Create and use a button slicer

APPLIES TO: Power BI Desktop Power BI service

In Power BI, the button slicer is an interactive visual element that allows users to filter data in reports and dashboards, providing an easy and dynamic way to browse and analyze large datasets.

Among the various types of slicers, the button slicer stands out due to its unique properties. It offers customizable button styles, interactive states, conditional formatting for labels, and a grid layout for arranging buttons in rows and columns. Additionally, the button slicer can integrate images, enhancing visual appeal and providing more context.

These features make the button slicer a powerful tool for creating interactive and visually appealing reports, offering a user-friendly setup and comprehensive formatting options.

Prerequisites

In the following guide, we're using the Retail Analysis Sample PBIX file. Use the steps for your environment:

Create a button slicer

In this quick and easy three-step guide, you create a Button slicer in Power BI Desktop. Review the Prerequisites section before following these steps.

1. With the Retail Analysis Sample PBIX open, make sure you're on the Overview page by selecting the Overview tab. To make room for your button slicer, select and resize the scatter chart by dragging the dark visualization handles. Then, with nothing selected on the report canvas, select the Button slicer icon in the Build visual tab on the Visualizations pane to create a new slicer on the report canvas.

   

2. To add data to the visual, use the Data pane. With your slicer selected on the report canvas, go to the Data pane, expand the District table, and select DM to populate the slicer. The slicer now displays tiles with the district manager names. You can resize the slicer as needed and rearrange the elements on the canvas to your preference. Be careful not to make the slicer too small, which affects the displayed information.

   

3. To customize your slicer, select the Format visual icon in the Visualizations pane. This icon grants you access to all available format settings. You can tailor the slicer's appearance and functionality to your specific requirements.

Use visual highlights

Highlighting in Power BI enhances report interactivity by letting users focus on selected data points across visuals. When used with the button slicer, it draws attention to selected values and updates other visuals in context.

As you interact with various elements like pie charts or tables, the corresponding buttons in the slicer stay highlighted and easy to identify, while the buttons not related to your selection become dimmed or less prominent.

Understanding how highlighting impacts the button slicer prepares you to create more engaging and insightful reports, making it easier for viewers to analyze filtered data and uncover meaningful trends.

In the following steps, you learn how to set up and utilize highlighting with the button slicer in Power BI, ensuring your report offers a seamless and intuitive data exploration experience.

1. With the button slicer still selected on your report canvas, look to the Visualizations pane and choose the Build visual tab. Here, you find the Highlight label field well. From the Data pane, drag the 'Value' measure found under Sales > This Year Sales, to the Highlight label field well. Once added, each button in your slicer displays the corresponding sales value as a label below the main callout value, making it easy to see sales figures for each selection.

   

2. Now that you've added a highlight label to your button slicer, let's explore how it responds when interacting with other visuals in your report. On your Overview page, locate the "This Year Sales by Chain" pie chart. Select the segment labeled "Lindseys" within the pie chart. In the button slicer, only the buttons related to the Lindseys series remain highlighted, while all other buttons become inactive or greyed out. This visual cue helps you quickly identify which selections are relevant to your chosen data point.

   

By following these steps, you enhance your Power BI report with an interactive slicer that makes data exploration more intuitive and insightful.

Use conditional formatting

Conditional formatting in Power BI's button slicer lets you customize the appearance of slicer items based on dynamic data conditions. Whether you want to highlight top performers, flag exceptions, or align visuals with business logic, this feature enhances the user experience and helps guide users' attention to the most relevant selections. It adds clarity, improves interactivity, and helps create a more intuitive and impactful interface.

In this section, you learn how to apply conditional formatting to the button slicer by using a practical example. With this knowledge, you can further tailor your reports with precision and impact.

1. Select the button slicer visual on your report canvas. This action ensures that any formatting changes you apply are specific to that slicer.

2. In the Visualizations pane, select the Format visual icon. Make sure you're in the Visual tab, then scroll down to locate the Buttons card to reveal further customization options.

3. Within the Buttons card, locate and expand the Background group to display the Fill color control, along with an 'fx' button beside the color picker.

   

4. Select the 'fx' button to launch the conditional formatting dialog window. Ensure the Format style is set to Rules. In the What field should we base this on dropdown, select Status measure for the This Year Sales, and then define the rules as follows:

   • First rule: >= 0 Percent and < 0 Number then red (#D64550).
   • Second rule: >= 0 Number and <= 100 Percent then blue (#118DFF).

   Once the rules are defined, select OK to apply the desired formatting based on your conditions.

   

5. The district managers associated with a negative sales status are now displayed in red, while those with a positive status appear in blue. This color coding makes it easier and quicker for users to identify key information.

   

Conditional formatting in button slicers helps you visually emphasize important data points, making your reports more intuitive and impactful. It's a simple way to guide users toward meaningful selections and improve overall report clarity.

The button slicer supports conditional formatting for multiple elements, including callout values, callout labels, button backgrounds, button borders, and button effects.

Paste values to select

The Paste feature lets you apply multiple selections to a button slicer by pasting a list of values. You don't need to manually select each option one by one. This feature streamlines the filtering process, especially when working with large datasets or predefined lists.

Instead of spending time selecting items individually, you can copy values from external sources (like Excel, Notepad, or emails) and paste them directly into the slicer. The slicer then automatically recognizes and applies all matching selections at once.

This approach not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of overlooking values. It's perfect for scenarios where precision and speed are essential.

In this section, you learn how to use this feature with a practical example to maximize its effect on your workflow.

1. To paste a set of values into a button slicer, open Excel. Create a new worksheet and enter your desired list of values.

2. After entering the names in Excel, highlight the cells containing your list (A1 to A3) and copy them. Next, return to Power BI, select your button slicer on the report canvas, and use Ctrl-V to paste the copied values, or use the slicer's ellipsis menu to paste the copied values. Each button with the matching names appears selected within the slicer, enabling straightforward filtering and analysis.

   

Pasting values into the button slicer streamlines filtering by quickly selecting multiple relevant entries at once. You save time and effort during data analysis.

Considerations and limitations

This section lists the key considerations and limitations of the Button slicer in Power BI Desktop so you can anticipate filtering behavior and avoid confusion.

• Paste values:
  • You can paste up to 2,000 values into the button slicer; any extras are ignored.
  • Pasting new values removes all previous selections.
  • When you paste values, the slicer applies exact-match ("IS") filtering by only selecting buttons with values that precisely correspond. If the pasted values don't match any available buttons, those values are still used as filters; so visuals might display as blank due to the absence of matching data.
• Sort buttons:
  • Sorting via the ellipsis menu is limited to Value. Label sorting is currently unavailable.
• Single select toggle:
  • The Single select toggle permits multiple selections only when the Force selection toggle is off. To select multiple options, hold CTRL and select other buttons.
  • If the Single select and Force selection toggles are on, only one option can be selected at a time. Selecting CTRL + other buttons isn't allowed.
• Force selection toggle:
  • When the Force selection toggle is on, the button slicer ensures that one item is always selected. This requires Single select toggle to also be on.
  • If a user applies another filter that hides the currently selected button, the slicer might look unselected. However, the previously selected (but now hidden) value continues to affect other visuals. Selected items are never cleared, even if they're temporarily removed from the current data due to filtering.
  • Currently, the slicer doesn't automatically select the first visible option when the forced selection is on and the selected button is filtered out. Instead, the hidden selection remains active until the user chooses another visible option.

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