Slicer Interactions
Slicer Interactions
Let’s learn about Slicer Interactions. Sometimes, it’s handy if a Slicer only interacts with SOME visuals on your page and not all of them.
Let’s learn how to make that happen.
For this post (and the video below) we’re going to start with a simple pre-made Power BI file. It has some data connected and a few basic visuals made.
You can download a copy of the .pbix file if you want to use the same chart I do in the below post (and video):
The data the Power BI file connects to is an Excel file, and if you want your own copy of that too (although you don’t need it to do what we do in this post), here it is:
Here’s the video post. The written version follows the video.
Video:
Written Instructions:
We’re starting off with a simple Power BI report to learn how Slicer Interactions work. You can download this Power BI file at the download link above.
We’ve got a basic Slicer and a Bar Chart built here, but we also have 3 cards at the top that show the total number of participants in each Program type.
By default, when we add a Slicer to a Power BI page, that slicer slices *everything* on a page, like when we click “Nutrition” in our Slicer:
Disregarding the fact that it’s kind of ugly having big “(Blank)” text in our cards when we’re only showing Nutrition Program data, what if you want those numbers at the top to always show all the data?
Maybe you want those numbers to stay showing ALL the data as a summary, while the Slicer slices ONLY the Bar Chart.
It’s easy to make this happen once you know how.
First, keeping our Slicer selected, we’re going to go up to our Format tab (and ribbon) up at the top of Power BI. This tab only appears when a visual is selected.
Then you’ll click the “Edit Interactions” button at the very left of the ribbon.
You’ll then see little yes/no Interaction symbols show up on every other visual on the page. A little chart with a funnel if you want that visual sliced by the Slicer, and a little circle + slash symbol (I just found out that it’s officially called the “No” symbol) if you do NOT want it filtered by the Slicer.
Click that “No” Symbol to turn off the Slicer interaction with them, so that they turn dark grey. To turn the interactions back on, click the symbol with the column chart + funnel.
To make the Interaction symbols disappear, just select your Slicer, go back to the Format Tab, and click that “Edit Interactions” button again to turn off the symbols.
Now, no matter how we slice our Slicer, our 3 cards at the top stay showing our Total values.
Have questions about how Slicers and visuals interact? Ask in the comments below and we’ll figure it out.
Take care,
Joe.
Post Tags: Slicers | Filters | Paid | View all Post Tags
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Note: This post was made with the April 2024 version of Power BI Desktop.