Desktop Specialist Free Practice Exam

Looking for a Specialist Practice Exam that's Completely Free?

Free practice test for the Specialist Desktop Certification

Are you preparing for the Specialist exam and trying to do it without paying for test prep materials? I've written this free Tableau desktop Specialist practice exam for you! Not only is this free, but there is no login or signup required.

Practice Exam has the same format as the Official Desktop Specialist Exam

  • Are you worried about wasting time using outdated preparation materials? The practice exam follow the same format and tests the same topics as current 2022 format of the Tableau Specialist exam.
  • Does it have the same number of questions? It has the same number of scored questions. The official Specialist exam has 45 questions, but only 40 are scored. This version has 40 questions, all of them are scored.
  • The official Specialist exam does not allow you to use any outside resources (google search, Tableau documentation, or Tableau desktop) while answering the question. All of your answers must be based on your own knowledge of Tableau. The old version of the Specialist exam had hands-on questions and allowed you to use Tableau Desktop and a web-browser, but that changed in mid-2021.
  • The exam tests for different domains - (1) Connecting to & Preparing Data, (2) Exploring & Analyzing Data, (3) Sharing Insights, (4) Understanding Tableau Concepts.
  • The time limit on the official exam is 60 minutes, so you should allow yourself 60 minutes to complete this practice exam.

Differences between this Practice Exam and the Official Exam

  • Test taking experience of the official Specialist exam will be different from this practice exam. The official exam is proctored and is taken using the Pearson OnVue application.
  • The official exam uses scaled scoring from 100 to 1000, with with 750 points needed to pass. Scaled scoring allows for some adjustment based on the difficulty of the questions included on a particular version of the exam. This practice exam uses standard percentage correct scoring, with 75% being approximately equal to the 750 points needed to pass the official exam.

Hope I've answered all your questions! Taking a practice test is the best way to prepare. And taking a free practice test is the cheapest and best way.

Go here to do more review before trying this free practice exam. Go here for the Specialist exam study guide.

If you're ready to start this free Tableau Desktop Specialist practice exam, click "Next" to go to the first question.

57 thoughts on “Desktop Specialist Free Practice Exam”

    1. LearningTableau

      Hi Joe – thank you for pointing out these mistakes. Q22 has only one right answer and has been updated to refect this. I also corrected Q33.

  1. This is great. Thank you so much! I have a pretty rudimentary understanding of Tableau and this really helped me improve.

  2. Hello,

    I noticed that for question #12, when I do months on discrete, it only gives me the date part of month and you have that down as the correct answer. Shouldn’t the correct answer be continuous, as the axis is showing DATE VALUES with Month and the year. Can you tell me as to how it is still discrete? Thank you!

    1. Hello Gerald,

      The date field used is discrete in the visual for question 12. The way to achieve this view is to select the continuous Month(Date) (the one with May 2015 example) and switch it from Continuous to Discrete.

      Hope this helps,
      Narcis

  3. Hello Narcis,

    Now I see! Also, is another indication that when it is switched to discrete, there is no Axis title, there is a header?

    Many thanks!

  4. Hi, for shouldn’t the answer be Continuous date, QUARTER(DATE), so it will reduce crowd of labels in axis how can it reduce if it is Continuous date, Month(DATE)
    for question 18, can you please explain “Click a header and drag it to the new location” answer

    1. Hi Manoj,

      For q18 – from a visual you have in your worksheet, click one of the headers, and while still holding the click, drag it to the left or right/ up or down (depending on the type of visual you have), as you wish to be ordered. This is an example of manual sorting you can do.

      For the first sentence – I believe you are referring to question 40? Is that correct?

      Thanks,
      Narcis

  5. Today i passed desktop specialist tests thanks to the practice test questions in this site.
    I also brought the 3 practice tests. Its worth it, helps you build confidence.

    Thanks again

    1. Hi Muhammad,

      Yes, you can find on the site a lot of resources for the Data Analyst certification (there is one free practice exam, paid practice exams or free practice quizzes).

      Thank you,
      Narcis

    1. Hi Chloe,

      If the data field would have been continuous you would have noticed that not all month-year labels were visible, this usually happens in a continuous date field.
      You can replicate the visual on your local machine to check this : add sales and order date to the view -> create a line chart -> right click the Order Date field -> choose Month (May 2015) -> right click again Order Date and choose Discrete.

      Hope this helps,
      Narcis

  6. In question No 21
    Using a Dimension or a measure filter can work
    A filter for Zip code along with a condition for average of listing prices or
    A filter on listing prices with a filter on average and using the “at least” condition
    Can you help me out?

