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How to View Full Screen in Power BI Desktop

A computer monitor displaying a full-screen power bi desktop dashboard

Power BI Desktop is a powerful business analytics tool that helps you visualize and understand data in a more meaningful way. One of the great features of Power BI Desktop is the ability to view dashboards and reports in full screen mode. In this article, we will explore the steps to view dashboards and reports in full screen mode, discuss the benefits of using full screen mode, and provide tips and tricks to optimize your viewing experience.

Table of Contents

Maximizing Your Power BI Desktop Experience with Full Screen View

As a data analyst, having a clear and unobstructed view of your dashboards and reports is critical to finding insights and making informed decisions. Full screen mode in Power BI Desktop is an excellent way to enhance your experience by maximizing the space on your screen, allowing you to see more information at once.

In addition to maximizing your screen space, full screen mode also eliminates distractions from other applications or notifications that may pop up on your desktop. This allows you to fully immerse yourself in your data analysis and stay focused on the task at hand. Furthermore, you can easily toggle between full screen mode and regular view with just a click of a button, making it a convenient feature to use whenever you need it.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Viewing Full Screen in Power BI Desktop

The process of viewing dashboards and reports in full screen mode is quite simple. Here are the steps:

  • Open Power BI Desktop and navigate to the dashboard or report you wish to view in full screen mode.
  • Click on the full screen icon in the top right corner of the screen, or press the F11 key on your keyboard.
  • Your dashboard or report will now be displayed in full screen mode. To exit full screen mode, simply press the Esc key on your keyboard or click on the full screen icon again.

It is important to note that viewing dashboards and reports in full screen mode can enhance the user experience by providing a larger and more immersive view of the data. This can be particularly useful when presenting to a group or when analyzing complex data sets. Additionally, full screen mode can help to minimize distractions and improve focus on the data being presented.

The Benefits of Using Full Screen View in Power BI Desktop

There are several benefits to using full screen mode in Power BI Desktop:

  • Maximizes screen space for clear and unobstructed viewing
  • Allows you to see more of your dashboard or report at once
  • Reduces distractions and improves focus on the data

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, using full screen view in Power BI Desktop can also improve collaboration and communication among team members. When presenting your dashboard or report to others, full screen mode allows everyone to view the data clearly and without any distractions. This can lead to more productive discussions and better decision-making based on the insights gained from the data.

How to Optimize Your Dashboard Viewing with Full Screen in Power BI Desktop

To optimize your viewing experience in full screen mode, follow these tips:

  • Hide or minimize the side panel to create more space
  • Use filters and drill down functionality to focus on specific data points
  • Maximize the size of visuals by enabling the “Fit to Page” option

Additionally, you can also use the “Bookmark” feature to save specific views of your dashboard and easily switch between them while in full screen mode. This can be especially helpful when presenting to others or when monitoring specific metrics over time.

Top Shortcuts for Quick Access to Full Screen View in Power BI Desktop

If you frequently use full screen mode in Power BI Desktop, you may find these keyboard shortcuts useful:

  • Press F11 to toggle full screen mode on and off

Please note that while other shortcuts may be available in different applications, Power BI Desktop does not have specific shortcuts such as Ctrl + F11 or Shift + F11 for entering full screen mode and hiding panels or ribbons. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the Power BI Desktop environment and its available features.

Full screen mode in Power BI Desktop can be particularly useful when presenting data to others or when you need to focus on a specific visual. However, it’s important to note that some features may not be available in full screen mode, such as the ability to edit visuals or access the data model.

Another way to access full screen mode is by right-clicking on a visual and selecting “Focus mode.” This will enlarge the visual to fill the screen, while still allowing you to interact with it and access other features in Power BI Desktop.

Best Practices for Using Full Screen View in Power BI Desktop for Maximum Efficiency

Here are some best practices to follow when using full screen mode in Power BI Desktop:

  • Use full screen mode sparingly and only when you need a clear and unobstructed view of your data
  • Maximize the use of filters and drill down functionality
  • Avoid cluttering your dashboard or report with unnecessary visuals or information

Another important best practice to keep in mind when using full screen mode in Power BI Desktop is to ensure that your visuals are optimized for the larger screen size. This means using appropriate font sizes, colors, and visualizations that are easy to read and understand at a larger scale. Additionally, it’s important to test your report or dashboard in full screen mode to ensure that all elements are properly aligned and displayed without any distortion or cropping. By following these best practices, you can maximize your efficiency and productivity when working with Power BI Desktop in full screen mode.

Troubleshooting Common Issues When Viewing Full Screen in Power BI Desktop

If you experience any issues when viewing dashboards or reports in full screen mode, try the following troubleshooting steps:

  • Ensure that your screen resolution is set to the recommended size for your device
  • Check that your browser zoom is set to 100%
  • Clear your browser cache and cookies
  • Restart your computer or device

However, if the above steps do not resolve the issue, there may be a problem with the Power BI Desktop software itself. In this case, try updating to the latest version of the software or reinstalling it altogether.

Another common issue when viewing dashboards or reports in full screen mode is slow loading times. This can be caused by a variety of factors, such as large data sets or complex visuals. To improve loading times, try optimizing your data model or simplifying your visuals. You can also try using the “Optimize for Viewing” feature in Power BI Desktop to improve performance.

Customizing Full Screen Mode to Suit Your Needs in Power BI Desktop

Customization options for full screen mode in Power BI Desktop are limited. However, you can:

  • Choose to show or hide the status bar
  • Enable or disable the “Escape key exits full screen” option

While Power BI Desktop does not support “Fade in and out” animations or custom background images for full screen mode, you can still personalize your experience by adjusting the settings that are available within the software’s options.

How-to: Navigate the User Interface of Power BI Desktop’s Full Screen Mode

Navigating the user interface in full screen mode is straightforward. Here are some tips:

  • Use your mouse to interact with visuals and data points
  • Use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out of the dashboard or report
  • Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate between visuals or pages
  • Use the Ctrl + P keyboard shortcut to print your dashboard or report

In summary, full screen mode in Power BI Desktop is a powerful tool that can enhance your viewing experience and help you gain insights from your data. By following the tips and best practices outlined in this article, you can make the most of this feature while avoiding common pitfalls.

Additionally, you can use the “F11” key on your keyboard to toggle between full screen mode and regular mode. This can be helpful if you need to quickly switch between modes or if you want to view your dashboard or report in a smaller window. Keep in mind that some features may not be available in full screen mode, so it’s important to test your dashboard or report in both modes to ensure everything is working as expected.

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Microsoft Power BI Gains Presentation Mode on Windows 10

The Windows 10 app of Power BI now has a Presentation Mode that enhances collaboration and conferencing situations.

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Microsoft has sent out a new update for Power BI for users running the Windows 10 app version of the data analytics suite. While the update is not loaded with new features, it does score an important new ability. Power BI on Windows 10 now has an enhanced presentation mode.

With this mode, Microsoft says conferencing and collaboration environments gain a powerful new tool.

To use the Presentation Mode, users can select the full screen button located in the menu bar. Once selected, Presentation Mode will reframe the screen to remove the app frame. Focus is entirely on the data and dashboard visuals when Presentation Mode is enacted.

“Using Presentation mode in the Power BI app running on Surface Hub in your conference room and collaboration areas, better allows you to have meetings which focus on your data,” Microsoft explains. “Presenting, collaborating and having productive discussions with your colleagues and team members while using your data in your Power BI dashboards and reports has never been easier.”

A new action bar is also visible in this mode, although its availability depends on the size of the display. For example, if your screen is 84” or lower, the action bar appears on the top or the bottom of the display. For screens over 84”, the bar is located on the left of right edge.

The action bar is an important part of the Presentation Mode in Power BI. This is where users can navigate through pages and enter the report and/or app. Users can also search through the action bar.

