How to Increase Row Height in Power BI Matrix

You’ve built the perfect matrix in Power BI, pulling in exactly the right data to tell your story. But there’s one frustrating problem: the rows are crammed together, making the whole thing difficult to read. Text gets truncated, and your users have to squint to make sense of the dense wall of numbers. Fortunately, you have several ways to increase the row height and add some much-needed breathing room to your visual. This tutorial will walk you through four common methods, from simple formatting tweaks to a clever DAX workaround.

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Why Increase Row Height in the First Place?

Before jumping into the "how," it’s worth quickly touching on the "why." Adjusting the spacing in your matrix isn't just about appearances, it's about making your data more effective and accessible. Proper row height significantly improves:

• Readability: More vertical space between rows of text and numbers reduces cognitive load, allowing users to scan and comprehend the data faster. It helps guide the eye from the row header to the values without accidentally jumping to the line above or below.
• Accessibility: For users with visual impairments, dense text can be a significant barrier. Proper spacing is a core principle of accessible design and makes your reports usable for a wider audience.
• Accommodating Long Text: If your rows contain long category names, descriptions, or URLs, a taller row allows the text to wrap, so nothing important gets cut off with an ellipsis (...).
• Professional Polish: A well-spaced matrix simply looks more professional and thoughtfully designed. It signals that you’ve considered the user experience, rather than just dropping a default visual onto the canvas.

Method 1: Using the Format Pane

The simplest and most direct way to add space is by using the built-in formatting options in the Visualizations pane. This method works well for basic adjustments and doesn't require any formulas.

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Adjust Row Padding

The easiest option is to add padding, which inserts empty space above and below the content within each row.

1. Select the matrix visual you want to edit.
2. In the Visualizations pane, click the paintbrush icon to open the Format your visual tab.
3. Expand the Grid section.
4. Locate the Row padding slider. Drag it to the right or enter a number (e.g., 5-10px) to increase the spacing. You'll see the change applied to your matrix in real-time.

This is a great starting point for adding a bit of breathing room without altering font sizes at all.

Increase Font Size

Another way to indirectly increase row height is by increasing the font size of the text itself. The row must grow taller to accommodate the larger text.

1. Select your matrix visual.
2. In the Format your visual tab, expand the Values section.
3. Under Text, increase the Font size. As you increase the font size, Power BI will automatically adjust the row height.
4. For consistency, you may also want to increase the font size for your Row headers. To do this, collapse the Values section and expand the Row headers section. Adjust the Font size there to match.

While effective, this method has a trade-off: it makes everything bigger. If your goal is just to add white space while keeping the text size the same, the padding option or the next method is a better choice.

Method 2: The "Blank Measure" Trick for Precise Control

What if you want a fixed, uniform row height regardless of the text size? This is where the developer-favorite "blank measure" trick comes in handy. The idea is to create a new measure that contains an invisible character, add it to our matrix as a value, and then format that new column with a very large font. This forces all rows to expand to that height, even though the column itself isn't visible.

Step 1: Create the DAX Measure

First, we need to create a simple DAX measure.

1. Go to the Modeling tab in the Power BI ribbon and click on New Measure.
2. The formula bar will appear. Enter the following DAX formula. This formula returns a simple "zero-width space" character, which is perfect for our needs. You can copy and paste it directly.

Row Height Helper = UNICHAR(8203)

Press Enter to save the measure. You will see it appear in your Data pane.

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Step 2: Add the Measure to Your Matrix

Now, drag your new Row Height Helper measure from the Data pane and drop it into the Values field well in the Visualizations pane. You'll see a new, blank column appear in your matrix. Don't worry, we're going to make it invisible.

Step 3: Format the Invisible Column

This is where the magic happens. We'll format this new column to control the height of the entire matrix.

1. With the matrix still selected, go to the Format your visual tab.
2. Expand the Specific column section.
3. In the dropdown menu, select your Row Height Helper measure.
4. Under Text, turn on Text wrap. This is crucial for allowing the invisible character to dictate the height.
5. Now, increase the Font size to your desired height. For example, if you set it to 30, all rows in the matrix will become much taller.
6. Finally, to make the column truly invisible, change the Font color to match your report's background color. If your background is white, set the font color to white (#FFFFFF).

Step 4: Hide the Column Header

You now have a perfectly spaced matrix, but there's a pesky blank header for our invisible column. Here’s how to hide it:

1. Go back to the Specific column formatting options for your Row Height Helper measure.
2. Make sure you enable customizations by clicking the Apply to header button.
3. Like you did for the text values, change the header's Font color to match your header's background color, making the text disappear.

And that’s it! You now have full control over a uniform row height for your entire matrix.

Method 3: Enable Text Wrapping for Dynamic Height

Sometimes you don't want every row to be the same height. You might have some rows with short text and others with long, descriptive names. In this scenario, you want the rows to adjust their height dynamically based on the content. This is a perfect use case for text wrapping.

1. Select your matrix.
2. Go to the Format your visual tab.
3. Expand the Values section.
4. Toggle the Text wrap option to On.
5. Repeat this process for the sections you need, especially the Row headers. Expand the Row headers section and toggle Text wrap to On there as well.

Now, any text that's too long to fit in the column width will wrap onto a new line, automatically increasing the height of its specific row. This keeps your compact rows short and lets the longer ones expand as needed.

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Mixing and Matching for the Best Results

You don't have to stick to just one method. Sometimes the best approach is a combination.

• For a Clean, Uniform Look: The blank measure trick is best when you want every row to be identical and visually aligned.
• For Readability with Variable Content: Using Text wrap on row headers and values is ideal when you need to display full descriptions without cutting them off.
• A Hybrid Approach: Use the Row padding option to set a minimum amount of empty space for all rows. Then, turn on Text wrap to allow specific rows with longer text to grow even taller when necessary. This gives you a baseline level of spacing while accommodating your data's needs.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, a Power BI matrix’s readability comes down to careful spacing and thoughtful formatting. Whether you’re using basic adjustments like padding, enabling dynamic resizing with text wrap, or implementing a DAX helper measure for precise control, you now have the tools needed to transform a cramped table into a clear, professional visual.

We know that wrangling visuals in tools like Power BI can often feel like you're spending more time on formatting than on analysis. That constant back-and-forth between menus and settings is a big part of why we created Graphed. Our platform helps you bypass the tedious busywork. You can create entire dashboards by simply describing what you want to see in plain English using your connected data. This means less time getting row heights just right and more time focusing on the insights that actually drive decisions.