COUNT and DISTINCTCOUNT in Power BI - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

These two functions help you count items in your data. COUNT counts all numbers or non-blank values in a column. DISTINCTCOUNT counts only unique values, ignoring duplicates. They help you understand how many items or unique items you have.

When you want to know how many sales transactions happened in total.

When you need to find out how many different customers bought products.

When you want to count how many products were sold, including duplicates.

When you want to count how many unique product categories appear in your sales data.

When you want to check how many dates have sales records.

Steps

Step 1: Open your Power BI Desktop file

- Power BI Desktop main window

Your report and data model are visible

Step 2: Click on the Modeling tab

- Ribbon at the top

Modeling options appear

Step 3: Click New Measure

- Modeling tab

A formula bar appears to enter a DAX formula

Step 4: Type the formula for COUNT, for example: Total Sales Count = COUNT(Sales[Quantity])

- Formula bar

A new measure named Total Sales Count is created that counts all Quantity values

Step 5: Click New Measure again

- Modeling tab

Formula bar appears for a new measure

Step 6: Type the formula for DISTINCTCOUNT, for example: Unique Customers = DISTINCTCOUNT(Sales[CustomerID])

- Formula bar

A new measure named Unique Customers is created that counts unique CustomerID values

Step 7: Add a card visual to the report canvas

- Visualizations pane

An empty card appears on the canvas

Step 8: Drag the Total Sales Count measure to the card

- Fields pane to card visual

The card shows the total count of sales quantities

Step 9: Add another card visual and drag the Unique Customers measure to it

- Visualizations pane and Fields pane

The second card shows the count of unique customers

Before vs After

Before

Report canvas has no cards and no measures for counting

After

Report canvas shows two cards: one with total count of sales quantities (e.g., 1500), another with unique customer count (e.g., 120)

Settings Reference

New Measure

📍 Modeling tab in the ribbon

To create custom calculations like COUNT and DISTINCTCOUNT

Default: No measure created

Visualizations pane

📍 Right side of Power BI Desktop

To add visuals that display your data and measures

Default: No visual selected

Common Mistakes

Using COUNT on a text column

COUNT only counts numbers and non-blank values, so it may return unexpected results or zero

Use DISTINCTCOUNT for text columns to count unique text values or use COUNTROWS with filters

Confusing COUNT with COUNTROWS

COUNT counts values in a single column, COUNTROWS counts rows in a table or filtered table

Use COUNT for counting values in one column, COUNTROWS to count rows in a table or filtered table

Summary

COUNT counts all values in a column, including duplicates.

DISTINCTCOUNT counts only unique values in a column.

Use these measures to quickly see totals and unique counts in your reports.