Drillthrough Best Practices
Navigate from summary to detail pages effectively.
Drillthrough enables users to right-click on data points and navigate to detail pages filtered by that selection.
What is Drillthrough?
Drillthrough creates contextual navigation from summary visuals to detail pages. When a user right-clicks on a data point, they can drill through to see related details.
Setting Up Drillthrough
Step 1: Create Detail Page Design a page with detailed information about an entity (product, customer, region).
Step 2: Add Drillthrough Filter Drag the field users will drill on to the drillthrough filter well on your detail page.
Step 3: Configure Settings - Keep all filters: Preserve other slicers - Cross-report drillthrough: Enable for other reports (Premium)
Step 4: Add Back Button Include a back button so users can return to the source page.
Design Principles
Clear Focus Detail pages should focus on one entity type: - Product detail page - Customer detail page - Store detail page
Relevant Information Include details not available on summary pages: - Transaction history - Trend analysis - Related records
Consistent Layout Maintain visual consistency with other report pages.
Cross-Report Drillthrough
With Premium, users can drill from one report to another: - Central detail pages - Shared across multiple reports - Reduces duplication
Best Practices
- Always include back navigation
- Show context of what was drilled
- Keep detail pages focused
- Test with various source visuals
- Consider mobile experience
Frequently Asked Questions
Can drillthrough work across reports?
Yes, cross-report drillthrough is available with Power BI Premium. Users can drill from one report to a detail page in a different report, passing the filter context automatically.
How do I create a back button for drillthrough?
Insert a button, set the Action type to "Back". Power BI automatically handles returning to the source page. Style the button to match your report design.