How to Change Number Format in Tableau

Seeing a jumble of raw numbers like 1500000 or 0.8754 on a Tableau dashboard can be frustrating for both you and your audience. Polished formatting transforms confusing data into a clear, professional report that tells a compelling story. This guide will walk you through exactly how to change the number format in Tableau, covering everything from currencies and percentages to abbreviating large numbers for a cleaner look.

Why Number Formatting is So Important

Before diving into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." Proper number formatting is about more than just aesthetics, it's about clarity and usability. A well-formatted dashboard helps your team make better decisions faster.

Clarity: It's instantly recognizable that $1.5M represents revenue and 87.5% is an A/B test conversion rate. Raw numbers force the user to stop and mentally translate the measurement.
Professionalism: Consistent and correct formatting makes your work look polished and trustworthy. It shows attention to detail and consideration for your audience.
Context: Formatting adds a layer of context without cluttering the view. A dollar sign or a percent symbol immediately tells the user what kind of metric they are looking at.

The Two Main Ways to Format Numbers in Tableau

Tableau gives you two primary methods for applying number formats. The one you choose depends on whether you want to set a permanent, default format for a measure or just change it for a single, specific visualization.

In the Data Pane: This sets the default format for a measure everywhere you use it in your workbook.
Within a Specific Visualization (View): This overrides the default format and only applies to the worksheet you are currently editing.

We'll cover both in detail, starting with the most common method: setting the default format.

Method 1: Setting the Default Number Format in the Data Pane

Setting the default format is the best practice for measures that will always have the same format. For example, your Sales field will almost always be a currency, and your Profit Ratio will always be a percentage. By setting it as a default, you save yourself the time and repetition from having to format it every time you drag it into a new chart.

Step-by-Step: Formatting in the Data Pane

Navigate to the Data Pane on the left side of your Tableau workspace. This is the sidebar that lists all your Dimensions and Measures.
Locate the numeric field (Measure) you want to format. For this example, let's use a field named Sales.
Right-click on the measure's name (Sales). A context menu will appear.
From the context menu, move your cursor over Default Properties.
In the sub-menu that appears, click on Number Format....
The "Default Number Format" dialog box will open. This is where the magic happens. You'll see a list of formatting options like Number (Standard), Currency, Percentage, and Scientific.
Select the format you need and adjust its settings. For our Sales field, we'll choose Currency (Custom). From there, we can set the decimal places to 2, choose the language/locale for the symbol (e.g., English - United States for $), and decide how to represent negative values.
Click OK. Now, every single time you use the Sales measure in any visualization in your Tableau workbook, it will automatically be formatted as a currency (e.g., $1,500,000.00).

Method 2: Formatting Numbers Within a Specific Visualization

Sometimes you only need a unique format in one particular view, and you don't want to change the default for the entire workbook. For instance, you might want to show total sales as $1.5M in a big number KPI dashboard, but use the exact currency value $1,501,432.78 in a detailed data table.

This method overrides the default formatting for that "pill" in that one view only.

Step-by-Step: Formatting in the View

First, create your visualization. Drag your desired Measure (e.g., Sales) to a shelf like Rows, Columns, or onto the Text or Tooltip property in the Marks Card.
Locate the green pill representing your measure in your view. Right-click on that specific pill.
From the context menu, select Format....
This will open the Format Pane on the left side of your workspace. Notice this is different from the dialog box in Method 1.
In the Format Pane, make sure you are on the correct tab (it may default to Axis or Pane). Under the "Default" section, you’ll see a Numbers dropdown menu.
Click the Numbers dropdown to see the same list of formatting options: Currency, Percentage, etc.
Select your desired format and customize its options directly in the pane. The changes you make will be applied in real-time to your worksheet.

Just close the formatting pane by clicking the 'x' when you're done. This format change is now saved for this worksheet alone, and the default format remains unchanged elsewhere.

Common Number Formatting Scenarios and Solutions

Now that you know the two main methods, let's look at how to tackle some of the most common number formatting tasks you'll encounter on a daily basis.

How to Abbreviate Large Numbers (e.g., $1.5M, 25K)

Cluttering your chart with large numbers like $1,501,432.78 can make it hard to read. Abbreviating them to show $1.5M is often a much cleaner choice.

Follow the steps in either method above to open the formatting pane/window.
Select your base format (e.g., Currency (Custom) or Number (Custom)).
Find the Display Units dropdown. This is your powerful tool for abbreviation.
Choose your desired unit: Thousands (K), Millions (M), Billions (B), or Trillions (T).
Adjust decimal places as needed. Often, one decimal place (e.g., 1.5M) is a good balance between precision and cleanliness.

How to Format Percentages (e.g., 67.5%)

Tableau often calculates values as decimals (e.g., 0.675), but they're much easier to understand as percentages. This is a must for metrics like conversion rates, margins, or market share.

Open the format menu using your preferred method.
Select Percentage from the list.
Set the number of decimal places for the precision you need. For most dashboards, 1 or 2 decimal places are sufficient.

How to Create Custom Number Formats

What if you want to add text or a special symbol? Tableau’s custom formatting gives you incredible flexibility. The format is structured with sections for positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero values, separated by semicolons (,). [Positive Format],[Negative Format],[Zero Format]

Example: Adding a Suffix like "units"

Suppose you want to show 1,500 units.

Open the format menu and select Custom at the bottom of the list.
In the text box, enter the following code: #,##0 " units",-#,##0 " units"
The #,##0 part tells Tableau to include a comma separator for thousands. The text inside the quotes is the suffix that will be appended. The second part after the semicolon dictates how negative values are displayed.

Getting Rid of Annoying Scientific Notation

Sometimes, if the number is really large and the space for it is very small, Tableau defaults to using scientific notation (e.g., 1.54E+7). This is rarely what you want to show on a business dashboard.

To fix this, simply force it back to a standard number format:

Open the format pane for that specific calculation.
Change the format from Number (Standard) to Number (Custom).
Remove any unnecessary decimal places and use the Display Units option (like Millions (M)) if the number is still too long for your chart space.

Final Thoughts

Mastering number formatting in Tableau is a fundamental skill that elevates your work from a messy data dump to an insightful, professional-grade dashboard. By understanding how to apply default formats in the Data Pane and make specific adjustments within a view, you can ensure your data is always presented in the clearest, most user-friendly way possible.

While Tableau is a powerful legacy tool, we know that spending half an hour right-clicking through formatting menus can feel like time taken away from actual analysis. At Graphed, we built our tool to skip these manual steps entirely. Instead of clicking menus, you just connect your sales and marketing data sources once and ask for what you need in plain English - like "create a chart comparing Facebook Ads spend vs revenue by campaign, formatted as currency." Your report is built instantly, with smart formatting already applied, giving you immediate insights without ever needing a tutorial.