How to Add Arrow in Tableau Dashboard

Adding a simple arrow to a Tableau dashboard can be the difference between a good visualization and a great one. These visual cues instantly tell your audience if key metrics are trending up or down, making your reports easier to understand at a glance. This guide will walk you through three popular methods for adding indicator arrows to your dashboards, from the simple to the more advanced.

Why Bother With Arrows?

In data visualization, clarity is everything. While a table of numbers is accurate, it forces your audience to do the work of comparing values to understand performance. Arrows act as a shortcut to insight. They can:

• Show a trend direction: Is revenue increasing or decreasing this month compared to last?
• Indicate performance vs. goal: Is your team above or below their sales target?
• Highlight significant changes: An arrow can draw the eye to a sudden spike or drop in a metric.

Put simply, they help you tell a clearer story with your data, faster. Let's look at how to create them.

Method 1: Using Custom Shapes for KPI Indicators

This is the most common and versatile method for adding arrows. It’s perfect for KPI cards or tables where you want a clean, graphical indicator - not just a text character. The idea is to create a calculation that determines the direction ('Up', 'Down', or 'Neutral') and then assign a custom shape to each result.

Step 1: Get Your Arrow Images

First, you need the actual image files for your arrows. You can create your own or find plenty of free icon packs online. The best formats are PNG files with transparent backgrounds.

You’ll typically need three images:

• An up arrow (e.g., up-arrow.png)
• A down arrow (e.g., down-arrow.png)
• A neutral indicator, like a sideways arrow or a dash (e.g., neutral-arrow.png)

Step 2: Add Images to Your Tableau Shape Repository

Tableau needs to know where to find these new shapes. You must place your image files in the correct folder on your computer.

1. Navigate to your main Documents folder.
2. Open the My Tableau Repository folder.
3. Inside, open the Shapes folder.
4. Create a new folder here and give it a memorable name, like "Custom Arrows".
5. Copy your three PNG arrow files into this new "Custom Arrows" folder.

The next time you open Tableau and click the "Reload Shapes" button, this new folder will be available as a shape palette.

Step 3: Create the Indicator Calculation

Now, let's write the logic that determines which arrow to show. This requires a calculated field that compares two values, such as current period sales vs. previous period sales.

Let's assume you've already created a calculated field called [Sales Change %].

Create a new calculated field for the arrow logic. Name it something like "Sales Trend Indicator".

IF [Sales Change %] > 0 THEN "Up"
ELSEIF [Sales Change %] < 0 THEN "Down"
ELSE "Neutral"
END

This calculation checks the sales change percentage. If it's positive, it returns the text "Up". If negative, "Down". If it's zero, "Neutral".

Step 4: Build the View and Assign the Shapes

Now we just need to put it all together on a worksheet.

1. Drag your key metric (e.g., SUM(Sales)) to Text on the Marks card.
2. Drag your new calculated field ("Sales Trend Indicator") to Shape on the Marks card.
3. Tableau will initially assign default shapes. Click on the Shape box on the Marks card to open the Edit Shape dialog.
4. From the "Select Shape Palette" dropdown, find and select your "Custom Arrows" folder.
5. Click "Reload Shapes" if it doesn't appear immediately.
6. Now, assign your arrows. Select "Down" under "Select Data Item" and click on the down arrow shape in the palette. Do the same for "Up" and "Neutral".
7. Click OK.

You should now have a metric displayed with a corresponding custom arrow right next to it. You can adjust the size and color of both the text and the shapes to get the formatting just right.

Method 2: Using Unicode Characters for In-Text Arrows

If you don’t need custom images and just want a quick, clean arrow inside a text table, using Unicode characters is incredibly efficient. These are special text characters that look like symbols (e.g., ▲, ▼, ♦).

Step 1: Create a Calculated Field for the Period-over-Period Change

First, we need to calculate the value we want to display. Let’s create a "Profit % MoM (Month-over-Month) Change". This is a table calculation.

