1. Getting started!
Welcome to Power BI Desktop!
When you open a new Desktop file, you’re greeted with the default report view, where reports and visuals are created. The ribbon at the top offers various options. For instance, the Insert ribbon is focused on visuals, while the Modeling ribbon handles data connections.
Let’s start by connecting some data. Under the Home ribbon, click the Get Data button. Power BI offers several options, but we’ll import a CSV for now. Select Text/CSV.
Next, let’s open the FactSales file, which contains sales transactions for AdventureWorks, a fictitious bicycle manufacturer that sells bicycles and accessories. After selecting the file, a preview window appears. We can simply click Load, and the data will now be available in Power BI.
Once the data is loaded, you’ll notice the fields listed in the Data pane. Let's switch to the Table view to see the raw data more clearly. The FactSales table's values are displayed, and the Table Tools ribbon offers options for interacting with the data.
One of Power BI Desktop’s strengths is its ability to combine data from multiple sources. Let’s add another table from within the Table view. We’ll use the Get Data button again, but select an Excel file this time. We’ll load the DimProducts table, which contains details about the product involved in each transaction.
In the preview window, choose the correct sheet from the Excel file and click Load. The new table appears in the Data pane.
Now, let’s explore the Model view. Here, we can see all the loaded tables. Power BI automatically creates relationships between tables when it detects common fields, such as the ProductKey in both tables. If needed, relationships can be deleted by right-clicking on them. To manually create one, simply drag a field from one table to a matching field in the other table.
Let’s move to the Report view to create some visuals. First, select the Sales Amount field from the Data pane. Power BI automatically generates a bar chart because it recognizes this as a numerical value, adding it to the Y-axis in the Visualizations pane. You can easily resize and move the chart by dragging it around.
Let's enhance this visual by adding more data. With the chart selected, expand the DimProducts table in the Data pane. Drag the Category field to the X-axis. Now, the bar chart reflects the sales amount for each category. You can hover over each bar to see the sales figures.
Let’s add another visual — a card visualization showing the total sales amount. Click a blank spot on the canvas, choose the card option in the Visualizations pane, and select the Sales Amount field. The card now displays the total sales amount.
The visuals are interactive. If you click the Components bar, the card updates to show the category total. Click on the bar again to reset the view.
You can easily switch visualization types. Select the bar chart, then choose another visual type from the pane, such as a treemap, and the chart will change instantly.
Finally, you can add new pages using the plus sign at the bottom or delete them by clicking the x on any page tab.
You can also load pre-existing reports by clicking File, then Open, and selecting Browse this device.
Time to practice!
2. Let's practice!