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Power BI Desktop Interface

  • Learn how to use and navigate Power BI Desktop.

  • Power BI Desktop Overview

    Microsoft Power BI Desktop is the main development tool used to create reports and data models in Microsoft Power BI.

    It allows you to:

    • Connect to different data sources

    • Transform data using Power Query

    • Create relationships between tables

    • Write DAX formulas

    • Design interactive reports

    • Publish reports to Power BI Service

    Think of Power BI Desktop as the development environment for BI projects.


    Main Views in Power BI Desktop

    Power BI Desktop has 3 main views (left-side navigation icons):

    1. Report View

    Default view when you open Power BI.

    Used for:

    • Creating charts, tables, KPIs

    • Adding slicers and filters

    • Designing dashboards

    • Formatting visuals

    This is where you build the visual report layout.

    2. Data View

    Shows data in table format.

    Used for:

    • Viewing imported data

    • Creating calculated columns

    • Checking data types

    • Validating cleaned data

    Helps you understand raw and transformed data.

    3. Model View

    Shows relationships between tables.

    Used for:

    • Creating relationships

    • Managing primary & foreign keys

    • Designing star schema

    • Optimizing performance

    Very important for large datasets and professional projects.


    Ribbon, Fields & Visualizations Pane

    Ribbon (Top Menu Bar)

    Located at the top of Power BI Desktop.

    Main Tabs:

    • Home

    • Insert

    • Modeling

    • View

    • Transform Data

    From Ribbon you can:

    • Connect to data

    • Refresh data

    • Create measures

    • Change report theme

    • Open Power Query

    Fields Pane

    Located on the right side.

    Shows:

    • Tables

    • Columns

    • Measures

    You drag fields into visuals to create reports.

    Example:
     Drag “Sales” → Values
     Drag “Region” → Axis

    Visualizations Pane

    Also on the right side.

    Contains:

    • Bar chart

    • Line chart

    • Pie chart

    • Table

    • Matrix

    • KPI

    • Slicer

    You:

    1. Select a visual type

    2. Drag fields into it

    3. Format using Format pane


    Navigation & Basic Settings

    Page Navigation

    At bottom:

    • Add new report page

    • Rename page

    • Duplicate page

    Useful for multi-page reports.

    Filters Panel

    Located on right side.

    3 Types of Filters:

    • Visual-level filter

    • Page-level filter

    • Report-level filter

    Helps control what data is displayed.

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