    1. Hello,

      The correct answer would be the measure filter. You can use Tableau to try each option and find the correct answer.

      Thank you,
      Narcis

    1. Hi Kinjal,

      Clearing sorting for the entire workbook is not possible, it is possible only at a worksheet level from Worksheet -> Clear -> Sorts.

      Hope this helps,
      Narcis

    1. Hi Kate,

      In the printscreen from the exam, each category has different subcategories and segment values. Each section of the table that represent one category with its values is a pane. When you will choose to commpute a table calculation across Pane (down) it will calculate the percent of total inside that pane (that section of values for one category).
      Best way to understand all these options is to try them using a workbook and try to notice the results you are getting.

      Hope this makes it clearer.
      Narcis

  7. 22. Your workbook has two different data sources, both sharing a field called “Business Name.” How can a single filter be used to filter both data sources on this field? Answer Provided: Create a relationship between the two tables so that the filter can propagate
    Correct Answer: Select the “All using this data source” option for the filter

    This is incorrect…the second data source is not connected (even in a relationship) you would want to use the “All Using Related Data Sources” option…OR the option I chose which would still require that filter option but you MUST establish a relationship first

    1. Hello,

      The blend relationships will be automatically created because the fields share the same name so that step won’t be necessary. All there is to do is select the option for the filter.

      Hope this helps,
      Narcis

  8. Q 21. If I place Zip in to Filter and then go to Condition Tab–By field–Sales-Average–300000. Isn’t it remove ZIP code of that value?

    1. Hello,

      Yes, that would have the same output as the one desired in the question. But it is not one of the options 🙂

      Thanks,
      Narcis

    1. Hi Liam,

      The correct answer for Q12 is discrete, a continuous field would result in a visual with the x axis starting from January to December, while the discrete one starts from the first month of the data (in this case January 2018) and ends in December 2021.

      Hope this makes it clear.

      Thanks,
      Narcis

    1. Hi Liem,

      No, they are the same. If you purchased the Udemy course, there is no need to repurchase the practice tests again.

      Thanks,
      Narcis

    1. Hi Pooja,

      After you click submit, a screen with the score and all the questions that you’ve answered incorrectly should appear.

      Thanks,
      Narcis

  9. 24: Shouldn’t the answer be “per cell using avg of sum of sales”, since the question is asking for per sub-category, not per category?

    1. Hello,

      The question is correct, the visual is displaying values per sub-category, each grouped in their categories (Office and Furniture). So the user must display an average line inside each category panel calculated at the level of their sub-categories only – ex: for Furniture: Bookcases, Chairs, Furnishings, Tables.

      Hope this makes sense.
      Narcis

  10. Dear Narcis,
    I have a questions on 32. You’d like to add the same worksheet multiple times, but with different filters selected. Which feature will support this? Answer Provided: Neither stories nor dashboards
    Correct Answer: Stories Only
    ——————————————————————————————————————————————–
    Could you please elaborate how can you have same exact worksheet with different filters on for different Story’s? Here is what I did:
    Created WS #1 with two categories selected in the category filter
    Created Story#1 with WS#1
    Went back and edit WS #1 with 3 categories selected this time in the category filter
    Created Story#2 with WS#1 (updated filter) as story cannot take more than 1 ws or dashboard.
    Went back to Story #1 and confirm WS# has 3 categories selected.

    What am I missing?

    1. Hi Dan,

      Actually, a story can take more than 1 worksheet or dashboard. You have to add a new story point (upper left corner, you have the option to duplicate the story point or create a new one blank).
      After that, you will be able to have the same worksheet multiple times with different filters.

      Hope this helps,
      Narcis

  11. This practice exam helped me a LOT. I got half wrong on the first round, pampered my ego with chocolate, studied the areas I needed to, then got 97% on the second round. This is exactly what I needed to “know what I didn’t know.” Thank you. So much to learn. lol

  12. Thank you so much. I just passed specialist exam with score of 912 it was full of 1 month study from tableau help & using the tool and hands on practice. The practice questions gave me idea of what exam would be and many were coming in exam I was able to answer quickly & spare the time for other hard questions/new ones. I can rate the exam difficulty as 6/10 not that hard actually was worried too much. Good luck for yall. this YT vedios also ware helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx9P4mfWMTs&list=PLyAvoiThEnyH1_p0HWsVlavZY5okhNr1_

    both have similar exam questions as in exam. review both.

    1. Hi Urnish,

      We like to think that it is useful, otherwise we wouldn’t made them 🙂 Keep in mind, these aren’t real exam questions, so don’t expect to have the same questions in the exam.

