Filtering rows in Power BI - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Filtering rows lets you show only the data you want in your report. It helps focus on specific information by hiding rows that don't match your needs.

When you want to see sales data for only one region, like West, without other regions.

When your report should display data for a specific year, such as 2023, excluding other years.

When you need to analyze customers who spent more than $1000.

When you want to hide incomplete or test data rows from your visuals.

When you want to create a report page that shows only active products.

Steps

Step 1: Click

- Filters pane on the right side

The Filters pane expands showing filter options for the selected visual or page

Step 2: Select

- Field you want to filter from the Fields list

The field appears in the Filters pane under Visual level filters or Page level filters

Step 3: Choose filter type

- Filters pane under the selected field

Filter controls appear, such as Basic filtering, Advanced filtering, Top N, or Relative date filtering

Step 4: Set filter condition

- Filters pane filter controls

The visual updates to show only rows matching the filter condition

💡 Use Basic filtering to select specific values or Advanced filtering to set conditions like greater than or contains

Step 5: Apply filter

- Filters pane

The report visual or page shows only the filtered rows

Before vs After

Before

A sales table visual shows 1000 rows with all regions and years mixed

After

The sales table visual shows 200 rows only for the West region in 2023

Settings Reference

Filter type

📍 Filters pane under the selected field

Choose how to specify which rows to keep or hide

Default: Basic filtering

Filter scope

📍 Filters pane top section

Decide if the filter applies to one visual, the whole page, or the entire report

Default: Visual level filter

Show items when the value

📍 Advanced filtering options

Set the condition to filter rows based on field values

Default: is

Common Mistakes

Applying filter to the wrong level (visual instead of page or report)

The filter only affects one visual, so other visuals still show unfiltered data

Choose the correct filter scope in the Filters pane to apply the filter where needed

Using Basic filtering when Advanced filtering is needed

Basic filtering only selects specific values and cannot handle conditions like greater than

Switch to Advanced filtering to set conditions like 'greater than 1000'

Summary

Filtering rows helps focus your report on specific data by hiding unwanted rows.

You can filter at visual, page, or report level depending on your needs.

Choose the right filter type and scope to get accurate results.