Power BI Basics
reports · visuals · filters · slicers · bookmarks · drill-through · cross-filtering
Sheet 1 of 3
Power BI Desktop
Beginner
Printable
Power BI Desktop — Interface at a Glance
1
Report View
Canvas where you build pages, drag visuals, and design dashboards. Default view when you open a .pbix file.
2
Data View
Inspect the raw tables loaded into your model. Browse rows, check data types, and verify transformations.
3
Model View
See all tables and relationships visually. Create or edit relationships by dragging columns between tables.
4
Fields Pane
Right-side panel listing all tables, columns, and measures. Drag fields from here onto the canvas or into visual wells.
5
Visualizations Pane
Right-side panel to pick chart types and configure field wells (Axis, Values, Legend, Tooltips, Filters).
6
Filters Pane
Set filter conditions at Visual, Page, or Report level. Hidden from report consumers in reading view.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Z | Undo |
| Ctrl + S | Save |
| Ctrl + D | Duplicate visual |
| Ctrl + G | Group visuals |
| Alt + Enter | New line in DAX |
| F5 | Refresh data |
| Ctrl + Click | Multi-select visuals |
| Ctrl + Shift + F | Toggle Filters pane |
| Ctrl + Alt + F5 | Refresh all |
| Tab / Shift+Tab | Cycle between visuals |
Three views, one model: Report, Data, and Model views all work on the same underlying data model in your .pbix file. Changes in Model View (like relationships) immediately affect all report pages.
Report Structure
| Element | Description | How to add / set |
|---|---|---|
| Report | The whole .pbix file — contains all pages | File → New / Open |
| Page | A single canvas tab (like a PowerPoint slide) | Click + at bottom to add |
| Visual | A chart, table, card, or slicer on the canvas | Click icon in Visualizations pane |
| Theme | Colour palette and font applied to the whole report | View → Themes → Browse / Customize |
| Canvas size | Page dimensions (default 1280×720) | View → Page View / Format pane |
Page tips: Right-click a page tab to rename, duplicate, hide, or reorder. Hidden pages are still accessible in edit mode but won't appear to report viewers.
Visual Types — When to Use
📊 Bar / Column
Compare categories side by side
Best for: rankings, comparisons
📈 Line Chart
Show trends over time
Best for: time series, trends
🥧 Pie / Donut
Part-to-whole proportions
Best for: <6 categories only
📋 Table / Matrix
Row-level detail or pivot layout
Best for: exact values, drill-down
🎯 Card / KPI
Single number or goal tracking
Best for: headline metrics
🗺️ Map / Filled Map
Geo data by location or region
Best for: regional analysis
🌊 Waterfall
Cumulative positive/negative flow
Best for: P&L, variance bridges
🌳 Treemap
Hierarchical part-to-whole
Best for: nested categories
💬 Slicer
Interactive filter control on canvas
Best for: user-controlled filters
Avoid pie charts with more than 5–6 slices — they become unreadable. Use a bar chart instead. Always ask: does colour add information, or just decoration?
Filters — All Types Explained
| Filter Type | Scope | Set in |
|---|---|---|
| Visual-level | Affects only the selected visual | Filters pane → "Filters on this visual" |
| Page-level | Affects all visuals on the current page | Filters pane → "Filters on this page" |
| Report-level | Affects all visuals on all pages | Filters pane → "Filters on all pages" |
| Drill-through | Filters a detail page from a source visual | Drag field to Drill-through well |
| Cross-filter | Clicking a visual filters other visuals on the page | Default behaviour — can edit interactions |
| Row-level (RLS) | Restricts data rows per user/role | Modeling → Manage Roles |
Filter Operators
| Operator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| is | Exact match |
| is not | Exclude value |
| is blank | Null / empty values |
| is not blank | Non-null values |
| contains | Substring match |
| does not contain | Exclude substring |
| starts with | Prefix match |
| is less than | Numeric / date range |
| is greater than | Numeric / date range |
| is in the last N | Relative date filter |
Edit Visual Interactions
1
Select a visual
Click any chart or visual on the canvas to select it.
2
Format → Edit interactions
Icons appear on other visuals: filter 🔽, highlight ✦, or none ⊘.
3
Choose the behaviour
Filter — removes unrelated rows. Highlight — dims others, keeps context. None — no interaction.
Tip: Use highlight instead of filter when you want users to keep the full picture while focusing on a selection.
Slicers
| Slicer Style | Field type | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| List | Text / category | Pick one or many values from a list |
| Dropdown | Text / category | Save canvas space; many values |
| Between (slider) | Number / date | Range selection — e.g. price $10–$50 |
| Before / After | Date | Open-ended date boundary |
| Relative date | Date | Last N days / months / years (dynamic) |
| Tile | Category (few) | Button-style toggles for quick switching |
✦
Slicer Sync across pages
View → Sync Slicers — tick which pages the slicer should filter and on which pages it should be visible. Keeps filters consistent across a report without duplicating slicers.
Single vs Multi-select: In the slicer format options, toggle Single Select to force users to pick only one value at a time. Hold Ctrl to multi-select in the default mode.