Enhancing collaboration further, Presentation Mode has support for pen input, allowing users to highlight and edit in real-time.

Presentation Mode is available for Power BI on Windows 10 from the Microsoft Store here .

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How to Make Power BI Dashboard Full Screen

Do you want to make your Power BI dashboard full-screen?

Power BI provides the flexibility to view reports and dashboards in full-screen mode, creating an immersive and focused experience. Optimizing screen real estate for your reports may require adjusting settings or simply clicking a button, depending on the Power BI platform you’re using.

By eliminating distractions and maximizing impact, viewing reports in full-screen mode offers the optimal engagement and analysis experience.

Whether presenting to a larger audience or exploring insights privately, this seamless and captivating user experience ensures a deep dive into your valuable information.

This article will guide you on enlarging your reports and dashboards in Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service.

Make Dashboard Full Screen in Power BI Desktop

With a plethora of features, the Power BI desktop facilitates report preparation and data analysis, empowering you to unearth valuable insights. Occasionally, when using Power BI desktop, you may desire to view your report on a larger scale than what is currently displayed.

Regrettably, the Power BI Desktop service does not provide a dedicated setting for a full-screen view of your dashboard that will remove the display of other menu icons.

Nonetheless, there are some approaches you can take to increase the size of your report.

presentation view in power bi desktop

The Filters, Visualizations, and Data panes contain most of the essential tools required for report creation. However, when fully expanded, these panes use up a significant portion of the screen which can potentially cause your report to appear smaller than desired.

presentation view in power bi desktop

To address this issue, you can utilize the collapse/expand arrows provided within these panes. By collapsing them, you can effectively reduce their size.

Collapsing the panes will expand the width of your report, letting you maximize the available viewing space.

presentation view in power bi desktop

The menu ribbons are another section that occupies valuable viewing space in your report. Although they may not occupy as much space as the filter, visualization and data panes do, they still have a significant impact on the overall size of your report.

You can consider hiding the menu ribbons to increase the height of your report. This simple adjustment can optimize the usage of space and enhance your report’s effectiveness.

presentation view in power bi desktop

To hide the menu ribbons, simply locate the Switch ribbons dropdown arrow in the screen’s top right-hand corner.

By clicking on this button, you can conceal the menu ribbons and free up additional screen space for an expanded view of your report.

To optimize the effectiveness of these adjustments, it is recommended to utilize the largest page size suitable for your screen.

This can be accomplished by ensuring that the Fit to page view setting is selected, allowing your report to be displayed in its entirety and making the most of the available screen real estate.

presentation view in power bi desktop

To use this setting, navigate to the View menu, where you will find the Page view option. Click on it and select the Fit to page option.

presentation view in power bi desktop

You can also use the Fit to page button beside the zoom bar to apply the page-view setting.

presentation view in power bi desktop

The canvas setting is another factor that influences the display size of your report. For most screen sizes, the 16:9 setting is recommended as it offers an optimal viewing experience.

However, if desired, you can utilize the custom setting to define a screen size that best suits your specific requirements, ensuring that your report is displayed in a manner that aligns with your preferences.

By utilizing these settings in conjunction, you can effectively enhance the size of your report in Power BI Desktop, utilizing all the available screen space to display your report optimally.

Make Dashboard Full Screen in Power BI Service

Power BI Service represents the cloud-based iteration of Power BI Desktop, empowering you to effortlessly generate, publish, and distribute insightful reports and captivating dashboards.

presentation view in power bi desktop

After creating your report in Power BI Desktop, you can easily publish it to your Power BI service account using the Publish button in the Home ribbon.

The BI Service platform offers a seamless experience for viewing your reports in full screen. Unlike Power BI Desktop, it provides a dedicated button specifically for this purpose.

This convenient feature allows you to enjoy your reports in full-screen mode effortlessly.

presentation view in power bi desktop

Utilizing the full-screen mode in Power BI Service is a breeze. Once you’ve published your report, effortlessly open it and locate the View button situated in the top right-hand corner of the report. Next, simply select Full screen from the available options.

Once you follow these steps, the report will be presented in full-screen mode, eliminating the display of other menu buttons and providing a focused viewing experience.

To exit the full-screen mode, simply press the Esc key on your keyboard, returning to the regular view of Power BI Service.

Optimizing the viewing experience in Power BI Desktop involves utilizing various settings and techniques to maximize the available screen space for your reports.

By collapsing panes, hiding menu ribbons, selecting appropriate page views, and utilizing the full-screen mode, you can enhance the visual impact of your reports and dashboards.

These adjustments allow you to immerse yourself in your data, analyze it effectively, and present your insights with clarity.

However, the Power BI Service offers a more streamlined option to effortlessly view your report in full-screen mode. Simply publish your report to a workspace within your Power BI Service account and use the View option to display the report in full-screen mode.

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Power View: Explore, visualize, and present your data

Important:  Power Pivot is available in the Office Professional Plus and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise editions, and in the standalone edition of Excel 2013. Want to see what version of Office you’re using?

Important:  In Excel for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021, Power View is removed on October 12, 2021. As an alternative, you can use the interactive visual experience provided by Power BI Desktop,  which you can download for free. You can also easily Import Excel workbooks into Power BI Desktop . 

Power View is an interactive data exploration, visualization, and presentation experience that encourages intuitive ad-hoc reporting. Power View is a feature of Microsoft Excel 2013, and of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and 2013 as part of the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Server Enterprise Edition.

Watch Power View and Power Pivot videos

Map with a column chart in Power View

Also in this article

Get started with power view, data sources for power view, create charts and other visualizations, filter and highlight data.

Reports with multiple views in Power View in SharePoint

Share Power View reports

Share power view in excel, share power view in sharepoint reports (rdlx files), print power view reports, set power view reporting properties in power pivot, performance, comparing power view, report builder, and report designer, more about power view, power view in excel and in sharepoint, power view in excel, power view in sharepoint.

Power View has two versions:

Start Power View in Excel 2013 . In Excel, Power View sheets are part of the Excel XLSX file.

Create a Power View in SharePoint Server report . Power View reports in SharePoint Server are RDLX files

Both versions of Power View need Silverlight installed on the machine.

You can’t open a Power View RDLX file in Excel, or open an Excel XLSX file with Power View sheets in Power View in SharePoint. You also can’t copy charts or other visualizations from the RDLX file into the Excel workbook.

You can save Excel XLSX files with Power View sheets to SharePoint Server, either on premises or in Microsoft 365, and open those files in SharePoint. Read more about Power View in Excel in SharePoint Server 2013 or in SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365 .

In Excel 2013, you can use data right in Excel as the basis for Power View in Excel and SharePoint. When you add tables and create relationships between them, Excel is creating a Data Model behind the scenes. A data model is a collection of tables and their relationships reflecting the real-world relationships between business functions and processes—for example, how Products relates to Inventory and Sales. You can continue modifying and enhancing that same data model in Power Pivot in Excel , to make a more sophisticated data model for Power View reports.

With Power View you can interact with data:

In the same Excel workbook as the Power View sheet.

In data models in Excel workbooks published in a Power Pivot Gallery .

In tabular models deployed to SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services (SSAS) instances.

In multidimensional models on an SSAS server (if you’re using Power View in SharePoint Server ).

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In Power View, you can quickly create a variety of visualizations, from tables and matrices to pie, bar, and bubble charts and sets of multiple charts. For every visualization you want to create, start with a table, which you then convert easily to other visualizations to find one best illustrates your data. To create a table, click a table or field in the field list, or drag a field from the field list to the view. Power View draws the table in the view, displaying your actual data and automatically adding column headings.

To convert a table to other visualizations, click a visualization type on the Design tab. Power View only enables the charts and other visualizations that work best for that data in that table. For example, if Power View doesn’t detect any aggregated numeric values, then no charts are enabled.

