- Reports, dashboards and where you build them
- Your first project, step by step
- Create a dashboard from a report
- Ask questions in plain English
- Design a dashboard people read
- Common mistakes
- A worked example: a weekly sales view
- Keep the source data tidy
- Ask whether Power BI is the right tool
- My verdict
- Frequently asked questions
To use Power BI, connect to your data in the Power BI service, build a report of charts and tables, then pin the visuals you want to watch to a dashboard. Dashboards are made in the online service, not Power BI Desktop, and you can view and share them on your phone.
Power BI turns spreadsheets and other data into charts you can filter, share and keep an eye on. People get stuck on one question more than any other: what's the difference between a report and a dashboard? Once you understand that, the rest falls into place. Here is the shape of the tool, a step-by-step first project, and the mistakes that make dashboards ignored.
Reports, dashboards and where you build them
| Report | Dashboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Pages of visuals built on your data | A single page of pinned visuals |
| Pages | One or many | One |
| Built in | Power BI service or Desktop | Power BI service only |
| Best for | Exploring and analysing | Monitoring what matters at a glance |
Microsoft is clear that dashboards are a feature of the Power BI service, not Power BI Desktop, and that you can't create a dashboard in the mobile apps. You can view and share dashboards on mobile, but you build them online.
Your first project, step by step
Microsoft's tutorial for the Power BI service walks through the whole journey, and the structure is worth copying.
- Sign in to the Power BI service.
- Connect to data. Add a spreadsheet or another source.
- Build a report. Use the data to create visualisations and save the design as a report. You can work in reading view or editing view.
- Pin tiles. Open the report in editing view, hover over a visual and select the pin icon.
- Choose where to pin it, an existing dashboard or a new one, and name it.
- Arrange the dashboard. Resize and rearrange tiles, and edit their details.
Create a dashboard from a report
- Open the report and select Edit to open it in editing view.
- Hover over a visualisation and select the pin icon.
- Choose an existing dashboard from the dropdown, or create a new one.
- Repeat for each visual you want on the dashboard.
Microsoft says there are several ways to create a dashboard: from a report, from scratch, from a semantic model or by duplicating an existing dashboard. Pinning from a report is the easiest to learn.
Ask questions in plain English
The tutorial also covers two helpers. You can add visualisations to a report and dashboard using Copilot, and you can add other visualisations to a dashboard with the Q&A natural-language tool, where you type a question about your data. Both are useful starting points, but check the chart answers the question you really asked.
Design a dashboard people read
- Put the most important number top left.
- Keep it to a handful of tiles. A wall of charts hides the point.
- Give each tile a clear title that states what it shows.
- Use one colour scheme and don't decorate for the sake of it.
- Ask yourself what decision the dashboard helps someone make. If you can't say, remove the tile.
Common mistakes
- Building the dashboard before you've checked the data is right.
- Mixing data from different periods without labelling it.
- Sharing widely without checking who should see the data.
- Never revisiting the dashboard, so it shows old numbers.
That last point about sharing matters. My guide to Power BI data governance covers managing access, ownership and report sprawl, and Microsoft tools for small businesses shows how Power BI sits alongside Excel and the rest.
A worked example: a weekly sales view
Say you keep a spreadsheet of orders. Connect it, then build a report with a total for the month, a chart of orders by week and a table of the top products. Pin those three visuals to a new dashboard called 'Weekly sales'. Now you've got one page that answers 'how are we doing?' in a few seconds, and once the data is set to refresh, the tiles can keep up with it. You haven't built anything fancy, but it's the kind of dashboard people look at, because it answers one question clearly.
Keep the source data tidy
Power BI is only as good as what you feed it. Before you connect a spreadsheet, check it has clear column headings, one row per record and no blank rows or merged cells. Fix dates so they're real dates and numbers so they're real numbers. Ten minutes of cleaning up the source saves hours of confusion later, and it's the step beginners most often skip. If the numbers on the dashboard look odd, the problem is nearly always the data and not the tool.
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Ask whether Power BI is the right tool
It's powerful, but it's not always needed. If you only have one small spreadsheet and nobody else needs to see it, a chart in Excel may be enough. Power BI earns its place when you have data from several sources, need to share live views with a team or want people to explore the numbers themselves. Be honest about which of those applies before you invest the time.
My verdict
Learn the difference between a report and a dashboard, build one report from tidy data and pin three or four visuals. Share it only with the people who need it, and update it regularly or switch it off.
Frequently asked questions
How do I use Power BI?
Connect to your data in the Power BI service, build a report, then pin visuals to a dashboard.
What's the difference between a report and a dashboard?
A report can have many pages. A dashboard is a single page of pinned visuals.
Can I create a dashboard in Power BI Desktop?
No. Microsoft says dashboards are a feature of the Power BI service, not Power BI Desktop.
Can I build a dashboard on my phone?
No. You can view and share dashboards in the mobile apps, but not create them.
How do I pin a visual to a dashboard?
Open the report in editing view, hover over the visualisation and select the pin icon.
