3  Working with the Power BI Interface

Power BI provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface designed to help users seamlessly create reports, analyze data, and generate insights. Understanding its interface is essential for effectively using Power BI for data visualization and business intelligence.

3.1 Launch Power BI Desktop

  • Go to the Start Menu and search for Power BI Desktop.

  • Click on the application to open it.

Upon launching, the Welcome Screen appears, providing options to start a new report 👇

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  • open an existing file, or

  • select Learn with sample data to load a sample data to the power bi desktop.

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  • Click Load sample data

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  • Check the ✅ Financials in the Navigartor window and click on Load.

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3.2 Main Interface Components

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Understanding the Power BI environment is essential for creating effective reports and dashboards. Below are the key components of the Power BI interface:

3.3 Power BI Interface Components

Ribbon

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The Ribbon contains various tabs and commands, similar to Microsoft Office applications. The main tabs include:

  • Home Tab: Provides options to import data, transform data, manage queries, create visuals, and publish reports.
  • Insert Tab: Allows users to add visuals, text boxes, buttons, and images to the report.
  • Modeling Tab: Used for creating relationships between tables, managing calculated columns, and defining DAX measures.
  • View Tab: Adjust the report layout, themes, and mobile view settings.
  • Help Tab: Provides links to documentation, support, and Power BI community resources.
Report View (Main Canvas Area)

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The Report View is where users create and design interactive reports by adding visuals such as charts, graphs, and tables.

  • By using the icons in the left navigation pane, you can switch between the following views:
    • Report View: For creating and editing reports.
    • Data View: For viewing and modifying your dataset.
    • Model View: For managing relationships between tables in your data model.
  • Users can drag and drop fields onto the canvas to generate visualizations.
Data View

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The Data View provides a tabular representation of the data loaded into Power BI.

  • Users can inspect raw data, review table structures, and verify data types.
  • It allows adding calculated columns using DAX (Data Analysis Expressions).
Model View

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The Model View enables users to create relationships between tables.

  • Users can drag and connect fields to define relationships.
  • Relationships help in combining data from multiple tables for analysis.
DAX Query View

DAX Query View Screenshot

The DAX Query View allows users to write, run, and test DAX queries directly inside Power BI Desktop.

Key points:

  • Used for writing DAX queries to explore data, validate calculations, and test logic.
  • Supports quick queries when right-clicking on tables, columns, or measures in the Data pane.
  • Queries can return table results, scalar values, and evaluation breakdowns.
  • Uses the Run button to execute queries and preview results.
  • DAX queries do not appear when the report is published to Power BI Service.

This tab is extremely useful for learning DAX, debugging measures, and performing deep model analysis.

Pages

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The Pages Tab is located at the bottom of the canvas.

  • The report view consists of multiple pages (similar to slides in PowerPoint), allowing users to create structured reports.
  • Use it to select, add, or manage report pages.
  • Each page can contain a unique set of visualizations, allowing for organized and structured reports.
Visualization

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The Visualizations Pane provides a collection of visualization options, allowing users to:

  • Select different chart types (bar charts, pie charts, line charts, etc.).
  • Apply formatting options such as colors, labels, and data sorting.
  • Add filters and slicers to control the data displayed in the report.

Functions include:
- Applying filters.
- Dragging fields to create visuals.
- Altering colors, axes, and chart types.

Filters Pane (Right Sidebar)

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The Filters Pane allows users to apply filters at three levels:

  • Visual-Level Filters: Affect only the selected visual.
  • Page-Level Filters: Apply filters to all visuals on the current page.
  • Report-Level Filters: Apply filters to all pages in the report.
Data Pane

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The Data Pane displays the datasets, tables, and fields available for visualization.

  • Users can expand tables to view individual fields.
  • Dragging fields from this pane onto the report canvas creates visualizations.

Once a report is created, users can:

  • Click Save to store the file as a .pbix file for future editing.
  • Click Publish to share the report on Power BI Service (requires a Microsoft Power BI account).