Read more in charts and other data visualizations in Power View

Power View provides several ways to filter data. Power View uses the metadata in the underlying data model to understand the relationships between the different tables and fields in a workbook or report. Because of these relationships, you can use one visualization to filter and highlight all the visualizations in a sheet or view. Or you can display the filters area and define filters that apply to an individual visualization or to all the visualizations in a sheet or view. In Power View in SharePoint, you can leave the filter pane visible or hide it before switching to reading or full-screen mode.

Slicers in Excel enable you to compare and evaluate your data from different perspectives. Slicers in Power View are similar. When you have multiple slicers on a view and you select an entry in one slicer, that selection filters the other slicers in the view.

Read more about Slicers in Power View .

You can sort tables, matrices, bar and column charts, and sets of small multiples in Power View. You sort the columns in tables and matrices, the categories or numeric values in charts, and the multiple field or the numeric values in a set of multiples. In each case, you can sort ascending or descending either on attributes such as Product Name, or on numeric values such as Total Sales.

A single Power View in SharePoint report can contain multiple views. All views in a Power View report in SharePoint are based on the same tabular model. Each view has its own visualizations, and filters on each view are for that view only.

Read more in Reports with multiple views in Power View in SharePoint .

Note:  In Excel, each Power View sheet is a separate worksheet. A single Excel workbook can contain any number of Power View sheets, and each Power View sheet can be based on a different model. 

Power View reports are always presentable – you can browse your data and present it at any time, because you’re working with real data. You don’t need to preview your report to see how it looks.

Share your Excel workbooks with Power View sheets:

On a SharePoint Server 2013 or SharePoint Online site.     Whether on-premises or in the cloud, your report readers can view and interact with the Power View sheets in the workbooks you have saved there.

Read about Power View in Excel in SharePoint Server 2013 or in SharePoint Online in Office 365 .

In reading and full-screen presentation modes, the ribbon and other design tools are hidden to provide more room for the visualizations. The report is still fully interactive, with filtering and highlighting capability.

When you create Power View reports in SharePoint, you save them to SharePoint Server 2010 or 2013, where others can view and interact with them. Others can also edit them, and depending on their permissions on the server, they can save their changes. Read more about creating, saving, and printing Power View reports .

You can also export an interactive version of your Power View in SharePoint report to PowerPoint. Each view in Power View becomes a separate PowerPoint slide. Interacting with Power View reports exported to PowerPoint is similar to interacting with views in Power View reading and full-screen modes: You interact with the visualizations and filters in each view, but you can’t create visualizations or filters.

Read about exporting a report from Power View in SharePoint to PowerPoint .

Power View reports are designed for interaction, whether in Excel XLSX files or RDLX files in SharePoint: You tap values in one chart and it affects the values in the others. So you can print a Power View sheet, but it’s static – no interactivity on paper, of course.

Plus, you design a Power View report to look good on a screen: You make all the charts, tables, and other visuals fit in one screen. So sometimes a chart or table has a scroll bar – a reader has to scroll to see the rest of the values in that chart or table. Again, scroll bars don’t work on paper.

You can set several properties in Power Pivot to improve the Power View reporting experience.

Select default aggregations

Set the default title, image, and identifier for each table in your model

Determine how duplicate values are handled in Power View reports

Hide tables, fields, and measures from Power View report creators

Set the default fields for a table so that when you click on a table in Power View, all of the default fields will be simultaneously added to the report

To enhance performance, Power View only retrieves the data it needs at any given time for a data visualization. Thus, even if a table in the sheet or view is based on an underlying data model that contains millions of rows, Power View only fetches data for the rows that are visible in the table at any one time. If you drag the scroll bar to the bottom of the table, you notice it pops back up so you can scroll down farther as Power View retrieves more rows.

Power View doesn’t replace the existing Reporting Services reporting products.

Report Designer is a sophisticated design environment that developers and IT pros use for embedded reporting in their applications. In Report Designer they can create operational reports, shared data sources, and shared datasets, and author report viewer controls.

In Report Builder , IT pros and power users can create powerful operational reports and reusable report parts and shared datasets.

Report Builder and Report Designer create RDL reports; Power View creates RDLX reports. Power View cannot open RDL reports, and vice versa.

RDL reports can run on report servers in Reporting Services native mode or in SharePoint mode.

Power View RDLX reports can run only on report servers in SharePoint mode.

Both Report Designer and Report Builder ship in SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Reporting Services, along with Power View. Read more about SQL Server Reporting Services tools .

Charts and other visualizations in Power View

Change a sum to an average or other aggregate in Power View

Power View in Excel in SharePoint Server or SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365

Tutorial: Optimize your Data Model for Power View reporting

System requirements for Power View in SharePoint

Create, save, and print Power View in SharePoint reports

Multidimensional Model Objects in Power View

Keyboard shortcuts and accessibility in Power View in SharePoint

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How to integrate Power BI reports with a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint

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If your organization is using Microsoft Power BI mobile, you have access to a lot of data via interactive reporting. That information is vital when making decisions and presenting growth, goals, and other benchmarks to others in your organization. Now Power BI reports are easier than ever to share because you can add them to Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

SEE: Windows, Linux, and Mac commands everyone needs to know (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to share Power BI reports as live reports or embedded images working from PowerPoint or Power BI mobile. Working with existing Power BI reports will save you a lot of preparation time.

This feature is available to Microsoft 365 and Power BI mobile users.

How to get the Power BI add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint

You may already have this feature in PowerPoint. Click the Insert tab and look for the Power BI group in the middle of the ribbon. Click the button to add a frame and start the process.

If you don’t find that button, download Power BI as follows:

  • Click the Insert tab.
  • In the Add-ins group, click Get Add-ins.
  • In the resulting dialog, search for Power BI.
  • Choose Microsoft Power BI, as shown in Figure A , and click OK. Downloading might take a few seconds.

presentation view in power bi desktop

Regardless of whether you used the Power BI button or the add-in, you’re now ready to link to the report. To do so, access the report online using Power BI mobile, paste its URL into the add-in control, as shown in Figure B , and click Insert. Allow a few seconds for this feature to link to the appropriate report.

presentation view in power bi desktop

Figure C shows the resulting report in a PowerPoint slide. During the show, you can filter the reports as if you were using Power BI mobile. In addition, the link is live, so as you update information via the data source, the link updates the reports in PowerPoint. To embed another report, you will need to download a new add-in frame or click the Power BI button via the PowerPoint interface.

You don’t have to start with PowerPoint. You can also share the report from Power BI mobile to PowerPoint.

How to share a Power BI report to Microsoft PowerPoint

If you prefer to start with Microsoft Power BI mobile, open the report and then use Share or Export. Both options offer a PowerPoint choice and end up displaying the dialog shown in Figure D .

After copying the link, open PowerPoint and insert the URL in a Power BI frame as you did above.

presentation view in power bi desktop

The difference with this route is that Export lets you embed the report as an image, which won’t update, or a live link, which will. Share lets you send a link to people via email or open the report in a new PowerPoint file.

Using either Export or Share you can bypass the add-in download task by clicking Open in PowerPoint ( Figure D ). Doing so opens a new .pptx file and imports the report into a slide without downloading the add-in frame first.

Sharing in Microsoft PowerPoint

Those with which you share the PowerPoint presentation will need an active Power BI account and access to the report to view the data in the presentation. Use the Share option to PowerPoint shown in the previous section.

Users without permission must request access to the report from its owner directly from inside the PowerPoint presentation.

Thanks to this new connection capability between Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft PowerPoint, you can share your data’s story in your PowerPoint presentations using existing Power BI reports. That link is live, so regardless of when you share that story, your reports will be up to date. For working efficiently, you can’t beat this combination.

