Filters in Power BI sorts information and data based on a bunch of parameters. Users can pick and choose particular fields or values within fields to only see the information that pertains to them. With so much level of filtering option available, a newbie Power BI learner could easily get confuse about the types of filter in Power BI.
 

Types of Filters in Power BI

 report level filter img source: docs.microsoft.com

Report-level Filters: Filters that influence all of the data in a report, irrespective of what you’re having a look at, are called report-level filters. Think of them as universal filters. For example, if your report has ten pages, you can use the report level filter to filter each of those ten pages individually.
 
Page-level filters: These filters are handy for designing pages that focus on certain subsets of your data because they only filter the data on that certain page.
 

page level filter image source: docs.microsoft.com

For example, you can use page-level filters to make one-page focus entirely on income data, while the following page focuses solely on spending data. Page-level filters work inside the framework of report-level filters, which means they can’t be used to negate a report-level filter.
 

Visual-level filters: These filters only affect the data on a single visual, such as a table, graph, card, slicer, or other visual. These are by far the most comprehensive filters you can apply to your data, and they work in conjunction with both page-level and report-level filters, so visual-level filters can’t just ignore them, and they can’t be used to filter data on other visuals.

img source: powerbi.microsoft.com

For example, with visual-level filters, you can present a pie chart of newcomers versus returning users in your most important markets with a filter that includes Country IN “United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan.”
 

Drill-down filters: These filters are automatically added to the filter pane when users leverage the drill-down functionality for a visual in your report. If you can modify a report, you can also change or remove the filter in the pane.

drill down img source: WallStreetMojo.com

For example, If you want to give manufacturers drill-through. In this example, a drill-through page with visuals showing overall sales, total number of units shipped, sales by category, sales by region, and so on may be created. When you go to that website, the visuals will be tailored to the manufacturer you chose.
 

What is Cross filtering?

Cross filtering: This feature of Power BI removes all the data except the data that you want to focus on. To put it simply, this feature will redraw the chart in terms of the applied filter.
 

Using Filters in Power BI: Visual, Page, Report

Add a filter to a visual

There are two types of filters for visuals. There are two techniques to apply a visual-level filter to a visual.

• The fields of a visual act as filters for that visual automatically.
• You can find a field that isn’t already visual and add it to the Visual level filters bucket manually.

Filter using a field that isn’t visible:

1. Choose Edit in the Power BI service to access your report in the Editing view.
2. If they aren’t already open, open the Visualizations, Filters, and Fields windows.
3. To make a visual active, select it.
4. Choose the field you wish to add as a new visual-level filter from the fields pane and move it to the filters on this visual area.
5. Use the filter and you’re done.

Report readers can engage with the category filter in reading view, choosing or removing values, if you save your report with this filter.
 

Add a filter to an entire page

A page-level filter can similarly be used to filter an entire page. Here’s how:

1. Open the Retail Analysis report in Power BI, then proceed to the District Monthly Sales page.
2. Select Edit to bring up the editing view of your report.
3. If they aren’t already open, open the Visualizations, Filters, and Fields windows.
4. Choose the field you wish to use as a new page-level filter from the Fields pane and move it to the bottom of the Filters on this page section.
5. Choose either Basic or Advanced filtering options for the values you want to filter.
6. To reflect the update, all of the visualizations on the page will be redrawn.

 

Add a filter an entire report

1. Select Edit to access the report in the Editing view.
2. If they aren’t already open, open the Visualizations and Filters window and the Fields pane.
3. Choose the field you wish to use as a new report-level filter from the Fields pane and slide it into the Report level filters section.
4. Choose the values you’d like to filter.
5. To come back to the previous report page, select the back icon.

The visualizations on the current page, as well as all of the report’s pages, are updated to match the new filter.
 

Filtering certain values in Power BI:

To filter certain values in Power BI here is what you can do:

• First, right-click a particular cell in a column to open the shortcut menu for a specific value.
• Point to the small filter icon.

img source: docs.microsoft.com

• Next, select the filter option you want to use.

 

Modes of Filters: Basic and Advanced

There are two modes of filtering in Power BI: Basic and Advanced Filtering.
 

1. Basic Filtering

It provides you with a searchable and extendable list. You just have to insert a term or identifier into the search box to look for a value. In return, the list of available values is immediately updated based on the search keywords you entered.

 

2. Advanced Filtering:

Advanced Filtering provides you with more precise control over what you want to filter out. Based on the type of columns, advanced filtering capabilities vary.

 

Adding a Filter Pane to Existing Report:

• Open an existing report and then go to File tab> Options & settings> Options to add the filter pane.
• Then, choose Report options.
• Select “Enable the updated filtering pane and show filters in the visual header for this report“ in the Filtering experience section.
• Click the OK button.
• On the right side of the report editor, a new filter window will appear.
• Drag and drop the field on the relevant column in the filter pane to apply filtering conditions to the visual/page/report.

 

Integrating charts with Filters and Slicers:

If you need filters but they’re not essential to your visualization and keeping selections isn’t a priority, try cross-filtering core visuals. Cross filtering can be done with almost any core visual. The Table or Matrix visual with Data Bars activated in conditional formatting is a smart approach to enhance a dense visual for highlighting data while also promoting interaction and cross-filtering.
 

Formatting Filter Pane:

You can format the Filters pane to match the appearance and flow of your report, which is a key part of the filter experience. The Filters pane can also be formatted individually for each page of the report. You can format the following elements:

 

• Color of the background
• Transparency of the background
• Border on or off
• Border color
• Font, color, and size of title and header

 

Adding filter in Power BI workspace:

 

• Open the web version of your Power BI workspace.
• And then choose a report that has already been uploaded.
• When the report opens, you’ll notice a Filters pane on the right, where you can examine the filters that are currently applied to the report or to a specific visualization.

 
Adding Filter in Edit Report Mode:

• To deploy new filters on the report, head on to the Edit report option.
• Drag and drop your preferred fields into the Page level filters or Report level filters column.
• Choose the values that will be used to categorize the report’s data. The report’s visualizations will change automatically based on the filters that have been applied.

 
Editing filter in edit report mode:

• Edit your report.
• Select the filter-enabled chart or control. Alternatively, you can use the page settings.
• In the Properties panel, go to the Data tab.

Make the desired adjustments by clicking the Edit icon.
 

Power BI Slicer vs Filter:

Even though Slicer & Filter have little similarity in terms of segmenting or filtering the data, but there are big differences when it comes to Slicer vs Filter in Power BI.
 
What are Slicers?
A slicer is a dimensional column that refines the data on the canvas. The users choose a value from a list to “slice” the data. Slicers can do two things: 
 
They can be added to the canvas using the visualization panel. Second, because they are visualizations, when you refresh the dashboard, the data behind the visualization will be changed, which may have performance concerns.
 

What are Filters?
Filters also refine the data, but they’re intended to be used by developers to customize the dashboard’s visualizations before it’s made available to users. Visual level filters, page-level filters, and filters that apply to all pages are among the three types of filters that can be configured using the Filter’s panel to the right side of the canvas.
 

Conclusion:
Filters in Power BI are strong capabilities that allow you to filter data at any level. And the best part of the Power BI filters is that you can apply all of the filters at the same time. When it comes to designing for interactions, Power BI gives report designers a lot of possibilities. It’s critical to consider how your audience will utilize the report and to learn about the company’s goals and situations.