableau – About Tableau from the top menu
- Windows Users:
- If you are keen to find out what version of Tableau Desktop you are using, then follow the steps highlighted below:
You will find the version and build number flashing on your screen.
- Tableau Public:
- If you are using Tableau Public, you can find out the version you are using by following the steps below:
- Windows Users:
- Launch Tableau Desktop on your machine
- Select Help – About Tableau from the top menu
- Mac Users:
- Launch Tableau Desktop on your machine
- Select Tableau – About Tableau from the top menu
The Tableau Public screen looks like the one provided below.
- Tableau Prep Builder:
- To find out the release version for Tableau Prep Builder, follow the steps below
- Windows Users:
- Open Tableau Prep Builder on your machine.
- Click on Help – About Tableau Prep Builder or About Tableau Prep in the top menu.
- Mac Users:
- Open Tableau Prep Builder on your machine.
- Click on Tableau Prep Builder – About Tableau Prep Builder or Tableau Prep – About Tableau Prep in the top menu.
- Windows Users:
- To find out the release version for Tableau Prep Builder, follow the steps below
You can see the Tableau Prep Builder version you are currently using on your screen.
- Tableau Cloud:
- To find out what version of Tableau Cloud you are using, just follow the steps below
- Launch Tableau Cloud in your web browser
- Click on the information icon
in the right corner – select About Tableau Cloud
- To find out what version of Tableau Cloud you are using, just follow the steps below
in the right corner – select About Tableau CloudYou will be able to view the version of the current Tableau Cloud you are using.
- Tableau Server:
- To figure out the version of your Tableau Server,
- Navigate to the Tableau Server using the URL in your web browser
- Click on the information icon in the right corner – select About Tableau Server
- To figure out the version of your Tableau Server,
Tableau also offers the Tableau version control feature for some of the products such as Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud. However, note that the Tableau version control feature is not available for Tableau Desktop.
How to Upgrade?
Tableau keeps releasing new versions of products such as Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep Builder, and Tableau Desktop Public Edition frequently. Hence, you must upgrade these products to the latest versions available to avail the new functionalities and improvements.
Before you upgrade, you need to ensure that the following queries are addressed.. These include:
- Testing the new product versions by any Power users in your organization to ensure that upgrades can be used across the organization.
- If your organization is using Tableau Server, you may experience compatibility issues across the different versions of Tableau products, i.e., Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, and Tableau Cloud. Hence, it is recommended that you ensure any upgrade you perform on Tableau Desktop or other products is compatible with other products.
- Your organization must be ready to upgrade all the workbooks as post upgrade all the workbooks will also get upgraded and you won’t be able to open these workbooks with older versions.
- Make sure that the Tableau Desktop version is compatible with the Tableau Server.
To upgrade to your latest Tableau version, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Download the upgrade or maintenance release by navigating to the downloads page.
This page will display a list of all the product releases and the versions applicable to each product.
Step 2: For Tableau Desktop, click on the Desktop link under Product Releases and then expand the latest build. You can also click on the Expand All option to view the version link you want to download. For example, the highlighted link is the latest version, i.e., 2024.2, that was released on 1st Jul 2024.
Similarly, for Tableau Prep Builder, repeat the same process as Tableau Desktop and select the latest version you want to upgrade. As you can see, the latest version of Tableau Prep Builder, 2024.2, was released on July 1, 2024.
You can repeat this process to select the latest version for Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud as well.
Note: If you are using Tableau Public, you may navigate to Tableau Public Product Download to perform the Tableau version. Download the latest version of the public instance, or you can upgrade directly from the existing Tableau interface by clicking Upgrade or Update 2024.1.4 Now.
Step 3: Once you have downloaded the latest versions for the respective Tableau products, follow the installation instructions to install these products. You can either install them using the user interface or through the command line.
Note: To perform the latest Tableau version download, you need to have an existing account with Tableau. So just log in to Tableau using your credentials and then download the latest file version. If you don’t have an account with Tableau, you may need to create one.
Step 4: For automatic product upgrades, installers are downloaded to the Downloads/TableauAutoUpdate folder. If the Downloads folder doesn’t exist, the installers are downloaded to the TEMP/TableauAutoUpdate folder.
Note: It is recommended that you turn on the automatic Tableau product updates. You can do so by navigating to Help – Settings and Performance – Enable Automatic Product Updates.
Note: You can also use the free Tableau version for your data visualization requirements for a limited period. It includes Tableau Desktop Free Trial, Tableau Prep Builder Free Trial, and Tableau Public Desktop. While the free Tableau version allows you to use the full features of a licensed version till the trial period, the Tableau public version provides reduced or limited features compared to the full version of the Tableau Desktop.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Tableau versions come with multiple benefits, though there are a few disadvantages, which we have outlined below.
Advantages:
- With each latest Tableau version, Tableau embeds a host of new features and enhancements that help you to enhance your data visualization capabilities.
- The latest Tableau versions focus on bug fixes, improvements on existing features, and performance enhancements and provide better stability to the current application.
- Tableau also focuses on the enhancement of security features to keep your data safe.
- Tableau versions include a significant amount of documentation, community support, technical and maintenance support, and strong sales support..
Disadvantages:
- The latest Tableau versions may create compatibility issues with older versions, especially for artifacts such as existing workbooks, compatibility with data connectors, and third-party tools.
- Tableau versions may introduce new bugs or issues that may further create stability challenges to existing products.
- While the latest Tableau version may not cost an additional amount of money for existing customers, this may not be the case for new customers or cases where the license has lapsed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What version of Tableau you need to install depends on your organization’s requirements. The recommended option is to install the latest Tableau release version. However, it’s recommended that you ensure that the upgraded version is compatible with other Tableau product versions. Tableau provides a new release and maintenance release within an existing older version. For stability consideration, you may install the maintenance release version.
Tableau provides 2 types of support services which include
• Maintenance support – Primarily encompasses support for minor release updates and defect fixes
• Technical support – This includes troubleshooting, customer forums, etc.
These support services are available for a limited period for the Tableau products.
Tableau offers support for all the versions of Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server for 24 months after the version release of these products.
Additionally, Tableau provides limited support for an extra 12 months post-release version, however, it primarily includes assistance with any online product documentation and limited troubleshooting for any issues experienced during the version upgrade.
The cost associated with upgrading to the latest version of Tableau is dependent on your licensing arrangements. If you have an active Tableau license, then you don’t have to pay anything additional to upgrade to the latest version of Tableau. However, if you don’t have any active license or your license has lapsed, then you may have to pay the Tableau licensing cost to upgrade your latest Tableau version.
Yes, you can still use workbooks created in older versions of Tableau with the latest version. However, note that once you have upgraded your Tableau with the latest version and then opened and saved your existing workbook with the upgraded version, you will no longer be able to open it with older versions of Tableau. To open in the older version, downgrade the workbook.
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