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Power BI Desktop Full Screen view

I just downloaded the free version of Power BI Desktop to play around with for my company's reporting. For security reasons, we can't use the cloud version.

Is it just me, or is there no way to go full-screen for a presentation (removing all the tabs etc.)???

Seems like a huge oversight if true.

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Get started with Power BI Desktop

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Welcome to the getting started guide for Power BI Desktop. This tour shows you how Power BI Desktop works, what it can do, and how to build robust data models and amazing reports to amplify your business intelligence.

For a quick overview of how Power BI Desktop works and how to use it, you can scan the screens in this guide in just a few minutes. For a more thorough understanding, you can read through each section, perform the steps, and create your own Power BI Desktop file to post on the Power BI service and share with others.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing a sample work item.

You can also watch the Getting Started with the Power BI Desktop video, and download the Financial Sample Excel workbook to follow along with the video.

You can get the most recent version of Power BI Desktop from the Windows Store , or as a single executable containing all supported languages that you download and install on your computer.

How Power BI Desktop works

With Power BI Desktop, you can:

  • Connect to data, including multiple data sources.
  • Shape the data with queries that build insightful, compelling data models.
  • Use the data models to create visualizations and reports.
  • Share your report files for others to leverage, build upon, and share. You can share Power BI Desktop .pbix files like any other files, but the most compelling method is to upload them to the Power BI service .

Power BI Desktop integrates proven Microsoft query engine, data modeling, and visualization technologies. Data analysts and others can create collections of queries, data connections, models, and reports, and easily share them with others. Through the combination of Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service, new insights from the world of data are easier to model, build, share, and extend.

Power BI Desktop centralizes, simplifies, and streamlines what can otherwise be a scattered, disconnected, and arduous process of designing and creating business intelligence repositories and reports. Ready to give it a try? Let's get started.

Install and run Power BI Desktop

To download Power BI Desktop, go to the Power BI Desktop download page and select Download Free . Or for download options, select See download or language options .

You can also download Power BI Desktop from the Power BI service. Select the Download icon in the top menu bar, and then select Power BI Desktop .

Screenshot of Power B I Service showing the download Power B I Desktop option.

On the Microsoft Store page, select Get , and follow the prompts to install Power BI Desktop on your computer. Start Power BI Desktop from the Windows Start menu or from the icon in the Windows taskbar.

The first time Power BI Desktop starts, it displays the Welcome screen.

From the Welcome screen, you can Get data , see Recent sources , open recent reports, Open other reports , or select other links. Select the close icon to close the Welcome screen.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Welcome screen.

Along the left side of Power BI Desktop are icons for the three Power BI Desktop views: Report , Data , and Model , from top to bottom. The current view is indicated by the yellow bar along the left, and you can change views by selecting any of the icons.

If you're using keyboard navigation, press Ctrl + F6 to move focus to that section of buttons in the window. To learn more about accessibility and Power BI, visit our accessibility articles .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the icons for Report, Data, and Model.

Report view is the default view.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the default view.

Power BI Desktop also includes the Power Query Editor , which opens in a separate window. In Power Query Editor , you can build queries and transform data, then load the refined data model into Power BI Desktop to create reports.

Connect to data

With Power BI Desktop installed, you're ready to connect to the ever-expanding world of data. To see the many types of data sources available, select Get Data > More in the Power BI Desktop Home tab, and in the Get Data window, scroll through the list of All data sources. In this quick tour, you connect to a couple of different Web data sources.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Get Data tool.

Imagine you're a data analyst working for a sunglasses retailer. You want to help your client target sunglasses sales where the sun shines most frequently. So you might want to find some information on the web about sunny locations.

On the Power BI Desktop Home tab, select Get Data > Web to connect to a web data source.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Web option of the Get Data tool.

In the From Web dialog box, paste an address about sunny locations into the URL field, and select OK .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the From Web dialog box.

The URL used in this example is fictitious, you can find your own data in various tables and sites on the web.

If prompted, on the Access Web Content screen, select Connect to use anonymous access.

The query functionality of Power BI Desktop goes to work and contacts the web resource. The Navigator window returns what it found on the web page, in this case an HTML table called Ranking of best and worst states for retirement , and five other suggested tables. You're interested in the HTML table, so select it to see a preview.

At this point you can select Load to load the table, or Transform data to make changes in the table before you load it.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing a table display of imported data.

When you select Transform data , Power Query Editor launches, with a representative view of the table. The Query Settings pane is on the right, or you can always show it by selecting Query Settings on the View tab of Power Query Editor.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Power Query Editor with Query Settings.

For more information about connecting to data, see Connect to data in Power BI Desktop .

Now that you're connected to a data source, you can adjust the data to meet your needs. To shape data, you provide Power Query Editor with step-by-step instructions for adjusting the data while loading and presenting it. Shaping doesn't affect the original data source, only this particular view of the data.

The table data used in this guide is fictitious and for illustrative purposes. As such, the steps you need to follow with the data you find and use might vary, requiring you to be creative about how you adjust steps or outcomes, which is all part of the fun of learning.

Shaping can mean transforming the data, such as renaming columns or tables, removing rows or columns, or changing data types. Power Query Editor captures these steps sequentially under Applied Steps in the Query Settings pane. Each time this query connects to the data source, those steps are carried out, so the data is always shaped the way you specify. This process occurs when you use the query in Power BI Desktop, or when anyone uses your shared query, such as in the Power BI service.

Notice that the Applied Steps in Query Settings already contain a few steps. You can select each step to see its effect in the Power Query Editor. First, you specified a web source, and then you previewed the table in the Navigator window. In the third step, Changed type , Power BI recognized whole number data when importing it, and automatically changed the original web Text data type to Whole numbers .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Power Query Editor with Query Settings pane showing the three Applied Steps.

If you need to change a data type, select the column or columns to change. Hold down the Shift key to select several adjacent columns, or Ctrl to select non-adjacent columns. Either right-click a column header, select Change Type , and choose a new data type from the menu, or drop down the list next to Data Type in the Transform group of the Home tab, and select a new data type.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the change data type option.

The Power Query Editor in Power BI Desktop uses the ribbon or the right-click menus for available tasks. Most of the tasks you can select on the Home or Transform tabs of the ribbon are also available by right-clicking an item and choosing from the menu that appears.

You can now apply your own changes and transformations to the data and see them in Applied Steps .

For example, for sunglasses sales you're most interested in the weather ranking, so you decide to sort the table by the Weather column instead of by Overall rank . Drop down the arrow next to the Weather header, and select Sort ascending . The data now appears sorted by weather ranking, and the step Sorted Rows appears in Applied Steps .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing Sorted Rows appearing in Applied Steps.

You're not very interested in selling sunglasses to the worst weather states, so you decide to remove them from the table. From the Home tab, select Reduce Rows > Remove Rows > Remove Bottom Rows . In the Remove Bottom Rows dialog box, enter 10 , and then select OK .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Remove Bottom Rows dialog box.

The bottom 10 worst weather rows are removed from the table, and the step Removed Bottom Rows appears in Applied Steps .

You decide the table has too much extra information for your needs, and to remove the Affordability , Crime , Culture , and Wellness columns. Select the header of each column that you want to remove. Hold down the Shift key to select several adjacent columns, or Ctrl to select non-adjacent columns.

Then, from the Manage Columns group of the Home tab, select Remove Columns . You can also right-click one of the selected column headers and select Remove Columns from the menu. The selected columns are removed, and the step Removed Columns appears in Applied Steps .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing Remove Columns added to Applied Steps.

On second thought, Affordability might be relevant to sunglasses sales after all. You'd like to get that column back. You can easily undo the last step in the Applied Steps pane by selecting the X delete icon next to the step. Now redo the step, selecting only the columns you want to delete. For more flexibility, you could delete each column as a separate step.