      Narcis

  13. #12 is continuous. Not every month is shown. In your explanation to Chloe, you say “If the data field would have been continuous you would have noticed that not all month-year labels were visible, this usually happens in a continuous date field.” Well, in fact, not all month-year labels are visible. It literally skips every other month. So you are basically confirming that the answer is continuous while saying it is discrete. Very frustrating as numerous people correctly believe it is continuous and you continue to tell them otherwise. I’ve compared it on tableau and you are incorrect. Please fix it.

    1. Hi James,

      Please follow this steps so you you can get to the view in the quiz – Order Date on the Columns shelf, Sales on the Row shelf, choose Line (continuous) chart -> right click on the Order Date from the columns shelf and select Discrete.
      Hope this makes it clear.

      Thanks,
      Narcis

  14. Akash Panchakshri

    may be que 32-33 ) You’d like to add the same worksheet multiple times, but with different filters selected. Which feature will support this?
    Dashboards only
    in tableau Dashboards allow you to include multiple instances of the same worksheet and apply different filters to each instance
    that why i think ans is dashboard not stories .

    1. Hi Akash,

      The correct answer is Stories because in a dashboard you can set the filter to apply only at a worksheet level, not a visual level.

      Hope this helps,
      Narcis

    1. Hello,

      The correct answer for Q12 is discrete, a continuous field would result in a visual with the x axis starting from January to December, while the discrete one starts from the first month of the data (in this case January 2018) and ends in December 2021.
      To see the difference please follow this steps so you you can get to the view in the quiz – Order Date on the Columns shelf, Sales on the Row shelf, choose Line (continuous) chart -> right click on the Order Date from the columns shelf and select Discrete.

      Hope this makes it clear.

      Thanks,
      Narcis

  15. I have to disagree with your answer on 12. If you take a date that is continuous and drag it to the visual, you get the month and year when you change from year to month, like May 2015. I tried what you said and couldn’t get a discrete date to keep the month and year while keeping it discrete. Whenever I have month and year the pill is green, or continuous.

    Here is what I found on Tableau Help:

    Continuous Dates
    Applies to: Tableau Cloud, Tableau Desktop, Tableau Public, Tableau Server

    By default, dates come into the view as a discrete field. Date parts (such as year or month) can be used like any other discrete field and create labels in the view.

    However, you can change dates to continuous if you choose. Select one of the Continuous date options on the field’s context menu to use date truncations (such as March 2020 or 25/03/2022) instead of date parts. Continuous dates create an axis in the view.

    1. Hello Donna,

      The correct answer for Q12 is discrete, a continuous field would result in a visual with the x axis starting from January to December, while the discrete one starts from the first month of the data (in this case January 2018) and ends in December 2021.
      To see the difference please follow this steps so you you can get to the view in the quiz – Order Date on the Columns shelf, Sales on the Row shelf, choose Line (continuous) chart -> right click on the Order Date from the columns shelf and select Discrete.

      Hope this makes it clear.

      Thanks,
      Narcis

  16. James – Took me a while and to do this in Tableau a few times. Discrete create headers and continuous create axes. If you look at the chart, it has a header for Order Date, so therefore it is discrete. Try the steps they outline and you’ll see the difference.

  17. After taking this test exam, I went through each questions and tested them in Tableau Public 2025.1.1 to understand the questions I failed but also to confirm what I know.

    I found that this exam is sometimes misleading/unclear and just inaccurate. While I think it’s great to have this kind of mock exam, I would highly recommend revisiting it because it can be a waste of time for those who want to practice.

    For example, sometimes the way choices are written just don’t exactly correspond to what you find in Tableau Public 2025.1.1. The naming might differ. In addition, in the behavioural questions, choices that are considered wrong in the exam are actual correct after testing them in Tableau.

    1. Hello,

      Please keep in mind that this is a mock exam that simulates the real exam. Right now, the new Salesforce Certified Tableau Desktop Foundations (which replaced Desktop Specialist exam) is being taken on version 2022.3

      Thank you,
      Narcis

  18. For Q No.5, is it not Inner Join instead of outer join? Please correct me If I am wrong.

    A relationship in database management systems is most similar to an Inner join.

    1. Hello,

      It all dependends on how are you viewing the data. If you stick to dimensions it acts like an inner join. Adding an aggregated field to the view will bring in the outer records for that table. Relationships provide more flexibility than traditional joins, as they allow you to blend data from different tables without explicitly defining join conditions.
      You can find more info about this here – https://onenumber.biz/blog-1/2020/6/8/what-join-type-are-tableau-relationships-most-similar-to

      Thank you,
      Narcis

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