Bookmarks
What Bookmarks Capture
| Property | Captured? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Filter state | Yes | Slicer selections, filter pane values |
| Visual visibility | Yes | Show/hide individual visuals |
| Sort order | Yes | Per-visual column sort |
| Drilldown state | Yes | Hierarchy level expanded |
| Spotlight | Yes | Focused visual state |
| Underlying data | No | Data refreshes from the model always |
1
Open Bookmarks pane
View → Bookmarks Pane
2
Set the state you want to save
Apply filters, show/hide visuals, set slicers exactly as desired.
3
Click "Add" in the pane
A bookmark snapshot is created. Rename it clearly.
4
Link to a button or image
Select a button → Format → Action → Type: Bookmark → choose bookmark.
Common Bookmark Use Cases
★
Toggle between views
Create two bookmarks — one showing a chart, one showing a table — and link them to toggle buttons. Users switch between views without changing pages.
★
Reset filters button
Create a bookmark with all slicers in default/blank state. Link to a "Reset" button. One click clears all filters for the user.
★
Guided storytelling
Create a sequence of bookmarks each showing a different insight. Use the Bookmark Navigator (Insert → Buttons → Navigator) for slide-show-style presentation.
★
Info / tooltip overlays
Hide a text box or info panel by default. Create two bookmarks — panel hidden and panel visible — triggered by a ⓘ info button click.
Bookmark Groups: Organise bookmarks into groups in the Bookmarks pane. A Bookmark Navigator button can be scoped to one group, keeping navigation tidy when you have many bookmarks.
Drill-Through
1
Create a detail page
Add a new page that will show detailed information (e.g. a Product Detail page). Design visuals for this page.
2
Add a drill-through field
On the detail page, drag the field users will drill by (e.g. ProductName) into the Drill through well in the Visualizations pane.
3
Right-click to drill
On the source page, right-click a data point (e.g. a bar) → Drill through → Product Detail. Carries the filter context automatically.
4
Back button
Power BI auto-creates a Back button on the detail page. Format it with your theme so users can navigate back to the source page easily.
Keep all filters: Toggle "Keep all filters" in the drill-through well to pass all active slicer/filter context from the source page — not just the drill field.
Relationships & Data Model
| Concept | Meaning | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Star schema | Fact table linked to dimension tables | Always aim for star schema — it's faster and simpler |
| Fact table | Contains metrics / events (Sales, Orders) | Keep narrow — only keys + numeric measures |
| Dimension table | Contains descriptors (Date, Product, Customer) | One row per unique key value |
| One-to-many (1:*) | One dim row → many fact rows (most common) | Default and recommended relationship type |
| Many-to-many (*:*) | Both sides can repeat (handle with care) | Use a bridge table instead where possible |
| Cross-filter: Single | Filter flows one way (dim → fact) | Default — use for most relationships |
| Cross-filter: Both | Filters flow both directions | Use sparingly — can cause ambiguity & slow queries |
Avoid bidirectional relationships in large models — they can create circular dependencies, unexpected filter propagation, and slow query performance. Prefer single-direction with explicit DAX where needed.
Formatting & Report Best Practices
Design Principles
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Use a consistent colour theme | Random colours on every visual |
| Add clear titles to every visual | Untitled or "Chart 1" labels |
| Align visuals with gridlines | Uneven spacing and sizes |
| Limit to 5–7 visuals per page | Cluttered pages with 20+ visuals |
| Use KPI / card for key numbers | Burying key metrics in tables |
| Sort bars by value descending | Alphabetical sort on bar charts |
Format Pane — Key Settings
| Setting | Where |
|---|---|
| Data labels | Format → Data labels → On |
| Conditional formatting | Field well → Context menu → Conditional formatting |
| Reference lines | Analytics pane (chart selected) |
| Error bars | Analytics pane → Error bars |
| Tooltip page | Page type: Tooltip in Format pane |
| Alt text | Format → General → Alt text |
Performance Tips
⚡
Reduce visual count
Every visual runs a query. Fewer visuals = faster page load.
⚡
Use Import mode
Import mode caches data in memory — far faster than DirectQuery for most reports.
⚡
Avoid high-cardinality columns in visuals
Placing a column with millions of unique values (like Transaction ID) in a visual slows rendering significantly.
⚡
Use Performance Analyzer
View → Performance Analyzer → Start recording. Shows query duration per visual — pinpoint slow visuals easily.
Power BI Basics Mastery Checklist
| Interface & Visuals | Key point |
|---|---|
| Navigate 3 views | Report · Data · Model |
| Add a visual | Click icon in Visualizations pane |
| Rename a page | Double-click the page tab |
| Apply a theme | View → Themes |
| Check query speed | View → Performance Analyzer |
| Filters & Slicers | Key point |
|---|---|
| Visual-level filter | Filters pane → this visual |
| Report-level filter | Filters pane → all pages |
| Edit interactions | Format → Edit interactions |
| Sync slicers | View → Sync Slicers |
| Relative date slicer | Format → Slicer settings |
| Bookmarks & Drill | Key point |
|---|---|
| Create a bookmark | View → Bookmarks → Add |
| Link button to bookmark | Format → Action → Bookmark |
| Reset filters button | Bookmark with blank state |
| Set up drill-through | Drag field to Drill through well |
| Avoid bidirectional joins | Use single-direction relationships |
Next up → Sheet 2: DAX Formulas ·
CALCULATE · FILTER · ALL · SUMX · RANKX · RELATED · time intelligence · measures vs calculated columns