Assuming you have SUM(Profit) and SUM(Sales) in your view and Order Date (Month) on the Columns shelf, create this calculated field:

(ZN(SUM([Profit])) / ZN(SUM([Sales]))) - LOOKUP(ZN(SUM([Profit])) / ZN(SUM([Sales])), -1)

Name this field [Profit % MoM Change]. The LOOKUP(..., -1) function tells Tableau to get the value from the previous month, and ZN() handles any null values by treating them as zero.

Step 2: Create the Combined Arrow and Text Calculation

Next, we’ll create a calculated field that combines a Unicode arrow with our MoM change value. Copy and paste these arrow characters: ▲ and ▼.

Create a new calculated field named something like "Profit % Formatted MoM":

IF [Profit % MoM Change] > 0 THEN 
    "▲ " + STR(ROUND([Profit % MoM Change]*100, 1)) + "%"
ELSEIF [Profit % MoM Change] < 0 THEN 
    "▼ " + STR(ROUND(ABS([Profit % MoM Change])*100, 1)) + "%"
ELSE
    "–"
END

This formula does a few things:

• Checks if the change is positive or negative.
• Prepends the appropriate Unicode arrow.
• The STR(ROUND(...)) part converts the numeric value into a nicely formatted string with one decimal place.
• ABS() is used for the down arrow, so we don't end up with a negative number next to it (e.g., ▼ -2.5%).

Step 3: Add to the View and Apply Color

Drag your new formatted field, [Profit % Formatted MoM], to the Text mark. You'll see the values and arrows appear in your table.

To go one step further, you can color the text based on its value. Drag the original numeric calculation, [Profit % MoM Change], to the Color mark. Edit the colors, change the palette to a 2-step diverging one (like Red-Green diverging), and set the center to 0. Now your positive changes will be green and negative changes red, making the status instantly obvious.

Method 3: Dynamic Arrows Using a Dual-Axis Chart

This slightly more advanced technique gives you precise control over the arrow's placement next to a bar or text. It's great for making clean, aligned KPI dashboards. The trick is to create a fake axis just for holding the arrow shape.

Step 1: Build the Base Chart

Start with a simple bar chart. For example, drag Sales to Columns and Category to Rows.

Step 2: Create a Placeholder Column

We need a second "measure" to create our dual axis. An easy way is to type MIN(0) directly into the Columns shelf, right next to SUM(Sales). This will create a new axis at the zero line.

Step 3: Configure the Marks for the Arrows

You now have two Marks cards on the left, one for SUM(Sales) and one for MIN(0).

1. Select the Marks card for MIN(0).
2. Change the chart type from Automatic (likely Bar) to Shape.
3. Create a trend indicator calculation just like we did in Method 1 (e.g., based on Year-over-Year sales growth for each category).
4. Drag this new trend calculation onto the Shape property on the MIN(0) Marks card.
5. Click the Shape property and assign your up/down arrow shapes as desired.

Step 4: Create and Synchronize the Dual Axis

Now, right-click on the MIN(0) pill in the Columns shelf and select Dual Axis. The shapes will now be floating over your bar chart. To clean it up:

1. Right-click on the bottom axis (the one for the zero line) and select Synchronize Axis. This ensures both axes are aligned.
2. Right-click on the bottom axis again and uncheck Show Header to hide it.
3. Adjust the size of the shapes on the MIN(0) Marks card until they look right.

You now have clean indicator arrows that sit perfectly to the left of your bars, updating dynamically as your data changes.

Final Thoughts

Whether you use custom shapes, simple Unicode characters, or a dual-axis chart, adding indicator arrows makes your Tableau dashboards more intuitive and impactful. These visual shortcuts help your audience quickly grasp performance trends, freeing them up to focus on the insights behind the data, not on trying to decipher it.

Techniques like this are valuable, but they also highlight how much time and specialized knowledge is sometimes needed to create reports that answer basic business questions. At Graphed, we felt this pain ourselves, which is why we built a tool that automates the reporting process. Instead of creating complex calculated fields and configuring dual-axis charts, we let you connect data sources like Shopify or Google Ads and use plain English to build real-time dashboards and get answers in seconds, saving you hours of manual work.