Public sharing

Only admins can create and manage public links and embeds.

Public sharing lets admins create and share public links (URLs) for questions, dashboards, and documents. People can view them as standalone destinations or as embedded iframes in another page or app. Public items display view-only results, so visitors won’t be able to drill down into the underlying data. Public sharing is ideal for:

One-off charts and dashboards you want to share broadly
Marketing pages showcasing analytics or metrics
Public reports for stakeholders without Metabase access
Blog posts or documentation with embedded charts
External websites that need to display your data

Public links are accessible to anyone with the URL. Don’t use public sharing for sensitive or private data.

Feature comparison

No authentication required
Simple iframe embeds
All Metabase plans
Limited interactivity

Guest embeds

Signed, secure embeds
Filter with locked parameters
All Metabase plans
More control than public

SSO embeds

Full authentication
Drill-through and exploration
Pro/Enterprise plans
Maximum functionality

Create a public link for a question

Open sharing menu

Click the Sharing icon at the top right of the question

Create public link

Select Create a public link

Copy and test

Copy the link and test it in a private/incognito browser session

Export question results via public link

Export options are only available for questions, not dashboards.

To create a public link that downloads question results:

Create public link

Click the Sharing icon and select Create a public link

Choose export format

Below the Public link URL, click the file format you want:

CSV - Comma-separated values
XLSX - Excel spreadsheet
JSON - JavaScript Object Notation

Test the link

Open the public link in a new tab to test the download

Exporting raw, unformatted results

By default, Metabase exports formatted results (e.g., 0.42 → 42%). To export raw values, append ?format_rows=false to the URL:

https://www.example.com/public/question/cf347ce0-90bb-4669-b73b-56c73edd10cb.csv?format_rows=false

See the export format endpoint documentation for more details.

Create a public link for a dashboard

Open sharing menu

Click the Sharing button in the top right menu

Create public link

Select Create a public link

Copy the URL

Copy the generated URL to share with others

For more advanced dashboard embedding with parameters, see guest embedding.

Create a public link for a document

Open sharing menu

Click the Sharing button in the top right menu

Create public link

Select Create a public link

Public documents are read-only:

Viewers cannot edit content or add comments
Charts in the document allow downloads (CSV, XLSX, JSON)
Use the Download results option in the chart menu

Public embeds

Embed questions or dashboards as iframes in your website or app:

Open embed menu

Click the Sharing icon for your question or dashboard

Access embed code

Click Embed, then Get embedding code at the bottom of the popup

Copy iframe snippet

Copy the generated iframe code

Paste in your website

Add the iframe snippet to your HTML

Example public embed code

<iframe
  src="https://metabase.example.com/public/question/abc123"
  frameborder="0"
  width="800"
  height="600"
  allowtransparency
></iframe>

Customizing public embeds

You can customize the appearance and filters of public embeds using URL parameters.

Public link URLs can be discovered from iframe src attributes. Anyone with the URL can remove parameters to view the original content. For secure embeds with locked parameters, use guest embedding.

Appearance parameters

Add hash parameters to customize the look:

Hide title
Hide borders
Dark theme
Multiple options

/public/dashboard/abc123#titled=false

/public/dashboard/abc123#bordered=false

/public/question/abc123#theme=night

/public/dashboard/abc123#titled=false&bordered=false&theme=transparent

See appearance parameters for all available options.

Filter parameters

Apply filters to public embeds by adding query parameters. Make sure you’ve set up question filters or dashboard filters first.

Basic filter syntax

/dashboard/42?filter_name=value

Filter names in URLs should be lowercase with underscores instead of spaces. For example, “Filter for User ZIP Code” becomes filter_for_user_zip_code.

Examples

/dashboard/42?id=7

Simulating drill-through on public dashboards

Metabase’s automatic drill-through doesn’t work on public dashboards because it requires access to raw data. However, you can simulate drill-through using custom click behaviors:

Create destination dashboard

Create a second dashboard to act as the drill-through destination

Create public link for destination

Generate a public link for the destination dashboard and copy the URL

Set up custom click behavior

On your primary dashboard:

Create a custom destination with type “URL”
Set it to the destination dashboard’s public link

Pass filter values (optional)

Pass a filter value from the primary dashboard by adding a query parameter:

/public/dashboard/?child_filter_name={{parent_column_name}}

Example: Invoice to Accounts drill-through

Pass the Plan value from an Invoices dashboard to an Accounts dashboard:

/public/dashboard/accounts-dashboard-uuid?plan={{plan}}

Go to Admin settings

Click the grid icon in the upper right, select Admin

Navigate to Public sharing

In the Settings tab, select Public sharing

Toggle off

Toggle off Public sharing

If you disable and then re-enable public sharing, all previously generated public links will still work (unless you deactivated them individually).

