Power BI Creating Dashboards
A dashboard in Power BI Service is different from a report. Reports are detailed, multi-page documents built in Power BI Desktop. Dashboards are single-page, high-level summary displays built in Power BI Service by pinning visuals from one or multiple reports. Dashboards give decision-makers a quick overview of the most important metrics without navigating through full reports.
Reports vs Dashboards
Understanding the difference between reports and dashboards prevents confusion:
A report is like a full magazine — multiple pages, detailed content, interactive filters, and slicers. You build reports in Power BI Desktop and publish them to Power BI Service.
A dashboard is like the cover of that magazine — one page showing the headlines and most important images. Viewers see the key numbers at a glance. They cannot use slicers or page filters on a dashboard, but they can click a visual to navigate into the underlying report for full details.
Dashboards pull content from multiple reports. A Sales Dashboard might show revenue from a Sales Report, headcount from an HR Report, and website visitors from a Marketing Report — all on one screen.
How Dashboards Update
Dashboards display live tiles. When the underlying report data refreshes, the tiles on the dashboard update automatically. You do not rebuild the dashboard — it pulls the latest data from the pinned visuals each time it loads.
This makes dashboards ideal for daily or real-time monitoring. A manager opens the dashboard at 9 AM and sees numbers based on last night's data refresh without any manual work.
Creating a Dashboard in Power BI Service
Open your browser and go to app.powerbi.com. Sign in with your work account. Make sure you have at least one published report available in your workspace.
Step 1 — Open a Report
In the left navigation panel, click Workspaces and select your workspace. Find a published report and click to open it. The report opens in viewing mode — you see the report pages as a reader would.
Step 2 — Pin a Visual
Hover your mouse over any visual in the report. A small pin icon (thumbtack icon) appears in the top right corner of the visual. Click it. A dialog box appears asking where to pin the visual.
You have two choices: "Existing Dashboard" (add to a dashboard you already created) or "New Dashboard." For your first dashboard, select New Dashboard, type a name (for example "2024 Executive Dashboard"), and click Pin Live.
Repeat this process for every visual you want on the dashboard. You can pin from multiple different reports.
Step 3 — Open the Dashboard
In the left navigation panel, click Dashboards (or find it in your workspace list). Open your new dashboard. All pinned visuals appear as tiles on a single page.
Arranging Tiles on the Dashboard
Click and drag tiles to reposition them on the dashboard canvas. Grab the bottom-right corner of a tile to resize it. Arrange tiles so the most important metrics appear prominently — usually large tiles at the top or left, smaller supplementary tiles below or to the right.
Think of the dashboard like a cockpit instrument panel. The most critical gauges — altitude, speed, fuel — are placed directly in the pilot's primary line of sight. Secondary instruments are accessible but not dominant. Your most important KPIs should be the largest and most centrally placed tiles.
Adding Text and Image Tiles
Dashboards can contain more than just pinned visuals. Click the Edit button (pencil icon) on the dashboard. Click Add a Tile. A panel opens showing additional tile types:
- Web Content: Embed a live webpage or a web-hosted image directly on the dashboard.
- Image: Add a static image — your company logo, a team photo, or an informational graphic.
- Text Box: Add explanatory text, notes, or section headers to organize the dashboard layout.
- Video: Embed a video from YouTube or Vimeo.
Use text boxes to add section labels like "Financial Overview" and "Operational Metrics" to separate groups of tiles and help viewers navigate the dashboard quickly.
Setting Dashboard Alerts
Power BI Service can send you an email or notification when a dashboard metric crosses a threshold. This turns your dashboard from a passive display into an active monitoring tool.
Click on any card or gauge tile on your dashboard. A details panel opens on the right. Click the bell icon to set an alert. Specify the condition — for example, "Alert me when Total Revenue drops below ₹50,00,000." Power BI checks the data at each refresh and sends an alert if the condition is met.
Alerts work on card and gauge tiles connected to Import Mode datasets with scheduled refresh. They do not work on DirectQuery datasets.
Sharing a Dashboard
Click the Share button at the top of the dashboard. Enter the email addresses of the people you want to share with. They receive an email link and can open the dashboard in their browser.
People you share with view the dashboard in read-only mode by default. They see the same data you see unless Row Level Security (covered in a later topic) is configured to restrict their view.
Sharing requires both the sharer and the recipient to have Power BI Pro licenses, or the workspace must be in a Premium capacity that allows free-license viewers.
Featured Dashboard
You can set one dashboard as your Featured Dashboard. This dashboard automatically appears when you open Power BI Service — it is the first thing you see each time you log in. Set this to the dashboard you check most often for the fastest possible daily access to key metrics.
Click the three-dot menu on any dashboard and select "Set as Featured." Only one dashboard can be featured at a time.