I'm working with a Salesforce data source in Tableau Cloud with 8 connected objects (~16M rows total). I'm experiencing a timeout error after 2 hours during extract refresh in Tableau Cloud.
Setup:
- Data flow: Salesforce → Tableau Desktop → Published to Tableau Cloud
- Currently using full refresh (not incremental)
- 8 Salesforce objects joined together
What I've tried:
- Remove/hide multiple fields to reduce data volume
- Filtered out rows (e.g., historical records - ended up with ~7M rows total)
- Tested with fewer objects
Issue: The refresh works for a few cycles, then the timeout error occurs again.
Questions:
- Should we implement incremental refresh instead of full refresh? Is this a viable approach when joining 8 Salesforce objects together?"
- Are there any "quick fixes" beyond what I've already tried?
- Would a middle ETL step (data warehouse) be necessary, or is there a simpler solution?
Any guidance would be appreciated!
Thanks
#Tableau Cloud #Tableau #Tableau Prep
Hi, @Mathias Berg
I’m not sure if this is what you were looking for, but please take a look.
It seems that before long, Tableau will allow you to link data sources together.
You can prepare separate data sources for each object and then combine them.
By splitting up the data processing, you may be able to shorten refresh times.
Since this is a long‑awaited feature for many users, it’s exciting to see it coming.
<tableau help>
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/datasource_extend_compose.htm
