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What can you do as a consumer of a Power BI report?  Here are some commonly used functions available in Power BI reports.

Detailed Information 

Change Size/View of a Report 

When the report is too small or too large, you can change the size of the view. At the top right corner of the window, there is a "View" button. The view options include full screen, fit to page or width, and actual size. The high-contrast colors option is also available.
       Showing that the view button is the third button from the left between the bookmark and reload buttons.

In addition, at the bottom right corner of the window, there is a "Zoom" bar that you can slide and change the size of the contents.

         Showing the Zoom control bar for a PowerBI report located to the lower right.

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Filter a report using slicers

Filter the value(s) by clicking a slicer.

  • If the selection is a radio button, you can only choose one value.
  • If the selection is a solid square, you can select multiple values by using the Ctrl key.
  • If the selection is a box with a check mark, you can select multiple values by simply clicking.
     

Radio button :showing an example of a slicer using radio button selectors where you can only select one option

Solid square: showing an example of a slicer using solid square selectors where you can select multiple values by using the Ctrl Key.Checkbox: showing a slicer using checkbox selectors where you can select multiple values by simply clicking.

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Export a report to PowerPoint or PDF

You can export an entire report either to PowerPoint or as a PDF.

  1. Click the drop-down arrow for "Export" and choose "PowerPoint" or "PDF"
    shows the location of the export menu between the file menu and the share menu in the toolbar.

  2. Click the "Export" button and wait till it finishes exporting. Once it is done, you can download the file or the PowerPoint file will be opened automatically.
    Since the export function above only captures what is visible on the page, the data is sometimes incomplete. To remedy this, try "Export data to Excel or CSV file" section below.

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Export Data to Excel or CSV File

  1. Hover over your mouse on the table or graph. Small gray icons will show up on the top corner (or bottom corner) of the table.
    showing the location of the more options button at the upper right of the data table.

  2. Click the ellipse and choose "Export data"
    showing the more option menu that comes down after clicking the more option buttons. It also shows that three from the top is the export data button.
  3. Click one of the options available on the pop-up window and click "Export". When the "Data with current layout" option is selected, the file format will be xlsx. For other options, you can choose either xlsx or csv format.
    showing the export pop-up window that comes out and the three different options for you to select before clicking export.

  4. The data will be downloaded and you can open the file when it finishes downloading. When the "Data with current layout" option is used, the cells are merged on Excel output. 1) Select the entire Excel sheet and 2) click "Merge & Center" which will unmerge the cells and populate the values on each cell.
    the location of Microsoft Excel's Home tab, highlighting the 'Merge & Center' option in the Alignment group


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Subscribe Report

You can subscribe and email the report. This function is helpful when the report is refreshed frequently. Click the "Subscribe" function at the top of the page.
showing the location of the subscribe button at the upper right of a Power BI report.

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Set Bookmarks

Bookmark remembers your selection of view of the report page or slicers. When you come back to report for the next time, you don't have to set all of the slicers. Click the "Bookmarks" function at the top right corner of the page and choose the "Add a personal bookmark" option. You can name your own bookmark and save it.
showing the location of the "Bookmarks" dropdown menu with options to add or view personal bookmarks.


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Reset to default

Click the "Reset to default" to reset filters, slicers, and other data view changes you've made. The report will go back to the default. The icon is located at the top right of the page.

         showing the location of the reset to default button at the left most position on the toolbar.

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Change sort order in a visual

You can change the way the visual looks, for instance, change the sort order of the visual. If your report has a graph or table, hover your mouse at the top right corner of the visual and click ellipses. Choose descending order or ascending order, and you can also change the sort by a different field.
showing at the bottom of the more option menu is the sort by options. You can sort descending, ascending or there is an option to sort by a different variable.

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Copy a Visual

You can copy a visual and paste it into your own document, such as PowerPoint or Word. Hover your mouse at the top right corner of the visual and click the first icon. Click "Copy to clipboard" to copy the visual and paste it where you would like to.

showing the location of the copy button in the upper right hand side of the visual.

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Additional Resources

Here are the detailed instructions from the Microsoft website:

Environment

  • Power BI
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