Is it possible to add my own sample workbooks to the Start Screen

Yes, it is, though you will need admin rights to the Tableau install directory, and you shall need to edit a file.

So you want to edit the Sample Workbooks section of the Start Screen?

Adding your own sample workbooks can be a great time-saver, far faster than saved data sources:

For works requiring Superstore and/or Adventureworks such as forum, tutorial, blog or teaching works, I have a workbook that has a pre-configured data set, just like a saved data source. But unlike a saved data source, this workbook already has my logos, parameters, a blend, some actions, a couple of starter charts, and a dashboard template, all in place and ready to go. By setting the workbook as read-only, not only do I have this workbook at my fingertips from every instance of Tableau I open, but being read-only, the OS will force a Save As, preventing me from accidentally overwriting something else.

Firstly, you need a workbook that you plan to use, and a 480px x 360px png image of one of the dashboards to use as the thumbnail, once you have these, navigate to your Tableau install directory: (Windows default) C:\Program Files\Tableau

If you have more than one version of Tableau installed, select the version you want to modify, or the latest one, assuming v2022.2 is your latest version, open this folder and then navigate to the “help” folder

Currently, you should be at

C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau 2022.2\help

And then find the folder that represents the localised version; so for me, this is en_GB

C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau 2022.2\help\en_GB

Which should look something like this:

Look familiar?

Move your workbook and thumbnail image into this directory - you will need admin access to the folder to do this, and then open the samples.manifest file into any text editor as this is how you will tell Tableau about the file and the thumbnail location.

The samples.manifest file is set to read only, switch this over in the file properties, and switch back to read only once you have finished editing. If you aren’t able to make the changes with admin rights, copy to an unprotected location such as your desktop, edit and then copy back.

You might still need to open your samples.manifest in administrator mode before you can save

And now add a new line, in my case, I am adding my Periodic Table workbook, and the thumbnail is called sample_periodic_table.

<sample caption="Periodic Table" file="Periodic Table of Elements.twbx" sheet-thumbnail-count="1" sheet-thumbnail-format="" thumbnail="sample_periodic_table.png" tooltip="Periodic Table of the ELements"/>

My directory

Once saved, the next copy of Tableau you open you shall see your newly added sample(s)