You can right-click any step in the Applied Steps pane and choose to delete it, rename it, move it up or down in the sequence, or add or delete steps after it. For intermediate steps, Power BI Desktop will warn you if the change could affect later steps and break your query.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Applied Steps modification options.

For example, if you no longer wanted to sort the table by Weather , you might try to delete the Sorted Rows step. Power BI Desktop warns you that deleting this step could cause your query to break. You removed the bottom 10 rows after you sorted by weather, so if you remove the sort, different rows will be removed. You also get a warning if you select the Sorted Rows step and try to add a new intermediate step at that point.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Delete Step dialog box.

Finally, you change the table title to be about sunglass sales instead of retirement. Under Properties in the Query Settings pane, replace the old title with Best states for sunglass sales .

The finished query for your shaped data looks like this:

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the finished query for shaped data.

For more information about shaping data, see Shape and combine data in Power BI Desktop .

Combine data

The data about various states is interesting, and will be useful for building additional analysis efforts and queries. But there's one problem: most data out there uses two-letter abbreviations for state codes, not the full names of the states. To use that data, you need some way to associate your state names with their abbreviations.

You're in luck. Another public data source does just that, but the data will need a fair amount of shaping before you can combine it with your sunglass table.

To import the state abbreviations data into Power Query Editor, select New Source > Web from the New Query group on the Home tab of the ribbon.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Power Query Editor selecting Web from New Source.

In the From Web dialog box, enter the URL for the state abbreviations site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_abbreviations .

In the Navigator window, select the table Codes and abbreviations for U.S. states, federal district, territories, and other regions , and then select OK . The table opens in Power Query Editor.

Remove all columns except for Name and status of region , Name and status of region , and ANSI . To keep only these columns, hold down Ctrl and select the columns. Then, either right-click one of the column headers and select Remove Other Columns , or, from the Manage Columns group of the Home tab, select Remove Other Columns .

Drop down the arrow next to the Name and status of region_1 column header, and select Filters > Equals . In the Filter Rows dialog box, drop down the Enter or select a value field next to equals and select State . Select OK .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Power Query Editor's Filter Rows query box.

With extra values like Federal district and island removed, you now have a list of the 50 states and their official two-letter abbreviations. You can rename the columns to make more sense, for example State name , Status , and Abbreviation , by right-clicking the column headers and selecting Rename .

Note that all of these steps are recorded under Applied Steps in the Query Settings pane.

Your shaped table now looks like this:

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Power Query Editor with Applied Steps in the Query Settings pane.

Retitle the table to State codes in the Properties field of Query Settings .

With the State codes table shaped, you can combine these two tables into one. Since the tables you now have are a result of queries you applied to the data, they're also called queries . There are two primary ways of combining queries: merge and append .

When you have one or more columns you'd like to add to another query, you merge the queries. When you have additional rows of data you'd like to add to an existing query, you append the query.

In this case, you want to merge the State codes query into the Best states for sunglasses query. To merge the queries, switch to the Best states for sunglasses query by selecting it from the Queries pane on the left side of Power Query Editor. Then select Merge Queries from the Combine group in the Home tab of the ribbon.

In the Merge window, drop down the field to select State codes from the other queries available. Select the column to match from each table, in this case State from the Best states for sunglasses query and State name from the State codes query.

If you get a Privacy levels dialog, select Ignore privacy levels checks for this file and then select Save . Select OK .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Merge Queries window.

A new column called State codes appears on the right of the Best states for sunglass sales table. It contains the state code query that you merged with the best states for sunglass sales query. All the columns from the merged table are condensed into the State codes column. You can expand the merged table and include only the columns you want.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the State Codes column.

To expand the merged table and select which columns to include, select the Expand icon in the column header. In the Expand dialog box, select only the Abbreviation column. Deselect Use original column name as prefix , and then select OK .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the State Codes Abbreviation column.

You can play around with how to bring in the State codes table. Experiment a bit, and if you don't like the results, just delete that step from the Applied Steps list in the Query Settings pane. It's a free do-over, which you can do as many times as you like until the expand process looks the way you want it.

For a more complete description of the shape and combine data steps, see Shape and combine data in Power BI Desktop .

You now have a single query table that combines two data sources, each of which has been shaped to meet your needs. This query can serve as a basis for more interesting data connections, such as demographics, wealth levels, or recreational opportunities in the states.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Power Query Editor with shaped and combined queries.

For now, you have enough data to create an interesting report in Power BI Desktop. Since this is a milestone, apply the changes in Power Query Editor and load them into Power BI Desktop by selecting Close & Apply from the Home tab of the ribbon. You can also select just Apply to keep the query open in Power Query Editor while you work in Power BI Desktop.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Close and Apply Changes option.

You can make more changes to a table after it's loaded into Power BI Desktop, and reload the model to apply any changes you make. To reopen Power Query Editor from Power BI Desktop, select Transform Data on the Home tab of the Power BI Desktop ribbon.

Build reports

In Power BI Desktop Report view, you can build visualizations and reports. The Report view has six main areas:

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Report view.

  • The ribbon at the top, which displays common tasks associated with reports and visualizations.
  • The canvas area in the middle, where you create and arrange visualizations.
  • The pages tab area at the bottom, which lets you select or add report pages.
  • The Filters pane, where you can filter data visualizations.
  • The Visualizations pane, where you can add, change, or customize visualizations, and apply drillthrough.
  • The Format pane, where you design the report and visualizations.
  • The Fields pane, which shows the available fields in your queries. You can drag these fields onto the canvas, the Filters pane, or the Visualizations pane to create or modify visualizations.

You can expand and collapse the Filters , Visualizations , and Fields panes by selecting the arrows at the tops of the panes. Collapsing the panes provides more space on the canvas to build cool visualizations.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Fields pane.

To create a simple visualization, just select any field in the fields list, or drag the field from the Fields list onto the canvas. For example, drag the State field from Best states for sunglass sales onto the canvas, and see what happens.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Drag State field to create a map visualization.

Look at that! Power BI Desktop recognized that the State field contained geolocation data and automatically created a map-based visualization. The visualization shows data points for the 40 states from your data model.

The Visualizations pane shows information about the visualization and lets you modify it.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Visualization pane.

  • The Fields option in the Visualization pane lets you drag data fields to Legend and other field wells in the pane.
  • The Format option lets you apply formatting and other controls to visualizations.
  • The icons show the type of visualization created. You can change the type of a selected visualization by selecting a different icon, or create a new visualization by selecting an icon with no existing visualization selected.

The options available in the Fields and Format areas depend on the type of visualization and data you have.

You want your map visualization to show only the top 10 weather states. To show only the top 10 states, in the Filters pane, hover over State is (All) and expand the arrow that appears. Under Filter type , drop down and select Top N . Under Show items , select Bottom , because you want to show the items with the lowest numerical ranks, and enter 10 in the next field.

Drag the Weather field from the Fields pane into the By value field, and then select Apply filter .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Weather filter.

You now see only the top 10 weather states in the map visualization.

You can retitle your visualization. Select the Format icon in the Visualization pane, and type title in the Search box. In the Title card, type Top 10 weather states under Text .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Change Title field in the Visualization pane.

To add a visualization that shows the names of the top 10 weather states and their ranks from 1 to 10, select a blank area of the canvas and then select the Clustered column chart icon from the Visualization pane. In the Fields pane, select State and Weather . A column chart shows the 40 states in your query, ranked from highest to lowest numerical rank, or worst to best weather.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Column chart visualization.

To switch the order of the ranking so that number 1 appears first, select More options (...) at the upper right of the visualization, and select Sort ascending from the menu.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Sort Ascending option.

To limit the table to the top 10 states, apply the same bottom 10 filter as you did for the map visualization.

