How to Remove Dollar Sign in Power BI

Seeing an unwanted dollar sign in front of your numbers in Power BI can be frustrating, especially when you need those numbers for calculations or want a cleaner look for your visuals. This usually happens because Power BI automatically detects the data as currency and applies formatting for you. This article will walk you through three different methods for removing the dollar sign, from the quick-and-easy to the more robust, so you can control exactly how your data appears.

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Why Does Power BI Add Dollar Signs Automatically?

Before jumping into the solutions, it helps to understand why this happens. Power BI is designed to be user-friendly, and part of that involves making smart guesses about your data. When you import a data source, Power BI scans each column and assigns a data type based on the content it finds. If a column contains numbers that look like money (e.g., $150.99, $2,450), Power BI will often assign it a "Currency" data type.

This is an important distinction to understand: an underlying data type versus a display format.

• Data Type: This is the fundamental nature of the data. For currency, the data type is often "Fixed decimal number," which is designed to handle numbers with up to four decimal places accurately, minimizing rounding errors common with financial calculations. The underlying value is just a number.
• Display Format: This is purely visual. It's the "mask" that Power BI puts over the number to make it easier to read. The currency format adds a dollar sign ($), commas (,), and typically shows two decimal places.

You might want to remove this formatting for several reasons:

• Calculations: Some formulas or functions can behave unexpectedly if the formatting gets in the way.
• Visual Clarity: In certain charts or tables, the dollar signs can add unnecessary clutter, making the visual harder to read. For example, if the chart title is "Sales in USD," adding a "$" to every data label is redundant.
• Exporting Data: If you plan to export the data to another system, that system might not be able to correctly interpret numbers that include currency symbols.

Fortunately, you have complete control over this formatting. Let's explore the practical ways to remove it.

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Method 1: The Easiest Fix - Using the Column Tools Ribbon

This is the fastest and most common way to change the format of a column or measure that's already in your Power BI data model. You are simply changing the visual display format, not the underlying data type.

Use this method when you just need to make a quick adjustment to a visual in your report.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to the Report View or Data View in Power BI. You can select these from the left-hand navigation pane.
2. In the Data pane on the right side of the screen, find and select the column or measure you want to modify (e.g., 'Revenue').
3. In the ribbon that appears, look for the "Formatting" section.
4. You'll see a dropdown menu under "Format." Since your data has a dollar sign, it likely says "Currency."
5. Click on the dropdown and select a different numeric format. Your main choices are:

That's it! Every visual in your report that uses this field will now update to show the number without the dollar sign. This method is incredibly simple and effective for visual styling.

Method 2: For Advanced Control - Using the FORMAT Function in DAX

Sometimes you need to create a new measure or calculated column with a very specific, custom format that isn't available in the standard ribbon menu. This is where the DAX FORMAT function comes in handy.

A Very Important Caution: The FORMAT function changes your number into a text string. This means you can no longer use it in further mathematical calculations (like SUM or AVERAGE). Numbers dressed up as text cannot be added, subtracted, or aggregated. Use this method only for the final display of a value, like in a table, card, or chart label.

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How to Use the FORMAT function:

The syntax is straightforward:

FORMAT(<value>, <format_string>)

You create a new measure or calculated column and use this function.

Let's say you have a measure called [Total Sales] that currently displays as $1,250,500.75. You want to create a new version without the currency symbol.

1. In the Report View, right-click on your table in the Data pane and select "New measure."
2. In the formula bar, enter your DAX expression. For example:

• To show it as a decimal number with two places:
• To show it as a whole number with comma separators:
• To show it as a general number with no formatting:

Why Are My Numbers Aligned to the Left?

You'll notice that once you use your new measure in a table, the values will be aligned to the left, not the right. This is a dead giveaway that your "numbers" are actually being treated as text. In Power BI and Excel, numbers align right by default, while text aligns left. If you see this, it confirms that you cannot perform any more math on this formatted value.

Method 3: The Best Practice - Changing the Data Type in Power Query

This is the most robust and highly recommended method because it fixes the problem at the source. Instead of just changing the display format, you change the actual data type of the column during the data import and transformation process using the Power Query Editor.

Cleaning and shaping your data in Power Query before it loads into your Power BI model is a fundamental best practice. It ensures your data model is clean, consistent, and efficient from the start.

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Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. From the Home ribbon in the main Power BI window, click on Transform data. This will open the Power Query Editor.
2. In the Power Query Editor, from the Queries pane on the left, select the query that contains the column you want to fix.
3. Find the column in the preview window. You will likely see a dollar sign ($) icon in the column header, indicating the data type is currency.
4. There are two ways to change the data type:
5. From the list, select either Decimal Number or Whole Number.
6. Power Query will show you a "Change Column Type" dialog box. It's asking if you want to replace the existing "Changed Type" step or add a new one. In most cases, if you're correcting an automatic detection, you'll want to choose Replace current.
7. The dollar sign icon will now be replaced by a "1.2" icon (for decimal) or "123" (for whole number). The data in the preview will also no longer show the dollar sign.
8. Finally, click Close & Apply in the upper-left corner to save your changes and return to the main Power BI report.

Your data is now fundamentally loaded into the model as a numeric data type, completely free of any currency formatting from the start.

Which Method Should You Choose? A Quick Recap

• Use the Ribbon (Method 1) for quick and simple display changes for a dashboard you are actively working on. It's non-destructive and easy to reverse.
• Use DAX FORMAT (Method 2) for creating finalized, display-only measures with highly custom formatting. Remember, the output is text!
• Use Power Query (Method 3) for establishing a clean and permanent data foundation. This is the professional best practice for building reliable and scalable reports.

Final Thoughts

Removing a dollar sign in Power BI is a great example of the difference between changing a cosmetic display format and transforming the underlying data type. For quick visual adjustments, the ribbon is your best friend. For permanent, clean data models, Power Query is the proper tool. The DAX FORMAT function offers precision control for display, but with the critical trade-off of converting your numbers to text.

Wrestling with data formatting and jumping between menus in complex BI software like Power BI is a common time-sink, especially when you need quick campaign or sales insights. With a tool like Graphed, we remove that friction. After connecting your marketing and sales data sources in seconds, you can create reports using simple language. You can simply ask "show me total revenue from Facebook campaigns last month" and instantly get a clean visual, without ever having to worry about hunting down a format setting or changing a data type.