# Dashboard filter, highlight and URL actions

*Tableau Desktop Foundations Study Guide · Sharing Insights · Last updated October 29, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-desktop-foundations/sharing-insights/dashboard-filter-highlight-and-url-actions*

How dashboard actions respond to marks: Use as Filter and filter actions that narrow target sheets, highlight actions that dim other marks, Go to URL actions that open a web page, how Hover, Select and Menu decide when an action runs, and what clearing a selection does.

- Certification: Salesforce Tableau Desktop Foundations
- Exam section: Sharing Insights
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-desktop-foundations

**Official exam objective:**

> Create and modify a dashboard: Add worksheets to a dashboard; Add interactive elements for consumers (for example, show filters, data highlighter, tooltips); Add dashboard actions (for example, filter action, highlight action, parameter control, URL action); Configure a dashboard layout and create device-specific dashboards; Create a story and a story point.

## What the exam expects

- Make one dashboard sheet filter the others with Use as Filter, and protect controlling sheets with Ignore Actions.
- Create filter, highlight and Go to URL actions in Dashboard > Actions, choosing source sheets, target sheets and fields.
- Pick Hover, Select or Menu from how viewers should trigger the action, and set what happens when the selection is cleared.
- Name and configure a URL action so its tooltip link is clear and it still works after publishing to Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud.
- Recognize the other action types (Go to Sheet, Change Parameter, Change Set Values) well enough to reject them when they do not fit.

Key terms:
- **Action:** a response to viewers selecting or hovering over marks, or choosing a tooltip menu link.
- **Source sheet:** the sheet whose marks start the action.
- **Target sheet:** the sheet the action filters, highlights or navigates to.
- **Use as Filter:** a dashboard sheet option that creates a "generated" filter action from its selected marks.
- **Go to URL:** an action that opens a web page, file or other resource outside Tableau.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Use as Filter | Selected marks in the sheet filter the other dashboard views | [Actions and Dashboards](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_dashboards.htm) |
| Action created by Use as Filter | A filter action with "generated" in its default name | [Filter Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_filter.htm) |
| Ignore Actions | Stops other filter actions from affecting that view | [Actions and Dashboards](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_dashboards.htm) |
| Menu trigger | Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) a mark, then a tooltip menu option | [Filter Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_filter.htm) |
| Single-select only | Select option that skips the action when several marks are selected | [Filter Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_filter.htm) |
| Exclude all values on clear | Targets show nothing until a value is selected | [Filter Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_filter.htm) |
| Highlight action matching | All Fields, Dates and Times, or Selected Fields | [Create Advanced Highlight Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_highlight_advanced.htm) |
| Action order | Parameter, Set, Filter, Go to Sheet, Highlight, Go to URL | [Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions.htm) |
| URL action link text | The action's name, not the URL | [URL Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_url.htm) |
| URL with no prefix | Works in Desktop, fails in the browser after publishing | [URL Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_url.htm) |
| Field in a URL | Must be used in the view | [URL Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_url.htm) |

## Check yourself

- Why does Exclude all values suit a dashboard where some sheets should appear only after a selection?
- When will a field inserted into a URL action's address fail to show the link?
- Why would a dashboard author pair Use as Filter with Ignore Actions?
- In what order does Tableau run a Highlight action relative to a Filter action on the same click?

## Sources

- [Actions and Dashboards](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_dashboards.htm)
- [Filter Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_filter.htm)
- [Create Advanced Highlight Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_highlight_advanced.htm)
- [URL Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_url.htm)
- [Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions.htm)
- [Highlight Actions](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_highlight.htm)
- [Create a Dashboard](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/dashboards_create.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 4 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Tableau Desktop Foundations pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams