Applied steps and undo in Power BI - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Applied steps and undo

Dashboard Goal

Understand how Power BI's Applied Steps and Undo features help track and reverse data transformation changes during data preparation.

Sample Data

OrderID	Product	Quantity	Price	OrderDate
1001	Notebook	2	5	2024-01-10
1002	Pen	5	1	2024-01-11
1003	Notebook	3	5	2024-01-12
1004	Marker	4	2	2024-01-13
1005	Pen	6	1	2024-01-14

Dashboard Components

• Applied Steps Pane: Shows the list of transformation steps applied to the data in Power Query. Example steps:
  • Source: Load original data
  • Changed Type: Set correct data types
  • Filtered Rows: Remove orders with Quantity < 3
  • Added Custom Column: TotalCost = Quantity * Price
• Undo Button: Allows reversing the last applied step. For example, undoing the filter step will bring back orders with Quantity < 3.
• Data Preview Table: Shows the current state of data after applied steps. For example, after filtering Quantity >= 3, only orders 1003, 1004, and 1005 appear with an added TotalCost column.
• Formula Bar: Displays the M code for the selected applied step, e.g., = Table.SelectRows(Source, each [Quantity] >= 3).

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+--------------------+
| Applied Steps Pane    | Data Preview Table |
| (List of steps)      | (Filtered data)    |
+----------------------+--------------------+
| Formula Bar (M code)                      |
+------------------------------------------+
| Undo Button                              |
+------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

Clicking on an applied step updates the Data Preview Table to show data at that step. The Formula Bar updates to show the M code for that step. Clicking Undo removes the last step and updates both the Applied Steps Pane and Data Preview Table accordingly.

Self Check

If you undo the last step (filter Quantity >= 3), which orders appear in the Data Preview Table?

• Orders 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, and 1005 appear because the filter is removed.
• The Applied Steps Pane no longer shows the filter step.

Key Result

Shows how applied steps and undo feature in Power BI Power Query track and reverse data transformations.