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What is Top N in Power BI?

Cody Schneider•

Trying to show only your most important data in a Power BI report - like your top 10 best-selling products or top 5 performing ad campaigns - is a fundamental part of data analysis. This is called a "Top N" filter, and it's one of the best ways to cut through the noise and focus on what truly matters. In this tutorial, we'll walk through how to create Top N filters in Power BI, starting with the simplest method and working our way up to more advanced, dynamic techniques using DAX.

What is Top N Analysis, Anyway?

Top N analysis is simply the process of filtering a dataset to show a specific number (the 'N') of the top-performing items based on a particular measure. The "N" can be any number you choose, like 5, 10, or 25, and "top-performing" could be based on sales, revenue, website sessions, conversion rates, or any other metric you can measure.

This technique turns a busy, overwhelming chart into a clear, actionable insight. Here are a few examples:

  • An e-commerce manager might use a Top 10 filter to see which products generate the most revenue each month.

  • A sales director could use a Top 5 filter to identify their highest-performing salespeople for quarterly awards.

  • A digital marketer might apply a Top 3 filter to see which advertising channels drive the most leads.

By filtering out the lower-performing items, you can immediately focus your attention, discover key drivers of your business, and communicate your findings more effectively to your team.

Method 1: The Easy Way with the Filters Pane

The most direct way to apply a Top N filter is right in Power BI’s built-in Filters pane. It requires no code and takes just a few clicks. This method is perfect when you need a quick, static view of your top performers.

Let's say we have a simple bar chart showing total sales by product name, and we want to see only the top 10 products.

Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

  1. Select your visual. Click on the chart or table you want to filter. This will make its fields available in the Filters pane.

  2. Drag your analysis field to the Filter pane. In the Filters pane, find the field that defines your items (in our case, Product Name) and ensure it's in the "Filters on this visual" box. If you used it as the axis for your chart, it will already be there.

  3. Change the Filter Type to "Top N". Click the dropdown menu under "Filter type" and select Top N.

  4. Configure the Top N options. Several new fields will appear:

    • Show items: Keep this set to Top. (You can also choose Bottom to see the worst-performing items).

    • Number field: Type your 'N' value here. We'll enter 10.

    • By value: This is where you tell Power BI which metric to rank your items by. Drag your measure (like Total Sales) into this box.

  5. Apply the filter. Click the "Apply filter" button at the bottom of the filter card.

Your visual will instantly update to show only the 10 products with the highest total sales. This is an incredibly fast and effective way to clean up your visuals and focus on key insights.

Pro Tip: The "Bottom N" option is just as useful for finding areas that need improvement. You can use it to identify underperforming products, ineffective ad campaigns, or sales regions that are falling behind.

Method 2: Making It Interactive with a Numeric Parameter

A static Top 10 report is great, but what if your manager wants to see the Top 5? Or the Top 20? Constantly editing the filter in the Filters pane is inefficient. A much better approach is to let your users decide for themselves using a slicer. This is where numeric range parameters come in.

A parameter lets you create a variable that users can control. By linking this variable to our Top N filter, we can create a fully interactive report.

Step 1: Create the Numeric Range Parameter

First, we need to create the parameter that will generate our slicer.

  1. Go to the Modeling tab in the Power BI ribbon.

  2. Click on New parameter and select Numeric range.

  3. A configuration window will pop up. Let's set it up:

    • Name: Give your parameter a descriptive name, like Top N Selection.

    • Data type: Choose Whole number.

    • Minimum: Set this to 1.

    • Maximum: Let’s set this to 50 so users can see up to the top 50 items.

    • Increment: Set to 1.

    • Default: We'll put 10 as a good starting point.

  4. Make sure the "Add slicer to this page" box is checked, then click Create.

Power BI will automatically add two things to your report: a slicer for the parameter and a new DAX measure. The slicer allows users to pick a number between 1 and 50. The DAX measure, which is typically named Parameter Name Value (e.g., Top N Selection Value), captures whatever number the user has selected in the slicer.

Now, how do we connect this parameter to a visual? For that, we need to dip our toes into DAX.

Method 3: Unleashing Full Control with DAX

Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) is Power BI's formula language. While it can seem intimidating at first, it gives you complete control over your calculations and unlocks a level of interactivity you can’t achieve with the basic filters.

To create a dynamic Top N filter, we'll use a DAX function called RANKX along with the parameter we just created.

Step 1: Create a Ranking Measure with RANKX

The RANKX function calculates the rank of an item within a list. We need to create a measure that assigns a rank to each product based on its sales.

  1. Right-click on your sales table in the Data pane and select New Measure.

  2. Enter the following DAX formula in the formula bar:

Let's briefly break this down:

  • RANKX is the main function.

  • ALL('Products'[Product Name]) tells Power BI to create a list of all product names to rank against. ALL ensures we rank against every product, regardless of other filters.

  • CALCULATE(SUM('Sales'[Sales Amount])) is the value we're ranking by — total sales.

Step 2: Create a Filter Measure to Connect the Rank and the Parameter

Now we have a rank for every product and a slicer where users can select a number. The next step is to create a simple “flagging” measure that checks if a product's rank falls within the user's selection.

  1. Create another new measure.

  2. Enter this formula:

This is an incredibly straightforward IF statement. It looks at the Product Rank measure we just made and compares it to the value selected in our Top N Selection slicer. If the rank is less than or equal to the selected N value, it returns 1, otherwise, it returns 0.

Step 3: Apply the DAX Filter to Your Visual

We're on the home stretch. The final step is to use this new filter measure on our visual.

  1. Select your product sales bar chart.

  2. Go to the Filters pane.

  3. Find your new Top N Filter measure in the Data pane and drag it into the "Filters on this visual" box.

  4. Set the filter value to "is 1".

  5. Click Apply filter.

And that’s it! Your chart is now fully dynamic. Slide the Top N Selection slicer, and you'll see the chart instantly update to show the Top 5, Top 17, or Top 33 products based on your selection.

Common Pitfalls and Best Practices

As you start using Top N filters, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Filter Context is King: Top N calculations are impacted by other filters on your report page. For example, if you have a slicer for "Year," your Top 10 will be the top 10 for that specific year. This is usually what you want! If you need to ignore other filters, use DAX functions like ALL() or ALLEXCEPT() to control the context.

  • Handling Ties: What if your 10th and 11th best-selling products have the exact same sales total? Power BI's default Top N filter will include both, meaning you might see 11 items in your "Top 10" list. This is something to be aware of when presenting your data. The RANKX function has optional parameters to control how ties are handled if you need more precision.

  • Performance on Large Datasets: Applying Top N filters to tables with millions of rows can sometimes impact report performance. Make sure your data model is optimized and that you are using measures rather than calculated columns for your rankings whenever possible.

Final Thoughts

Mastering Top N analysis is a fundamental skill for anyone using Power BI. It allows you to transform dense, cluttered reports into focused and actionable insights. Whether you use the simple Filters pane for a quick analysis or implement an interactive DAX-powered solution, filtering to your top performers is essential for effective data storytelling.

Building these dynamic, interactive reports in tools like Power BI is incredibly powerful, but as you can see, it often comes with a steep learning curve involving formula languages like DAX, data modeling, and filter contexts. At Graphed, we felt this process should be much simpler. We built an AI data analyst that allows you to connect your data sources - like Google Analytics, Shopify, and Salesforce - and create dashboards just by asking questions. Instead of writing DAX, you can simply say, "Show me a bar chart of my top 10 products by sales for this quarter," and get a live, interactive visualization in seconds.