Can We Export Power BI Report to PowerPoint?

Your Power BI report looks fantastic, packed with valuable insights and visuals. But now, it's time for the monthly board meeting or the client presentation, and that means getting your data into a PowerPoint deck. This article will show you exactly how to export your Power BI reports to PowerPoint, covering the most common methods, their pros and cons, and best practices for creating a professional presentation.

Why Bother Exporting to PowerPoint?

In a perfect world, you'd pull up your live, interactive Power BI dashboard during every meeting. But reality is often different. Presentations require a linear narrative, a crafted story that guides your audience from one key finding to the next. PowerPoint is the classic tool for this kind of storytelling.

Here are a few common reasons to move your visuals from Power BI to PowerPoint:

• Stakeholder Updates: Leadership teams often want a high-level summary in a familiar format they can easily review and share.

• Client Reporting: Sending an interactive dashboard can be overwhelming for a client. A curated slide deck zeroes in on the metrics that matter most to them.

• Offline Presentations: You can't always count on a stable internet connection. Having a static PowerPoint file is a reliable backup.

• Internal Annotations: You may need to add specific notes, arrows, or callouts to a visual to explain a particular trend - a task that's often easier in PowerPoint.

Method 1: The Direct "Export to PowerPoint" Feature

Power BI has a built-in feature designed for just this scenario. It exports your entire report, with each page becoming a separate slide. It's fast, straightforward, and perfect for when you need a static snapshot of your entire report.

How to Export Your Report

Follow these simple steps from within the Power BI Service (the web version of Power BI, not the Desktop app):

1. Navigate to the report you want to export.

2. From the menu bar at the top, click Export.

3. Select PowerPoint from the dropdown menu.

4. A pop-up window will appear with two options:

   • Export with current values: This exports the report in its current state, including any active filters or slicers you've applied. This is the most common choice.

   • Export with default values: This exports the report in its original, unfiltered state as it was initially published.

5. After selecting your option, click the Export button. Power BI will begin processing the file. This can take a few minutes for large reports.

6. Once ready, a browser notification will appear. Click the button to download your PowerPoint file. Each page of your report will be a high-resolution image on its own slide, and a title slide with a link back to the original report is automatically included.

Limitations of the Direct Export Method

While this method is incredibly convenient, you should be aware of a few key limitations:

• Static Images, Not Interactive: The biggest drawback is that the exported visuals are static images. You can't click on slicers, drill down into data, or see tooltips. It's a picture of your report, not the report itself.

• No Live Data: The data is only as current as the moment you clicked "Export." It will not update automatically.

• Backgrounds May Be Lost: Custom background images or wallpapers in your Power BI report won't be exported. PowerPoint will render the slides with a white background by default.

• Row/Column Limits: If you are exporting a table or matrix visual, Power BI only exports the rows visible in the visual. URL hyperlink functionality on tables and matrices is also not exported.

• Custom Visuals: While most certified custom visuals are supported, some might not render correctly in the exported slide deck. It's always best to test it with your specific report.

Method 2: Embedding a Live, Interactive Report

What if you want the "wow" factor of an interactive dashboard right inside your PowerPoint presentation? That's possible using the official Power BI Storytelling add-in for PowerPoint. This method embeds a live window to a Power BI report page directly into your slide.

How to Embed Your Report

This approach requires you to have the Power BI PowerPoint add-in installed. Most modern versions of PowerPoint have this ready to go.

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation and create a new, blank slide.

2. Click on the Insert tab in the PowerPoint ribbon.

3. Look for the Power BI icon in the "Add-ins" section and click it. (If you don't see it, you may need to click Get Add-ins and search for "Microsoft Power BI".)

4. This will insert a Power BI placeholder object onto your slide. In this object, you'll need to paste the URL of the Power BI report page you want to show off.

5. Go to your report in the Power BI Service. Copy the URL from your browser's address bar.

6. Go back to PowerPoint and paste this URL into the box in the placeholder.

7. Click the Insert button. You might be prompted to sign in to your Power BI account.

8. After logging in, your live Power BI report page will appear within your slide! You can resize the object and, when you enter Presentation Mode, you'll be able to interact with the visual just like you would in a browser.

Pros and Cons of Embedding Live Reports

The benefits are clear: you get real-time, fully interactive data in your presentation. You can answer follow-up questions on the fly by filtering and slicing the data right in the slide. However, there are some important considerations:

• Requires a Power BI Pro or Premium License: The person presenting and anyone viewing needs appropriate permissions and licensing to see the report.

• You Absolutely Need an Internet Connection: If the Wi-Fi fails, your slide will show an error message. The direct export method works offline.

• Can Distract the Audience: Too much interactivity can sidetrack your presentation. It's hard to tell a focused story when viewers are drawn to clicking on different analysis points.

• Load Times: Complex reports may take a few seconds to load when you advance to that slide, which can interrupt the flow of your talk.

Best Practices for Presenting Your Data

Regardless of which method you choose, simply dropping a dashboard into a slide isn't enough. Here's how to create an effective presentation with your Power BI data:

Focus on One Idea Per Slide

A typical Power BI dashboard is dense with information. Don't just export an entire page and say "Here are our Q3 metrics." Instead, take a single, important chart out of that dashboard and give it its own slide. This helps focus your audience's attention on the specific insight you're discussing.

The quickest way to do this is often by using your computer's screenshot tool (like the Snipping Tool on Windows or Command+Shift+4 on Mac) on a single visual and pasting it into PowerPoint. While this is less formal than a full export, it works well if you need to highlight just a chart or two to build your narrative.

Add Context with Titles and Annotations

Once your visual is on the slide, use PowerPoint's features to add value. Change the slide title to explain the main takeaway. For example, instead of a generic title like "Sales by Region," use "West Coast Sales Grew 20% Driven by New Product Launch." Use shapes and text boxes to draw arrows or circle key data points, making it impossible for your audience to miss your point.

Tell a Story

Your slides should build on one another to tell a story. Start with a high-level overview (Total Revenue Growth), then drill into the contributing factors (Which product lines are driving this?), and finish with an action or recommendation (We should double down on marketing for Product X).

Final Thoughts

Getting your Power BI data into PowerPoint is a common task, and you have excellent options depending on your needs. For a simple, reliable snapshot of your report for offline viewing, the built-in export feature is perfect. For a dynamic, high-impact presentation with an internet connection, embedding a live report is the way to go.

Of course, the time spent building reports in complex BI tools or manually downloading CSV files for these presentations is often the biggest bottleneck. With our AI data analyst, Graphed, you can connect your data sources in seconds and create entire real-time dashboards just by describing what you want to see in plain English. We built it to automate the hours of busywork so you can move straight from question to a clear, actionable insight - making the dashboard to put into your PowerPoint deck the simple final step, not the main event.