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How to Get Day Name from Date in Power BI

Cody Schneider••8 min read

Trying to figure out if your sales spike on weekends or if website traffic is best on Tuesday mornings? To answer that, you first need to turn your raw date data into a simple day of the week, like "Monday" or "Tuesday." This article will show you three different ways to extract the day name from a date in Power BI.

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Why Show the Day Name From a Date?

Almost every dataset includes a timestamp or a date column, but a raw date like "2023-10-26" isn't great for spotting weekly trends. When you extract the day name, you can group your data to answer essential business questions, such as:

  • Marketing: Which day of the week generates the most ad conversions?
  • E-commerce: Do we get more orders on weekends than on weekdays?
  • Operations: What day has the highest volume of customer support tickets?
  • Web Analytics: Does site engagement drop off toward the end of the week?

Creating a dedicated day name column allows you to build charts and slicers that clearly visualize these weekly patterns, moving you from raw data to actionable insights.

Three Easy Methods to Get the Day Name in Power BI

Power BI offers several ways to achieve this, each with its own advantages. We'll cover three simple methods: using the built-in formatting tools for a quick visual fix, using a DAX formula for maximum flexibility, and using Power Query to build it into your data preparation steps.

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Method 1: Change the Date Format Using Column Tools (Quick & Simple)

If you just need to change how a date is displayed in a table or matrix without creating a new column, this is the fastest way to do it. It directly formats the existing date column to show the day name.

When to use this method: You need a quick visual change for a specific report and don't need a separate day name column for filtering or slicing across your report.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Navigate to the Data view or Report view in Power BI.
  2. Select the table that contains your date column from the Data pane on the right.
  3. Click on the date column you want to format (e.g., 'OrderDate'). This will activate the Column tools tab in the main ribbon.
  4. In the Column tools tab, find the "Format" section. Click the dropdown menu.
  5. To enter a custom format, you can either select a predefined format or type directly into the format box. Type dddd into the format box and hit Enter. Your date column will now display the full day name (e.g., "Monday", "Tuesday").

Full Day Name vs. Short Day Name:

  • dddd: Displays the full name of the day (e.g., "Monday").
  • ddd: Displays the abbreviated three-letter name (e.g., "Mon").

The Catch: This method changes the formatting of the entire column. The underlying data is still a date, but it will appear as "Monday" everywhere it's used. If you want to keep the original date visible and have the day name as a separate field, you'll want to use one of the next two methods.

Method 2: Create a New Column with DAX (The Most Flexible Option)

DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is Power BI's formula language. Using a simple DAX formula to create a new column gives you the most flexibility. It leaves your original date column untouched and gives you a new, dedicated column containing just the day of the week.

When to use this method: You need a standalone "Day Name" column to use in slicers, filters, chart axes, and other calculations across your entire report.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Go to the Data view by clicking the table icon on the left-hand navigation pane.
  2. Select the table you want to add the column to.
  3. In the top ribbon, click on the New Column button. This will open up the formula bar.
  4. Enter the following DAX formula into the formula bar. Be sure to replace 'YourTableName'[YourDateColumn] with the actual names of your table and date column.

To get the full day name, use this formula:

Day Name = FORMAT('Sales'[OrderDate], "dddd")

If you prefer the abbreviated day name, use this instead:

Short Day Name = FORMAT('Sales'[OrderDate], "ddd")

Breaking Down the Formula:

  • Day Name =: This is just the name you're giving your new column. You can call it whatever you like.
  • FORMAT(): This is the DAX function that converts a value (like a date) into a text string with a specified format.
  • 'Sales'[OrderDate]: The first argument is the value you want to format—in this case, the date from the 'OrderDate' column in the 'Sales' table.
  • "dddd": The second argument is the format code telling DAX you want the full name of the day.

Once you press Enter, a new column will instantly appear in your table, populated with the correct day names for each corresponding date.

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Method 3: Add a Day Name Column in Power Query (The Data Prep Pro's Choice)

Power Query is the data transformation engine in Power BI. You can use it to clean, shape, and prepare your data before it's loaded into your reporting model. Creating the day name column at this stage is a great practice, as it becomes part of your data refresh pipeline.

When to use this method: You're already transforming your data in Power Query and want the day name to be part of the foundational data model. This approach keeps your DAX calculations clean and handles the logic at the source.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. From the Home tab in Power BI, click on Transform data to open the Power Query Editor.
  2. In the list of queries on the left, select the one that contains your date data.
  3. Select the date column you want to use.
  4. Go to the Add Column tab in the Power Query ribbon.
  5. In the "From Date & Time" section, click the Date dropdown button. A menu will appear.
  6. Hover over Day and then click Name of Day.

That's it! Power Query will automatically add a new column named "Day Name" to your table with the full day name. This new step is now saved as part of your data import process and will automatically run every time your data refreshes.

The Most Important Step: Correctly Sorting Your Day Names

Congratulations, you now have a day name column! But when you use it in a chart, you'll immediately notice a major problem: the days are sorted alphabetically. Your bar chart will show "Friday," then "Monday," then "Saturday." This isn't just awkward, it makes analyzing your data impossible.

Fortunately, there's a simple, permanent fix for this: the Sort by Column feature.

To sort your day names chronologically (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday...), you first need a "helper" column that contains the day of the week as a number (1 through 7).

Step 1: Create a Day of Week Number Column

You can create this helper column using either DAX or Power Query.

Using DAX (add another New Column):

Day of Week Number = WEEKDAY('Sales'[OrderDate], 2)

The WEEKDAY function returns a number from 1 to 7. The second argument, 2, is important — it tells Power BI to start the week on Monday (1) and end on Sunday (7). This is a common business standard.

Using Power Query (repeat the Add Column steps):

  1. With your date column selected, go to the Add Column tab.
  2. Click Date > Day > Day of Week.
  3. This creates a numeric column, but be aware that Power Query's default is to start with Sunday = 0 and end with Saturday = 6. This works perfectly fine for sorting, you just need to be aware of the numbering system.

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Step 2: Apply the Sort by Column Setting

Now that you have your day names (text) and a helper column with the day numbers, you can tell Power BI how to sort them properly.

  1. Go back to the Data view in Power BI.
  2. Click on the day name column (e.g., "Day Name"), the one with the text values like "Monday," "Tuesday." This is the column you want to sort.
  3. The Column tools tab will appear in the ribbon.
  4. Click on the Sort by column button.
  5. From the dropdown list that appears, select your numeric helper column (e.g., "Day of Week Number").

Power BI will take a moment to process, and you're done! From now on, any chart, table, or slicer that uses your "Day Name" column will automatically sort it correctly: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Final Thoughts

Whether you prefer the quick formatting change in the Column Tools, the flexibility of a DAX formula, or the systematic approach of Power Query, getting the day name from a date is a fundamental skill in Power BI. Most importantly, remember to create and sort by a numeric "helper" column to ensure your weekly data is always presented in the correct chronological order.

We believe data analysis shouldn't be this procedural. Manual steps like creating helper columns and configuring sort orders are exactly the kind of friction points that keep people from getting fast answers. We built Graphed to remove these roadblocks. Instead of clicking through menus or learning DAX formulas, you can simply ask in plain English, "show me last month's revenue by day of the week." Graphed automatically handles the date extraction, sorting, and visualization, delivering a perfect chart in seconds. It connects directly to your data sources and automates reporting so you can stay focused on insights, not the setup.

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