What stale content costs you
Unused content is not free. It uses storage, its scheduled refreshes compete with the ones people rely on, it clutters search and navigation, and it widens the surface you have to govern and secure.
Finding candidates
Tableau records when content was last viewed, and administrators can see this in the built-in administrative tools on Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud. Start with content that is refreshed on a schedule but rarely opened: it costs the most and is missed the least.
Choose a look-back period that suits your business, and watch for seasonal content such as quarter-end or year-end reports, which can look unused for months and then matter a great deal.
A retirement process people accept
- Pause the refresh first. It is the quickest saving and easy to undo.
- Tell the owners what you plan to retire and by when, and invite them to keep anything they still need.
- Archive before deleting. Move content to a locked archive project for a grace period.
- Then delete what nobody asked for.
- Publish the policy so the next round is routine, not a debate.
Let Tableau help
Tableau can automatically suspend extract refreshes for workbooks and data sources that nobody has used for a while, and it emails owners before it does. That saves refresh time, but it does not remove the content or its storage. See Automatically suspend extract refreshes for inactive workbooks and data sources.
Make it routine
A short review every quarter keeps the platform lean and avoids a painful clean-up later. Track what you retired and the storage and refresh time it freed, so the benefit is visible.
Common questions
What is stale content in Tableau?
Workbooks and data sources that nobody has opened for a long time, but which still use storage and, often, scheduled refreshes.
How do I find unused Tableau content?
Tableau records when content was last viewed. Administrators can see this in the built-in administrative tools on Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud.
Should I delete stale content straight away?
No. Pause refreshes, tell the owners, archive to a locked project for a grace period, and only then delete.
Further reading: Tableau Help, Automatically suspend extract refreshes for inactive workbooks and data sources. Tableau and Salesforce are trademarks of Salesforce, Inc.