Power BI Basics

Learn how to access Power BI, navigate reports, utilize sliders, and drill down into reporting options. Links to additional resources are also provided.

Reports in Power BI can be customized to accommodate different access levels. If you are unable to access a report, contact the report owner to request access. 

Getting Started

Log into Power BI

Navigate to the NDUS Data Information Hub or click on the Power BI app in the Office 365 online portal.

Link from the NDUS Data Information Hub

Select SIGN IN if not already signed in.

 NOTE: Log in with your Office 365 username and password.  

Get the App

1. Within Power BI, select Apps from the left menu.
2. Select the Get apps button in the upper right corner of the screen.
   
   
   
3. Enter the name of the app, report, or keyword in the search bar.
4. Select the desired app tile to add it to apps.
   
   
   

Open the Report

Within Power BI, select Apps from the left menu. Select the desired app in the app listing.

Report Capabilities

Navigation

Navigate between report pages by using the menu on the left side of the page.

Slicers

A slicer is a type of visual that filters the other visuals on a report page. The location of the slicer on the page may vary.

Selection Slicer (Single or Multiple Selections)

Selection slicers allow for one or more filters to be applied to the report.

• If a slicer is set to single select, which only allows one value to be selected at a time, the selection indicators will display as radio buttons.
• If a slicer is set to multi select, which allows multiple values to be selected, the selection indicators will display as checkboxes. To select more than one checkbox, use CTRL-select.

Date Slicer

The date slicer allows a date range to be specified for visuals on the report.

Specify the dates by typing the date in the date field or use the calendar icon to select a date from a calendar.

Drill Down, Drill Up, and Expand Options

A visual must have hierarchy to utilize Drill features. To see if a visual has hierarchy, hover over it. If the drill control options appear in the action bar, the visual has hierarchy.

Drill down all fields at once

Selecting the double arrow drill icon moves down to the next level in the hierarchy.

The example below drills from Campus, to Category, to Application, then Service.

Drill down one field at a time

Selecting the single drill icon allows drilling down one field at a time.

1. First, click the icon to turn it on.
   
   
   
2. Next, select the visual element to drill down (like a bar or bubble). This will display results specific to that drill category. 

The example below drills into results for a single campus.

Expand fields

The expand icon expands the hierarchy to the view multiple drill options within the visual.

As options are expanded, each step in the path shows the previous information and adds one level of new information.

The example below drills from Campus, to Category by Campus, then to Application by Category and Campus.

Drill up

Selecting the up icon goes back up a level in the hierarchy.

Report Tools

There are three reporting tools users may find especially helpful: Reset, Bookmarks, and Favorite.

Reset

To reset the filters, slicers, and other data view changes that have been made back to the report defaults, select the Reset icon from the top menu bar.

Bookmarks

Personal bookmarks can be used to save insights to return to later or preserve current work. They can also be set to a default view of a report.

1. To create a Personal Bookmark, select the Bookmarks icon from the top menu bar.
   
   
   
2. Select Add a personal bookmark.
   
   
   
3. Give the bookmark a name and select Save.
   
   
   
4. The bookmark will then be added to the Personal bookmarks listing to be visited in the future.
   
   
   

Save Report as a Favorite

To save a report as a Favorite, select the Favorite icon (star) from the top menu bar.

Resources

Additional and detailed Microsoft instructions can be found by visiting Power BI for Business Users on Microsoft Learn.

Power BI and NDUS documentation and resources can be found on the NDUS Data Hub.