Retitle the visualization the same way as for the map visualization. Also in the Format section of the Visualization pane, change Y axis > Axis title from Weather to Weather ranking to make it more understandable. Then, turn the Y axis selector to Off . Search for Zoom slider and set it to On , and turn Data labels to On .

Now, the top 10 weather states appear in ranked order along with their numerical rankings.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the finished column chart.

You can make similar or other visualizations for the Affordability and Overall ranking fields, or combine several fields into one visualization. There are all sorts of interesting reports and visualizations you can create. These Table and Line and clustered column chart visualizations shows the top 10 weather states along with their affordability and overall rankings:

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Table as well as Line and Clustered Column visualizations.

You can show different visualizations on different report pages. To add a new page, select the + symbol next to the existing pages on the pages bar, or select Insert > New Page in the Home tab of the ribbon. To rename a page, double-click the page name in the pages bar, or right-click it and select Rename Page , and then type the new name. To go to a different page of the report, select the page from the pages bar.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Pages bar.

You can add text boxes, images, and buttons to your report pages from the Insert group of the Home tab. To set formatting options for visualizations, select a visualization and then select the Format icon in the Visualizations pane. To configure page sizes, backgrounds, and other page information, select the Format icon with no visualization selected.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the finished report page.

When you finish creating your pages and visualizations, select File > Save and save your report. For more information about reports, see Report View in Power BI Desktop .

Share your work

Now that you have a Power BI Desktop report, you can share it with others. There are a few ways to share your work. You can distribute the report .pbix file like any other file, you can upload the .pbix file from the Power BI service, or you can publish directly from Power BI Desktop to the Power BI service. You must have a Power BI account to be able to publish or upload reports to Power BI service.

To publish to the Power BI service from Power BI Desktop, from the Home tab of the ribbon, select Publish .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Publish option.

You might be prompted to sign in to Power BI, or to select a destination.

When the publish process is complete, you see the following dialog:

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Publish Success message.

When you select the link to open the report in Power BI, your report opens in your Power BI site under My workspace > Reports .

Another way to share your work is to load it from within the Power BI service. Go to https://app.powerbi.com to open Power BI in a browser. On your Power BI Home page, select Get data at lower left to start the process of loading your Power BI Desktop report.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Get Data option.

On the next page, select Get from the Files section.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Get Data screen.

On the next page, select Local File . Browse to and select your Power BI Desktop .pbix file, and select Open .

After the file imports, you can see it listed under My workspace > Reports in the left pane of the Power BI service.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing a file imported into Power B I.

When you select the file, the first page of the report appears. You can select different pages from the tabs at the left of the report.

You can make changes to a report in the Power BI service by selecting More options > Edit from the top of the report canvas.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Edit option.

To save your changes, select File > Save a copy .

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Save option.

There are all sorts of interesting visuals you can create from your report in the Power BI service, which you can pin to a dashboard . To learn about dashboards in the Power BI service, see Tips for designing a great dashboard . For more information about creating, sharing, and modifying dashboards, see Share a dashboard .

To share a report or dashboard, select Share > Report at the top of the open report or dashboard page, or select the Share icon next to the report or dashboard name in the My workspace > Reports or My workspace > Dashboards lists.

Complete the Share report or Share dashboard screen to send an email or get a link to share your report or dashboard with others.

Screenshot of Power B I Desktop showing the Share Report screen.

There are many compelling data-related mash-ups and visualizations you can do with Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service.

Considerations and limitations

  • Power BI Desktop is updated and released on a monthly basis, incorporating customer feedback and new features. Only the most recent version of Power BI Desktop is supported. If you contact support for Power BI Desktop, you'll be asked to upgrade to the most recent version.
  • For data and reporting that must remain on-premises, there's a separate and specialized version of Power BI called Power BI Report Server . Power BI Report Server uses a separate and specialized version of Power BI Desktop called Power BI Desktop for Power BI Report Server , which updates three times a year. This article describes standard Power BI Desktop.

Related content

Power BI Desktop supports connecting to a diagnostics port. The diagnostics port allows other tools to connect to and perform traces for diagnostic purposes. When you're using the diagnostics port, making any changes to the model isn't supported. Changes to the model may lead to corruption and data loss.

For more information on the many capabilities of Power BI Desktop, check out the following resources:

  • Query overview in Power BI Desktop
  • Data sources in Power BI Desktop
  • Connect to data in Power BI Desktop
  • Tutorial: Shape and combine data with Power BI Desktop
  • Common query tasks in Power BI Desktop

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Data Savvy

My experiences and education in data modeling, integration, transformation, analysis, and visualization

What to Know about Power BI Theme Colors

Power BI reports have a theme that specifies the default colors, fonts, and visual styles. In Power BI Desktop, you can choose to use a built-in theme , start with a built-in theme and customize it, or create your own theme.

Creating your own theme involves specifying formatting options in a JSON file and importing it into your report. This post will focus on the theme colors, but there are lots of other options that can be specified in a theme, including structural colors, fonts, and page and visual formatting options.

In a report theme, there are 3 primary sets of colors to specify:

  • data colors
  • sentiment colors
  • divergent colors

screenshot from Power BI desktop showing the current used theme colors

Data Colors

Theme colors are applied to the visuals and other objects you add to your report page. For example, if you add a clustered bar chart, the data colors will be used as the bar fill color. While you can specify as many data colors as you like in a theme JSON file, you will only see 8 in the Power BI Desktop user interface.

Theme color picker from a formatting option on a visual in Power BI

Power BI automatically adds black and white to your theme colors. When you use the color palette in Power BI, it will offer you several tints and shades of the colors you specify. You have the specified colors on the top row, then 60% lighter, 40% lighter, 20% lighter, 25% darker, and 50% darker. The percentages are hard coded. The percentages for black and white are different. White offers shades 10% darker, 20% darker, 30% darker, 50% darker, and 60% darker. Black offers tints 60% lighter, 40% lighter, 20% lighter, 10% lighter, and 0% lighter.

Data Color Application

The colors have an ordinal position or index. Using the example above, the bright blue is color 0, green is 1, purple is 2, and so on. When you use colors from your theme in a visual, they are referenced by position. So if you change the third theme color from purple to maroon, all contents that were colored with the theme purple will change to maroon. If you instead selected a custom color on a visual by entering a hex value for a color not in the theme, that color would remain unchanged when you update your theme colors.

When you have a visual with a known number and order of series, Power BI will apply the data colors by index (ordinal position). When the number of series is dynamic, the individual members of the series are assigned a theme color as they are read in. Power BI will assign the same color for the same value in another visual if those values are reused. Because data may load differently on each report refresh, the colors may change.

Not all custom visuals respect your theme colors, this is especially true for some of the older ones. You’ll want to test that the custom visuals you are using work with your theme.

Theme Colors in Dashboards

If you use dashboards in the Power BI service, you can import your theme to a dashboard to apply the same data colors there. While there are additional properties you may want to specify for a dashboard theme, the dataColors array is the same for reports and dashboards.

Sentiment and Divergent Colors

The sentiment colors are assigned as status colors to the waterfall chart and KPI visual by default.

The divergent colors are assigned when you choose to use gradient colors in conditional formatting.

Referencing Theme Colors in DAX

I’m not aware of a way to reference the data colors directly with DAX. You can reference the divergent theme colors with DAX by using “minColor”, “midColor”, and “maxColor”. And you can reference the sentiment colors using “good”, “bad”, and “neutral”.

Referencing Theme Colors in Deneb

If you use the Deneb custom visual, it has a custom function pbiColor that allows you to reference theme colors. It has two parameters: index or name, and shadePercent. You can refer to a data color by (zero-based) index, or a sentiment or divergent color by name. For example, assigning "pbiColor(0)" to the color expression on a mark would reference the first data color in your theme.

