How Many Types of Filters in Power BI?
You’ve built a fantastic Power BI report with beautiful charts and meaningful metrics. But its true power is unlocked when you let your team slice and dice the data to answer their own questions. To do that, you need to master Power BI’s most essential feature: filters. This guide will walk you through the different types of filters in Power BI, explaining what they do, when to use them, and how to set them up.
Understanding Filter Scopes in Power BI
When people ask "how many types of filters are there?", the answer isn't a single number. The best way to think about filters is by their "scope" - that is, how much of your report they affect. Power BI gives you several levels of control, from a single chart all the way up to your entire report. These are all controlled within the Filters pane, which typically sits on the right side of your Power BI Desktop canvas.
Let's break down each level.
1. Visual-Level Filters
As the name suggests, a visual-level filter applies to only one specific visual on your report page. This is the most granular level of filtering and is perfect for when you want a particular chart or table to show a focused subset of data without affecting anything else on the page.
When to use it:
You have a bar chart showing overall sales, but you want another 'Top 5 Products' bar chart right next to it. You would apply a "Top N" filter to the second chart only.
You want to display a metric but exclude outliers or irrelevant data (like test entries) from a single visualization.
You have a map visual and want it to show data for only one country, while other charts on the page show global data.
How to set it up:
Click on the specific visual you want to filter (e.g., a bar chart, a pie chart, a map). You’ll notice the Filters pane now shows a section called "Filters on this visual."
From the Fields pane, drag the data field you want to filter by (e.g., 'Product Category', 'Salesperson') into the "Filters on this visual" bay.
Configure the filter. Power BI offers different filtering modes depending on the data type:
Basic filtering: A simple list of values with checkboxes (e.g., check the boxes for 'USA', 'Canada', 'Mexico').
Advanced filtering: Use rules like "contains," "starts with," "is not blank," or "is greater than." This is great for filtering text or numbers.
Top N filtering: Show the "Top" or "Bottom" number of items based on a value. For example, show the Top 10 products by Sales amount.
When you set a visual-level filter, it won't be immediately obvious to your end-users unless they have the Filters pane open. It’s a great way to fine-tune the story each chart tells.
2. Page-Level Filters
Moving one level up, a page-level filter applies to all visuals on a single report page. It's the perfect tool for creating pages that are dedicated to a specific theme, like a region, a time period, or a campaign.
When to use it:
You have a report page dedicated entirely to "North American Sales," so you apply a page-level filter to only show data where 'Region' is 'North America'.
You want to create a "Q4 Performance Review" page, so you filter the entire page to show dates only within October, November, and December.
You're analyzing a marketing campaign and want one page to show just the metrics for your "Summer Sale" campaign.
How to set it up:
Make sure no specific visual is selected by clicking on the blank canvas of your report page.
From the Fields pane, drag the field you want to filter by into the "Filters on this page" section in the Filters pane.
Configure the filter settings (Basic, Advanced, etc.) just as you would for a visual-level filter.
Every visual you add to this page will now automatically inherit this filter. It saves a tremendous amount of time compared to applying the same filter to a dozen different visuals individually.
3. Report-Level Filters
The report-level filter is the master filter. It applies globally to all visuals on all pages within your entire Power BI report. It’s powerful and should be used for filters that need to be consistently applied everywhere.
When to use it:
You need to exclude company-internal or test data from every single analysis in the report (e.g., filter out sales where 'Customer Type' is 'Internal Employee').
Your entire report is meant for a specific business unit or subsidiary, so you filter by 'Company Division' at the report level.
You want to filter the whole report to only show data for the current year.
How to set it up:
Again, make sure no specific visual is selected by clicking on the blank canvas.
From the Fields pane, drag your chosen field into the "Filters on all pages" section of the Filters pane.
Configure the filter. Once set, this filter will silently work in the background across everything.
A word of caution: since this filter applies everywhere, make sure it’s truly what you want! It's easy to forget a report-level filter is active and then wonder why your numbers seem low.
4. Drillthrough Filters
Drillthrough is a special and incredibly useful type of filter that provides a targeted navigation experience. It isn't set up in the main Filters pane section but is a critical filtering concept. It allows a user to right-click on a data point in one chart (e.g., a specific sales rep on a summary page) and "drill through" to a separate, detailed page that is automatically filtered for just that sales rep.
When to use it:
Provide an "at-a-glance" summary page of all salespeople, then let managers drill through to a detailed performance page for any individual rep.
Show a list of marketing campaigns, then allow users to drill through to a page with deep-dive KPIs for the selected campaign.
Display product categories and let users drill through to a page showing all the specific products and their sales details within that category.
How to set it up:
Create your "detail" page. For example, a dashboard showing one salesperson’s metrics.
With the detail page selected, drag the field you want to filter by (e.g., 'Salesperson Name') into the "Drillthrough" field well at the bottom of the Visualizations pane.
Power BI will automatically add a "Back" button to your detail page.
Now, go back to your "summary" page. When a user right-clicks on a data point that contains a 'Salesperson Name' (like a bar in a chart), they will see an option to "Drill through" to your detail page.
Beyond the Filters Pane: Slicers
While the Filters pane is your primary tool for setting up behind-the-scenes filtering logic, there's another "type" of filter built for your end-users: the Slicer.
A slicer is a visual object that you place directly on your report canvas. It provides an intuitive, user-facing way for people to filter the data on a report page. Instead of having to find and use the technical Filters pane, a user can simply click a button, check a box, or move a slider.
When to use it:
When you want to give your boss an easy way to switch between different business regions or product lines without needing any technical know-how.
When you need a date picker so users can easily select a specific time range to analyze.
For any common filter you anticipate your audience will want to change frequently.
How to set it up:
In the Visualizations pane, click the Slicer icon.
An empty slicer will appear on your canvas. With it selected, drag the field you want to filter by (e.g., 'Date', 'Country', 'Product Category') into the "Field" section of the visual.
Power BI will format the slicer based on the data type - a date field becomes a date range slider, while a text field becomes a list of checkboxes. You can format this further to be a dropdown menu for a cleaner look.
By default, a slicer on a page filters all other visuals on that same page, just like a page-level filter. It's the most interactive and user-friendly way to empower your team to explore data.
Final Thoughts
Mastering Power BI's filtering options - from granular visual-level adjustments to overarching report-level rules and interactive Slicers - is what separates a static report from a dynamic analytical tool. By understanding the different scopes and applying the right filter for the right job, you can create intuitive, powerful, and deeply insightful reports that empower your entire team to make better decisions.
Learning all the nuances of tools like Power BI can be a huge time investment, especially when all you want are quick, clear answers from your data. We faced this exact challenge - spending hours in filter panes and report builders instead of strategizing. That’s why we built Graphed. It lets you skip the learning curve entirely by connecting your data sources and building reports and dashboards using simple, plain English. You can simply ask for something like, "Show me our top 5 products by revenue last quarter" and get a live, interactive visualization instantly, helping you go from question to insight in seconds, not hours.