Common questions such as “How to format zero as dash in Tableau” and “Tableau format zero values” are surprisingly simple to answer.
There is no need for any calculated fields or other forms of Tableau wizardry.
You can format zero values using standard Tableau formatting.
How to format zero values in Tableau
To format zeroes (0) in Tableau to something else, such as a dash (-) for example, is simple using standard formatting techniques.
We can use formatting to:
- format zero as a dash
- format zero as a blank
- format negative numbers in brackets
Format zero as dash in Tableau
Right click on the measure and Format.
In the standard Tableau number formatting there’s a Custom option. It is here Tableau will allow us to format zero values.
The structure of the Custom number format is:
Positive;Negative;Zero
Enter the following in the Custom format to display all positive and negative values to 1 decimal place and convert all 0s to become a dash ‘-‘:
#,##0.0;-#,##0.0;–
Notice the small dash at the end of the above.
Format zero values as blanks
Very similar to the above example, only this time put a “” at the end of the formula, instead of the dash.
#,##0.0;-#,##0.0;“”
Format negative values in brackets
Adapt the formula to put negative values in brackets and zero values as a dash:
#,##0.0;(#,##0.0);–
Format zero values to any other value you want, even text!
You can actually change zero values to anything you want using this technique. We can even refer to a zero value as “Zero Value” (although not sure why you would want to in reality…).
The Custom format #,##0.0;-#,##0.0; Zero Value gives the following:
