Alteryx for Beginners: Up & Running with Alteryx Designer

Meet Alteryx Designer, a desktop-based, self-service data preparation tool with visual, intuitive features to shape, join, and automate raw data processing for business users and data scientists.

Explore the Alteryx product suite for data preparation, analytics, data science, and machine learning, with a focus on Alteryx Designer for data flow automation and collaboration.

Activate a 30-day free trial of Alteryx designer to follow along, whether you are an individual, a group, or enterprise, and learn to download and install the trial from alteryx.com.

Install Alteryx Designer trial to access 30 days of full features, select the typical version, activate the license, and prepare to explore the Alteryx Designer workspace.

Discover the Alteryx designer workspace, including palettes, tools, canvas, and configuration windows, and learn to use designer search, favorites, interface designer, overview, and results to build workflows.

Explore the Alteryx designer workflow from inputs to outputs, covering data cleaning, joining, shaping, macros and analytic apps, and delivering results via PDFs, emails, and published data sources.

Explore Alteryx file types for workflows, data, metadata, and licensing information, including md for repeatable workflows and macro files for packaged components. Cover analytic apps and database files.

Explore how the Alteryx engine and the AMP engine power data processing, with AMP speeding most workflows. Use AMP by default, and switch to the original engine if needed.

Learn to connect to data in Alteryx Designer using input/output tools, flat files, text input, and databases or cloud platforms, with visual modeling and optional SQL query development options.

Learn to import data with the input data tool from flat files, configure connections, preview the first hundred records, and drag files into your Alteryx workflow.

Learn to connect to databases with the input data tool, using ODBC and Postgres SQL, build queries visually or via SQL, test queries, and manage joins and stored procedures.

Learn to use the text input tool in Alteryx Designer to manually enter data, paste from Excel, or import from files, with a 10,000 record limit, and open example flows.

Use the directory tool with wildcard filters to select multiple files, then use the dynamic input tool to union them into a single data source.

Use the browse tool to view data results and profiles from a connected tool, and switch between holistic view and data profile charts with the palette or control shift b.

Use the output data tool to export to flat files, especially Excel, by configuring file type, location, sheet, and overwrite or append options.

Export data to databases using the output data tool, set up a database connection to Postgres, and name the output table. Configure output options, pre and post sql, and decide whether to create a new table, append, or drop and replace, or use a published data source on the Alteryx server.

Publish data sources to Tableau Server or Tableau Online with Tableau output tool from the Alteryx public gallery, then configure project and source and choose options like create or upsert.

Use the date time now tool to stamp when a flow runs. Add last-updated timestamps to reports; create a dated column for filtering by language and datetime format.

Leverage in-database tools to process data inside the database rather than on your local machine, using data streams in and out and a 64-bit Postgres connection.

Add comments to Alteryx workflows to clarify and document complex branches, using custom text, images, shapes, and the documentation palette to create self-documenting flows.

Organize and control your Alteryx Designer workflow using tool containers to group inputs and outputs, toggle disable, and collapse sections for cleaner documentation.

Discover how the Explorer Box in Alteryx Designer displays web pages, directories, and files within a workflow, enabling live directory views, drag-and-drop inputs, and file previews.

Explore input tools for flat files, databases, and cloud data, and output tools for writing to local databases and BI assets, plus database tools to run workflows and improve performance.

Explore the preparation palette in Alteryx, a powerful toolset for data preparation, including clean, modify, and organize groups and essential tools like sort, select, and data cleansing.

Master the select tool to modify column properties and metadata, rename fields, adjust data types and sizes, and deselect or reorder columns for clean, efficient Alteryx workflows.

Apply the Alteryx sort tool to arrange records by chosen fields in dictionary order (with language options) or Unicode, using primary and secondary sorts for downstream calculations and reports.

Add a record ID column with a sequential id that preserves order and enables counting distinct records with summarize; configure name, starting value, and type (including inch and string type).

Explore the data cleansing tool in Alteryx Designer to fix null values, trim whitespace, remove unwanted characters, and modify case, preparing clean description fields for analysis.

Use the auto field tool to resize column data types to the smallest size, boosting performance. Place it early in the flow, select fields, and verify metadata to prevent errors.

Filter tools split data into true and false outputs by conditions; use basic and custom filters with the expression editor to refine flows, such as removing zero location IDs.

Explore using the Alteryx formula tool to create and update columns with conditional logic, text and date transformations, and saved expressions across a data flow.

Learn how the multi field formula tool in Alteryx Designer updates multiple fields with a single expression, filtering by datatype and handling nulls with a Google search URL.

Explore how the multi row formula tool references adjacent rows to compute running totals and averages, with optional partitioning by a field and handling for empty rows.

The unique tool identifies records as unique or duplicates based on selected columns, routing first unique to the unique anchor and duplicates to the duplicate anchor, with optional pre-sorting.

Explore how the sample tool limits data for statistical analysis and modeling, using first N rows, last n rows, or one in n, grouping by brand ID and star rating.

Master the select records tool to pull specific records or ranges by record IDs, using plus and minus syntax, demonstrated with the root beer reviews dataset.

Learn how the imputation tool in Alteryx Designer replaces null or other values in numeric fields with a chosen value, using options like average, median, mode, or a custom value.

Use auto field and data cleansing tools to optimize field types and address null values, apply multi row and multi field formulas, and use select, filter, and sort tools.

Explore Alteryx data transformation palettes—join, parse, transpose, and spatial—and see how their tools interrelate to transform data, using join, union, and append alongside regex and text to columns.