Did I miss something you think is important to understand about Power BI theme colors? Please share in the comments.

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Microsoft Power BI Blog

Power bi enhanced report format (pbir) in power bi desktop developer mode (preview).

Headshot of article author Rui Romano

Enhancing team collaboration and automation is crucial for any enterprise BI development, which is the primary goal of Power BI Desktop developer mode. The Power BI enhanced report format (PBIR) for Power BI Project files (PBIP) represents a significant milestone in that direction. This new report format offers source control-friendly file structures, facilitating co-development and improving development efficiency for Power BI reports.

Together with TMDL for the semantic model, Power BI Projects now have a great source control experience for both report and semantic model:

presentation view in power bi desktop

Watch a demonstration of PBIR in action in the June 2024 update video (minute 4:09):

How to get started?

Saving as a PBIP using PBIR is currently in preview. Before giving it a try, you must first enable it in Power BI Desktop: go to File > Options and settings > Options > Preview features and check the box next to “ Store reports using enhanced metadata format (PBIR) ”.

presentation view in power bi desktop

After enabling the preview feature, when saving as PBIP, your entire report metadata will be stored in a folder named “\definition”:

presentation view in power bi desktop

Existing PBIP files can also be easily upgraded to PBIR by selecting “Upgrade” during the save operation:

presentation view in power bi desktop

Warning : the upgrade to PBIR is irreversible, so please save a backup of your PBIP files in case you want to go back to PBIR-Legacy (report.json) format.

Source control and co-development with PBIR

Saving your Power BI Project files (PBIP) using the Power BI Enhanced Report Format (PBIR) stores the report metadata as properly formatted JSON files.

presentation view in power bi desktop

With a JSON schema declaration at the top of the document. This schema URL is publicly accessible and can be used to learn all the available properties and their meaning. Additionally, it provides built-in IntelliSense and validation when editing with code editors like  Visual Studio Code . For more details on PBIR  JSON schemas, please refer to the documentation .

Each page, visual, bookmark, etc., is organized into separate individual files within a folder structure, which greatly helps resolving co-development conflicts.

presentation view in power bi desktop

If you save your PBIP files in a Git repository, using PBIR will enable granular tracking of every report change. This allows you to easily resolve merge conflicts and clearly understand the modifications made by Power BI Desktop to the report:

presentation view in power bi desktop

Development efficiency with PBIR

The PBIR format not only enhances source control and co-development experiences but also opens up new possibilities for improving report development efficiency. In this blog post, you’ll discover simple yet powerful example scenarios to help with your daily report development.

Note that while making external changes is supported, it is an advanced operation. Any incorrect changes may cause errors when reopening the report in Power BI Desktop. For more details on PBIR external changes, refer to the documentation .

Scenario – Ensure visuals consistency across pages

It’s very common to design a report where a set of visuals with exactly same configuration are replicated across all pages. Examples include logos, slicers, and titles.

You can replicate visuals by copying and pasting them each time you make a change. However, this can be a cumbersome task and may lead to issues such as misaligned positions or broken bookmarks. With PBIR, there’s a better way: apply your changes to one page, then copy the visuals folders to other pages either manually or using scripts.

Begin by locating the page and visual folders to be copied. In the PBIR format, each page and visual is stored in separate folders. Look for the page display name in each page.json file:

presentation view in power bi desktop

Visuals do not have a displayName, so you need to check properties such as visualType, title, and position to identify the correct visual folder.

presentation view in power bi desktop

For more convenience next time, change the name of the page and visual folder to something more descriptive (you don’t need to change the name property, only the folder name):

presentation view in power bi desktop

After renaming the folders, you must restart Power BI Desktop to ensure it preserves the new names upon saving.

Whenever you modify the visual settings on ‘Page 1’, you can easily copy and paste the visual folders into all the report pages. This ensures consistency across pages automatically, as the entire visual configuration is copied, including the visual name referenced by bookmarks. This eliminates the need to manually sync changes across all pages using Power BI Desktop. This method is particularly efficient for large reports with numerous pages.

presentation view in power bi desktop

Scenario – Batch edits

How often have you designed a report and wanted to apply certain behaviors, like removing visual interactions or hiding visual-level filters across all pages and visuals, only to give up because you realized it would take hours to configure those properties manually? With PBIR, you can now make batch edits by identifying the change and applying it across all files, either manually or using a script.

For example, to ensure all visual-level filters are hidden, start by identifying the visual property responsible for this. Use Power BI Desktop to hide the filter, save the file, and examine the changes in the visual.json file. You’ll notice that the property responsible for hiding the visual-level filter is “isHiddenInViewMode” = true.

presentation view in power bi desktop

You can easily apply this configuration using a script, by looping all visual files of the report and set the ‘isHiddenInViewMode’ property as ‘true’ for all the filters. Here’s an example of a PowerShell script that accomplishes this task:

Scenario – Ensure default report configuration

Have you ever wished to always ensure a default configuration for your report, such as the default page and filter selection, but ended up forgetting to reset it after a development session, resulting in publishing with the wrong configuration?

With the PBIR format, you can achieve that goal by having a simple script that always applies such configuration. Apply this script before each deployment or as part of your deployment mechanism, such as Azure Pipelines .

Here’s an example of a PowerShell script that defines the default page and slicer for all report pages:

Publish a PBIR report to service

During the preview, the only way to publish a report with the PBIR format is through Fabric Git Integration. This involves connecting the workspace to a Git repository and pushing the PBIR report to it, which can then be synchronized with the service workspace at a later stage.

Limitations

At launch, the PBIR format comes with some important service limitations, but these do not affect Power BI Desktop. This gives customers the opportunity to become familiar with the PBIR format and prepare for it using Power BI Desktop.

All service limitations will be addressed in the upcoming months. Specifically, in the next few weeks, we will resolve the following:

  • Can’t be exported to PPTX or PDF.
  • Can’t be included in Subscriptions
  • Mobile layouts aren’t applied.
  • Can’t be utilized in Power BI Embedded.

For further information regarding limitations, please refer to the documentation .

What’s Next?

During the Public Preview of Power BI Desktop developer mode, the PBIR format will be opt-in only in Power BI Desktop. All reports created in the Service will continue to use PBIR-Legacy as their default format. Once General Availability is reached, PBIR will become the default report file format across all experiences.

We value your feedback on the PBIR file format. What aspects do you appreciate? How can we improve? Please share your thoughts with us here .

Learn more about PBIR format in the  documentation .

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  1. View presentation mode on Windows devices

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  2. View presentation mode on Windows devices

    presentation view in power bi desktop

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  4. POWER BI

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  5. Microsoft Power BI Gains Presentation Mode on Windows 10

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  6. Custom visualizations support and 22 other features in the Power BI

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COMMENTS

  1. Presentation mode in Power BI Windows App

    To enter Presentation Mode, tap the full screen button in the menu bar. This will make the app frame disappear, allowing you to put all your attention on the report or dashboard visuals and data. Depending on your screen size, a new action bar will be shown, either on the bottom of the screen (for up to 84" displays) or on the left and right ...

  2. View and present live Power BI data in PowerPoint

    For this you can use the View menu in the toolbar. Choosing one of the snapshot options turns the current live view into a static, non-interactive image. Then, when you next open the presentation, you'll see the static view you saved. The menu allows you to set the view to live data or to a snapshot.

  3. View presentation mode on Windows devices

    Use presentation mode. In the Power BI Windows app, tap the Switch to presentation mode icon. The app chrome disappears and the action toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen or on the right and left sides (depending on your screen size). From the toolbar you can tap to perform the following actions: Go back to the previous page.

  4. Solved: How do I use Presentation Mode?

    So this is a little confusing, but there are actually 2 "Power BI" apps in the Windows store. 1. Power BI Desktop. 2. Microsoft Power BI . And the presentation mode is available in the second one. I think this second one is basically a Windows 10 port of the mobile app. It appears to be an app designed for people that just want to view reports ...

