How to Insert Image in Power BI Dashboard

Adding images to a Power BI report is one of the fastest ways to transform a good dashboard into a great one. While charts and graphs are the stars of the show, images add branding, context, and a professional polish that numbers alone can't achieve. This guide covers the two main ways to insert images into your Power BI reports: adding a static image like a company logo and dynamically displaying images based on your actual data.

Why Should You Add Images to Your Power BI Dashboards?

Before getting into the "how," it’s worth touching on the "why." Thoughtfully placed images can significantly improve your reports.

• Improve Branding: A company logo or branded report header instantly makes a dashboard look official and polished. It’s a simple touch that boosts professionalism, especially when sharing reports with clients or executives.
• Provide Quick Context: Imagine a products report with small photos next to each product name, or an employee directory with a headshot for each person. This visual context helps people understand the data much faster than reading text alone.
• Enhance User Experience: You can use small icons as navigation buttons or visual cues, guiding users through different report pages and making the dashboard more intuitive to use.
• Increase Engagement: Let’s be honest, staring at tables of numbers all day can be draining. A well-placed image breaks up the monotony, making the report more visually appealing and less intimidating for non-technical users.

Method 1: How to Insert a Static Image

This is the most common use case, perfect for adding your company logo, a background, report headers, or decorative icons. The process is quick and simple.

Step-by-Step Guide for Adding a Static Image

Follow these steps to add a standalone image that won't change with your data.

1. Open Power BI Desktop: Launch Power BI Desktop and open the report where you want to add the image.
2. Navigate to the 'Insert' Tab: At the top of the window, you'll see a ribbon with several tabs (File, Home, Insert, etc.). Click on Insert.
3. Select 'Image': In the 'Elements' section of the Insert ribbon, you’ll see an option for Image with a small picture icon. Click on it.
4. Choose Your Image File: A file browser window will pop up. Navigate to the folder where your image is saved, select the file (e.g., .png, .jpg, .gif), and click 'Open'.
5. Position and Resize: The image will now appear on your report canvas. You can click and drag it to the desired position. Use the drag handles on the corners and sides to resize it as needed. Holding the 'Shift' key while resizing will help maintain the image's original aspect ratio.

Formatting Your Static Image

Once the image is on your canvas, you can customize it further using the Format pane on the right. With the image selected, an "Image" or "Format your visual" section will appear. Here you can:

• Add a border, shadow, or background color.
• Adjust padding around the image.
• Turn the aspect ratio lock on or off.
• Add "Alt text" for accessibility, which is a great practice.

Pro Tip: For logos, always use a high-quality PNG file with a transparent background. A logo with a solid white box around it can make an otherwise beautiful dashboard look unprofessional.

Method 2: How to Insert Dynamic Images Based on Data

This method is more advanced but unlocks a ton of possibilities. Dynamic images are visuals that change based on what data is selected or filtered. It's perfect for showing product photos in a sales table, flags next to country names, or employee pictures in an HR report.

The key difference here is that the images aren't on your computer - they are located online, and your data set contains the web addresses (URLs) that point to each image.

Step 1: Make Sure Your Images Are Hosted Online

Power BI can't pull an image from your local "C:" drive and display it dynamically in a table. For dynamic imaging to work, the images must be publicly accessible on the internet. Your data simply tells Power BI where to find each picture.

You can store your images in several places:

• Your company's website or content management system (CMS).
• A cloud storage provider like SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, or Dropbox (ensure the links create direct-access, public URLs).
• A public code repository like GitHub.
• An image hosting service like Imgur.

The most important thing is that each image has a direct URL that ends in an image format (e.g., .jpg, .png, .gif) and doesn't require a login to view.

Step 2: Prepare Your Data Source

Your data source (whether it's an Excel file, SharePoint List, or SQL database) needs a column that contains the full URL for each image. For example, if you have a product sales table, you might have columns for ProductName, SalesAmount, and ProductImageURL.

Here's an example of what your data might look like in an Excel spreadsheet:

Step 3: Set the Data Category in Power BI

This is the most critical step. By default, Power BI will see the URL column as just a plain text link. You need to tell it that this text is actually an address for a picture.

1. Load your data into Power BI Desktop using 'Get Data'.
2. Go to the Data view (click the table icon on the left).
3. Find and select the column containing your image URLs (e.g., ProductImageURL).
4. In the Column tools tab at the top, find the Data category dropdown.
5. Select Image URL from the list.

That's it! You've just told Power BI to treat the text in that column as internet locations for images.

Step 4: Use the Image URLs in a Visual

Now, go to the Report view (the canvas icon).

1. Create a Table visual.
2. Drag your desired fields, such as ProductName and SalesAmount, into the visual.
3. Drag the ProductImageURL field into the same visual.

Power BI will automatically display the images instead of displaying long URLs. You can adjust image size through the Format settings under 'Grid' & 'Image size'.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Sometimes things don't go as planned. Here are a few common issues and how to fix them.

My table or matrix is showing the full URL link instead of an image.

This nearly always means the data category hasn't been set correctly. Go back to the Data view, select your URL column, and confirm the Data category is set to Image URL.

I see a broken image icon.

This means Power BI found the URL but couldn't load the image. Causes include:

• The URL is incorrect (typo). Double-check links directly in a web browser.
• The image isn't publicly accessible. Open the URL in an incognito/private window. If it asks for login, Power BI cannot access it.
• The hosting website is down or blocking links.

My report loads very slowly.

High-resolution dynamic images can slow down performance because Power BI fetches each one from the internet. To improve speed, resize and compress images to a smaller size before uploading. A thumbnail-sized image is enough for most visual purposes.

Final Thoughts

You now have everything needed to add static branding elements and dynamic, data-driven visuals to your dashboards. Using images turns a functional report into an engaging communication tool that helps your audience connect with the data. A simple logo or product photos can make a huge difference.

The steps, especially for dynamic images, highlight how Power BI requires specific technical know-how—clicking through menus, preparing data, and adjusting settings. At Graphed, we're building a different way. We connect directly to data sources like Google Analytics, Shopify, and Salesforce so you can build dashboards just by describing what you want to see. Instead of hunting through menus to categorize URLs, you can simply ask, "Show me my top selling products with their image and sales last month," and let our AI handle the rest. If you're looking for a faster path from data to dashboard, give Graphed a try.