Configure the join tool in Alteryx designer by joining on record position or fields. Pair it with the union tool to enable inner, left outer, right, and full outer joins.

Connects data in Alteryx designer through inner and left outer joins, geospatial merges, and unions, then computes time on shelf and the percent of customers who leave reviews.

The join multiple tool merges two or more inputs using keys, defaults to a full outer join, and supports joining by record position or specific fields.

Configure the union tool to combine multiple inputs by name or position, using auto or manual modes, and align or adjust fields for a unified dataset.

Learn how the append fields tool merges a smaller source dataset into a larger target, creating a Cartesian join with repeated source fields, using anchors and field options.

Learn to use Alteryx designer's find and replace to update a column by matching values to a reference table, with any part of a field, exact matches, or case-insensitive options.

Explore how the text to columns tool splits a single field into multiple columns or rows using delimiters, with configurable options, including dash, and post-processing steps like renaming fields.

The date time tool converts mixed date formats to ISO for Alteryx calculations and to human formats for reporting, with options to switch between date time and string.

Learn to use the regex tool for basic data cleansing in Alteryx, parsing, matching, and replacing data with case-insensitive options and multiple output methods.

create point spatial objects from latitude and longitude using the create points tool to enable spatial processing and mapping in Alteryx, with outputs for ArcGIS and Tableau.

Explore the distance tool in Alteryx Designer, covering point-to-point, point-to-edge, and polygon distances. Select drive time analysis when available and choose units in miles or kilometers.

Learn to create spatial trade areas around centers using distance or drive-time radii, configure donuts or concentric circles, choose units, and manage overlap to analyze customer proximity.

Explore the summarize tool in Alteryx Designer to group and aggregate data, computing sum, average, and count distinct, with revenue by brand. Learn to configure actions, filters, and flows.

Part 2 of the summarize tool cleans duplicates, performs geospatial analysis with centroids, and builds a reporting layer using summarize, formula, and cross tab tools.

Pivot data with the crosstab tool to turn rows into columns. Group by brand name, set star rating headers, and apply percent of total or percent of row aggregations.

Learn how the transpose tool pivots data columns into rows, preserving key columns while compressing data columns into a single value column and a name column for analysis.

Use the running total tool in Alteryx Designer to compute a cumulative sum per record. Optionally group by fields, create a running total column, and sort by date.

Learn to apply the weighted average tool, using a value field and length as the weighting field, grouping by brand name to produce weighted scores like star rating.

Master data transformation with join, join multiple, union, and append to combine data streams. Parse regex and text to columns; create points and distance; and summarize, crosstab, and running total.

Explore the reporting tools in Alteryx Designer to create business-facing analytics with objects, formatting, and distribution options, and prepare data for final reports using percent of total and year-over-year metrics.

Explore the report text tool in Alteryx Designer to create text elements from data or manual input, format headers and KPI values, insert fields, and preview results.

Learn to create basic and pivot tables in Alteryx Designer using the table tool, configure grouping, width, pivot style, and per-column formatting, and add bar graphs to enhance geospatial reports.

Harness the interactive chart tool in Alteryx to create multiple chart types in one flow. Configure layers for dual-axis visuals, templates, and batch visualizations.

Generate map images from spatial data for reporting in Alteryx Designer using the report map tool, with configurable settings, data, layers, and legend.

Customize map legends in Alteryx Designer using the map legend splitter and builder to extract, tailor text and image fields, and rejoin as a report object.

Configure the report header and footer in Alteryx Designer to include title, run date, language, date format, and an optional image, then attach to reports and customize footer details.

Explore using the image tool in Alteryx Designer to bring in static or dynamic images for reports, including backgrounds, logos, and headers, with disk or binary data sources.

Learn to build interactive dashboards with the Insight tool, combining charts, text filters, and drill downs, linking multiple data sources, configuring layers, and publishing to Alteryx Gallery.

Use the overlay tool to layer maps, images, text, and a background image with legends into a report. Configure base field, overlay field, and padding for precise placement across overlays.

Learn to use the layout tool to assemble report objects into a final render, configure layout mode, per row options, and styling for grouped or single-record reports.

Explore Alteryx's visual layout tool, a modern drag-and-drop reporting interface that simplifies assembling charts, images, legends, maps, tables, and text on a snap-to-grid canvas with page setup and render options.

Explore how the render tool formats and exports report objects to pdf, word, and image outputs for local distribution or email, with headers, footers, and layout options.

Create reports using table, image, text, and interactive charts; customize with header and legends; centralize with layout tools; publish dashboards to Alteryx Galleries via Insight; share via render and email.

Explore macros and analytic apps as the next evolution in alteryx analytics, consolidating workflows, enabling input data and parameter settings, and delivering parameter-driven analyses through user interfaces.

Explore macro types in Alteryx designer, including standard, batch, and iterative macros, and learn how standard macros serve as reusable tools within workflows.

Learn to create and configure standard macros in Alteryx designer by converting tools to macro inputs and outputs, configuring anchors, and saving to a macro repository.

Create and deploy batch macros in Alteryx Designer by using a control parameter to drive actions across records, update flow values, and expose a user interface for end-user configuration.

Explore how analytic apps turn regular workflows into user interface driven, self-contained tools for nontechnical users, using interface tools and action tools, then test in designer or gallery.

Review macro types in Alteryx designer: standard macros, batch macros, iterative macros, and analytic apps, each enabling self-contained workflows powered by user inputs.