How to Change Font Size in Tableau Dashboard

A well-designed dashboard is easy to read, and your font size is one of the most important factors for readability. Getting the text size right in Tableau can feel tricky, as a setting in one place might not apply everywhere you expect it to. This guide provides a clear walkthrough on how to change the font size for every element in your Tableau dashboard, from individual worksheets to global settings.

Why Font Sizing Matters in a Dashboard

Before diving into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." Consistently and thoughtfully sized fonts aren't just about making your dashboard look nice, they are fundamental to its function. Good font strategy achieves three key things:

• Readability: The most obvious benefit. If your users have to squint to read axis labels or tooltips, they'll miss the insights you're trying to share. Clear, legible text is non-negotiable.
• Visual Hierarchy: Different font sizes help guide your audience's eyes to the most important information first. A large, bold title draws attention, while smaller supporting text provides context without cluttering the view. This creates a natural flow of information.
• Professionalism and Polish: A dashboard with inconsistent or poorly sized fonts can look sloppy and untrustworthy. Taking the time to unify your typography shows attention to detail and reinforces the quality of your analysis.

Understanding Tableau's Formatting Hierarchy

Tableau’s formatting works on a layering system, which can be a point of confusion for new users. Changes made at a higher level will cascade down, but a specific, local change will override a general one. Think of it like this:

1. Workbook Level: The most general settings. This applies to every new worksheet you create.
2. Worksheet Level: More specific. Changes here apply to a single sheet and can override workbook settings.
3. Field/Element Level: The most specific. Formatting an individual element (like a specific pill or title) on a worksheet overrides all higher-level settings for that element only.

Understanding this hierarchy is key. If you change a font and it doesn't seem to work, it's likely being overridden by a more specific setting somewhere else. We'll start with the highest level and work our way down.

Setting the Default Font Size for an Entire Workbook

If you want to set a default font size for every view in your entire Tableau workbook, you can do it from the top-level Format menu. This is a great way to ensure consistency from the start.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Navigate to the top menu bar.
2. Click on Format and then select Workbook... from the dropdown menu.
3. This will open the Format Workbook pane on the left side of your screen.
4. In this pane, you can expand the different sections (e.g., Fonts, Titles) to set your default font and size for all elements. For example, changing the "All" dropdown under the fonts section will apply a universal font setting.
5. Any new worksheet you create will now use these settings by default.

Pro Tip: Setting this at the beginning of a project is a great habit. It saves you from having to manually adjust every new sheet you build.

Changing Font Sizes on an Individual Worksheet

More often, you'll find yourself needing to adjust the fonts on a specific visual or worksheet. You can do this by opening the format pane directly from the sheet.

Formatting Specific Elements on a Worksheet

Let's say you've built a bar chart showing Sales by Category. You might want to change the font size for the category labels (headers), the sales numbers on the axis (axis labels), and the title itself. Here’s how you handle each piece.

Changing the Title Font

The worksheet title is usually the first thing you'll format.

1. Right-click on the worksheet title directly in the view.
2. Select Format Title... from the context menu.
3. The Format Title pane will appear on the left, separate from the main format pane. Here you can adjust the font, size, alignment, and shading just for the title.

Changing Header and Pane Fonts

Now, let's adjust the text within the chart itself. This covers the labels for your dimensions and measures.

1. Right-click on the element you want to change. For our example, if you want to change the "Category" labels (like 'Technology', 'Office Supplies'), right-click on one of them.
2. Select Format...
3. The Format pane will open on the left. In this pane, Tableau gives you separate controls for different parts of the view.

Changing the Axis Font

Finally, let's format the numbers along the axis (e.g., the sales figures).

1. Still in the Format pane, look for the sheet formatting options (often marked by a font icon 'A').
2. Click on the icon for Format Font if it's not already selected.
3. Select the Fields dropdown menu and choose your continuous field (green pill), for example, SUM(Sales).
4. Now, the Pane and Header text options below are specific to this field.
5. To change the font of the axis numbers themselves, select the Axis > Font section at the top of the formatting pane. From there you can change the font style, size, and color for both the tick labels and the axis title.

Changing the Tooltip Font

Tooltips are the pop-up boxes that appear when you hover over a data point. They're a classic place where a larger-than-default font works well.

1. In the Marks card on your worksheet, click on Tooltip.
2. A text editor will pop up. You can directly edit the text and use the formatting toolbar at the top to change fonts, sizes, and colors. Just highlight the text you wish to edit and select your desired font and size specifications from the menu.

Changing Font Sizes Globally on a Dashboard

Once you've assembled several worksheets onto a dashboard, you'll often want to make sure your font styles are consistent across the entire view. Applying a single format at the dashboard level is the most efficient way to do this.

Changes here will override any worksheet-level formatting unless you've made a highly specific, field-level change.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. With your dashboard open, navigate to the top menu bar and select Dashboard.
2. From the dropdown, select Format.
3. The Format pane will now appear on the left, but this time it's for the entire dashboard.
4. Here, you can set the font properties for:

Using this menu is the best way to quickly make your dashboard look professional and unified. For example, setting the "Worksheet Titles" size to 14pt bold will instantly give all your charts a consistent look and feel.

Best Practices for Typography in Tableau

Knowing how to change fonts is one thing, knowing what looks good is another. Keep these design principles in mind:

• Establish a Clear Hierarchy: Use size to signify importance. For example:
• Stick to a Few Sizes: Avoid using dozens of different font sizes. It creates visual noise. Choose 3-4 distinct sizes for your hierarchy and use them consistently.
• Prioritize Legibility: Fancy fonts have their place, but a dashboard often isn't it. Stick with clean, professional fonts like Tableau's default, Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana for body text and labels.
• Consider the Viewing Context: Will this dashboard be viewed on a large projection screen in a boardroom, or embedded in a small box on a web page? Adjust your baseline font size accordingly. Always test your final dashboard on different screens if possible.

Final Thoughts

Mastering font control in Tableau is a simple skill that dramatically elevates the quality and effectiveness of your dashboards. By understanding the formatting hierarchy from the workbook down to individual elements, you can create reports that are not only insightful but also look clean, professional, and are incredibly easy for your audience to read.

While getting visual details like font size right is essential for a great final product, we know the real challenge is often the hours of manual work it takes just to gather your data. Building dashboards often means spending half your week downloading CSVs and sticking them in spreadsheets. At Graphed , we bridge that gap by connecting directly to your sources like Shopify, Google Analytics, and Facebook Ads. You can just ask a question in plain English, and we build the dashboard for you in seconds with real-time data, letting you focus on the insights instead of the setup.