  5. How to View Full Screen in Power BI Desktop

    Here are the steps: Open Power BI Desktop and navigate to the dashboard or report you wish to view in full screen mode. Click on the full screen icon in the top right corner of the screen, or press the F11 key on your keyboard. Your dashboard or report will now be displayed in full screen mode.

  6. Enhancing presentation mode with slideshow in Windows Power BI app

    Few months back we released Presentation mode in our Power BI Mobile app for Windows devices, which better allows you to focus on your data during meetings. Using Power BI Windows app with presentation mode enables you to present, collaborate, and have productive discussions while using your data in your Power BI dashboards and reports.

  7. Work with Report view in Power BI Desktop

    When you first load data in Power BI Desktop, you'll see the Report view with a blank canvas, with links to help you add data to your report. You can switch between Report, Data, and Model views by selecting the icons in the left-hand navigation pane: Once you've added some data, you can add fields to a new visualization in the canvas.

  8. Microsoft Power BI Gains Presentation Mode on Windows 10

    Power BI on Windows 10 now has an enhanced presentation mode. With this mode, Microsoft says conferencing and collaboration environments gain a powerful new tool. To use the Presentation Mode ...

  9. Solved: Presentation mode in PBI Desktop

    Solution Sage. 11-16-2022 03:57 AM. In Power BI Desktop it doesn't exist. The best you can do is activate "Lock Objects" on the View Pane and hide all the menus that you can! However, I would suggest you to publish the report even if it is only in your personal workspace. View solution in original post. Message 2 of 3.

  10. Tell a story with your data. Announcing the all-new Power BI

    When you share the presentation with others, they'll need an active Power BI account and access to the report to view the data in the presentation, unless you've frozen the view as an image. To make sure people in your org can access the report and enjoy the live data experience, use the link generated in Power BI from the Share ...

  11. How to Make Power BI Dashboard Full Screen

    Utilizing the full-screen mode in Power BI Service is a breeze. Once you've published your report, effortlessly open it and locate the View button situated in the top right-hand corner of the report. Next, simply select Full screen from the available options. Once you follow these steps, the report will be presented in full-screen mode ...

  12. Power BI

    Power BI is a self-service business intelligence solution that lets you visualize data and share insights across your organization, or embed them in your app or website. Connect to hundreds of data sources and bring your data to life with live dashboards and reports. Discover how Power BI can help you make informed decisions and drive your business success.

  13. FINALLY! Properly Present Your Power BI Dashboard in ...

    👉 Join our popular FREE Power BI QuickStart course today: https://link.xelplus.com/yt-d-pp-powerbi-freecourseHow do you embed your interactive dashboard in ...

  14. Power View: Explore, visualize, and present your data

    You can also easily Import Excel workbooks into Power BI Desktop . Power View is an interactive data exploration, visualization, and presentation experience that encourages intuitive ad-hoc reporting. Power View is a feature of Microsoft Excel 2013, and of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and 2013 as part of the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 ...

  15. To present my dashboard, do I have to publish my report and view in a

    Is there a presentation mode within the desktop app that I can use? Share Add a Comment. Sort by: Best. Open comment sort options. Best. Top. New. Controversial. Old. Q&A. LostWelshMan85 • go to the Microsoft store, there is a Desktop presentation App called Power BI that you can download and view your published apps without a browser. ...

  16. View full screen in power bi desktop

    The best you will get is by minimising the 'fields' and 'visualisation' panes, and clicking the little icon in the in the corner next to sign in (see image below). Also ensure the 'view' on your report is set to 'fit to page' or 'fit to width'. Let me know how you get on. Cheers. shebr. View solution in original post.

  17. Add a live Power BI report page to PowerPoint

    After you copy the URL with one of the previously mentioned methods, go to your PowerPoint Presentation. Go to the slide you want to add the data. Select the Power BI add-in from the ribbon. Paste the URL into the text box. Select the Insert button and the visual will load into the slide.

  18. How to integrate Power BI reports with a presentation in Microsoft

    Click the button to add a frame and start the process. If you don't find that button, download Power BI as follows: Click the Insert tab. In the Add-ins group, click Get Add-ins. In the ...

  19. Power BI Desktop Full Screen view : r/PowerBI

    Power BI Desktop Full Screen view . ... We use that for large screen presentations in our company. If it works for a Fortune 50 company, gotta work for most I'd imagine. Reply reply More replies. ... Power BI desktop is a design tool and it only supports design mode. The reports are meant to be consumed with the pbi mobile app or directly ...

  20. Download Microsoft Power BI Desktop from Official Microsoft Download Center

    Microsoft Power BI Desktop is a companion desktop application to Power BI. With Power BI Desktop, you can: Get data The Power BI Desktop makes discovering data easy. You can import data from a wide variety of data sources. After you connect to a data source, you can shape the data to match your analysis and reporting needs.

  21. No presentation mode in Power BI Desktop

    Hi @Sportynick , The presentation mode is only available on the service however you can simulate the presentation mode on the bookmark pane on the top you have ADD and View if click the view you will get the presentation view howevwer since you are on desktop you will not get the full screen better you can do is minimize all panes.

  22. Get started with Power BI Desktop

    Select the Download icon in the top menu bar, and then select Power BI Desktop. On the Microsoft Store page, select Get, and follow the prompts to install Power BI Desktop on your computer. Start Power BI Desktop from the Windows Start menu or from the icon in the Windows taskbar. The first time Power BI Desktop starts, it displays the Welcome ...

  23. Download Power BI

    Gain a 360˚ view of your data and easily connect, shape, and share data insights with Power BI. Microsoft Power BI Desktop Visually explore data with a free-form drag-and-drop canvas, modern data visualizations, and easy-to-use report authoring.

  24. Power BI June 2024 Feature Summary

    The view mode is applied to all pages in the report. To go back to the regular view, tap Show original visuals in the same ... On open, Power BI Desktop will validate the changed PBIR files to guarantee successful loading. ... It offers a quick overview of key themes and is commonly used in presentations and data analysis to highlight patterns ...

  25. Presentation mode

    Solved: Hi everyone, there's a way to use the presentation mode as the power bi (windows app) on the online page? I need to switch automatically from ... Desktop; Presentation mode - online power BI on browser; Reply. Topic Options. Subscribe to RSS Feed; Mark Topic as New; ... View solution in original post. Message 2 of 4 291 Views 2 Reply.

  26. How to use the new Microsoft Loop features [NEW FEATURES 2024]

    Microsoft Loop has been enriched with a feature set that makes it even more functional and suitable for covering multiple scenarios. Follow my tutorial showing..

  27. What to Know about Power BI Theme Colors

    Power BI reports have a theme that specifies the default colors, fonts, and visual styles. In Power BI Desktop, you can choose to use a built-in theme, start with a built-in theme and customize it, or create your own theme.. Creating your own theme involves specifying formatting options in a JSON file and importing it into your report. This post will focus on the theme colors, but there are ...

  28. Power BI enhanced report format (PBIR) in Power BI Desktop developer

    Enhancing team collaboration and automation is crucial for any enterprise BI development, which is the primary goal of Power BI Desktop developer mode. The Power BI enhanced report format (PBIR) for Power BI Project files (PBIP) represents a significant milestone in achieving this goal. This new report format offers source control-friendly file structures, facilitating co-development and ...

  29. Connecting Power BI Rpt and Paginated Rpt

    Hi all, I have a power bi report that's connected to a cube, the report focuses on a summarised view of hours by employee. We also have a paginated report that shows a detailed breakdown of hours by people, that's at a more granular level and is using a different datasource (stored proc) - the data points, attributes and parameters are pretty much identical.