View all publicly shared content

Admins can see all publicly shared questions, dashboards, documents, and actions: Admin > Settings > Public sharing

Deactivate individual public links

Single item
Multiple items

Visit the question or dashboard

Click the Sharing icon

Select Public link or Embed

Click Remove public link

Security considerations

Public links are accessible to anyone on the internet. Consider these security implications:

Anyone with the link can access it

Public links don’t require authentication. Treat them like passwords—anyone who has the URL can view the content.

Links are stable and don't expire

Public links remain active until you manually deactivate them. They don’t expire automatically.

Data is visible to search engines

Public links may be indexed by search engines unless you add robots.txt rules or deactivate the link.

Parameters can be modified

Users can modify URL parameters to see different filtered views of your data (unless using guest embeds with locked parameters).

No audit trail for viewers

You can’t see who accessed a public link or when they viewed it.

When to use alternatives

Use guest embeds if...

You need locked filter parameters
You want to control data visibility per embed
You need slightly more security than public links

Use SSO embeds if...

You need per-user authentication
You want drill-through and exploration
You need audit trails and usage analytics

Download permissions

Data downloads are enabled by default for public embeds. Only Pro and Enterprise plans can disable downloads.

To control whether people can download data from public embeds:

Go to Admin > Settings > Public sharing
Configure download permissions for your plan level

Best practices

Use descriptive names

Give questions and dashboards clear names—the name appears in public links and helps people understand what they’re viewing.

Test in private browsing

Always test public links in an incognito/private browser window to ensure they work correctly.

Monitor shared content

Regularly review public links in Admin > Public sharing and deactivate any that are no longer needed.

Consider data sensitivity

Before creating a public link, verify that the data is appropriate for public viewing.

Use guest embeds for sensitive data

If you need any level of data control or security, use guest embeds instead.

Document your public links

Keep track of where public embeds are used (which websites, pages, etc.) for easier maintenance.

Common use cases

Marketing website metrics

Embed public dashboards on your marketing site to showcase product metrics or customer success stories.

Blog post visualizations

Include public question embeds in blog posts to illustrate data points or research findings.

Stakeholder reports

Share public dashboard links with external stakeholders who don’t need Metabase accounts.

Data journalism

Publish public charts and dashboards as part of data-driven stories or reports.

Public data portals

Create public dashboards for open data initiatives or government transparency.

Troubleshooting

Public link not working

Verify that public sharing is enabled in Admin > Settings > Public sharing
Check that the link hasn’t been deactivated
Ensure the question or dashboard still exists
Try accessing in a private/incognito browser window

Iframe not displaying

Check browser console for errors
Verify the iframe src URL is correct
Ensure your website’s Content Security Policy allows iframes from your Metabase domain
Test the public link directly in a browser first

Filters not applying

Verify filter names match (lowercase, underscores instead of spaces)
Check that filters are set up on the question/dashboard
Ensure filter values are URL-encoded
Test the filter by manually adding it to the URL

Export links not downloading

Verify you’re using a question export link (not dashboard)
Check that the file format extension is correct (.csv, .xlsx, .json)
Ensure pop-up blockers aren’t preventing the download
Try the link in a different browser

Next steps

Guest embeds

Secure embeds with locked parameters

Modular embedding

Authenticated embeds with full functionality

Appearance settings

Customize Metabase’s look and feel

Dashboard filters

Set up filters for dashboards

Getting Started

Questions & Dashboards

Data Modeling

Database Connections

Embedding

Administration

Installation & Operations

AI Features

​When to use public sharing

​Feature comparison

Public sharing

Guest embeds

SSO embeds

​Create a public link for a question

​Export question results via public link

​Exporting raw, unformatted results

​Create a public link for a dashboard

​Create a public link for a document

​Public embeds

​Example public embed code

​Customizing public embeds

​Appearance parameters

​Filter parameters

​Basic filter syntax

​Examples

​Simulating drill-through on public dashboards

​Example: Invoice to Accounts drill-through

​Managing public sharing

​Disable public sharing globally

​View all publicly shared content

​Deactivate individual public links

​Security considerations

​When to use alternatives

Use guest embeds if...

Use SSO embeds if...

​Download permissions

​Best practices

​Common use cases

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

Guest embeds

Modular embedding

Appearance settings

Dashboard filters

​Further reading

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

When to use public sharing

Feature comparison

Create a public link for a question

Export question results via public link

Exporting raw, unformatted results

Create a public link for a dashboard

Create a public link for a document

Public embeds

Example public embed code

Customizing public embeds

Appearance parameters

Filter parameters

Basic filter syntax

Examples

Simulating drill-through on public dashboards

Example: Invoice to Accounts drill-through

Managing public sharing

Disable public sharing globally

View all publicly shared content

Deactivate individual public links

Security considerations

When to use alternatives

Download permissions

Best practices

Common use cases

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Further reading