Power BI visuals do not have an option to turn off scroll bars. Luckily, there are several easy workarounds to hide Power BI scroll bars. We’ll show you the most popular methods along some useful tips and tricks. With some minor adjustments developers can also minimize the need to have scrollbars altogether.
Scrollbars in Power BI are usually hidden by overlapping them with other visuals or creating a shape the same color as the background to cover them up. A number of formatting options are also available to reduce the need for scrolling in Power BI.
Charts and graphs can be split into multiple sections to show gaps in time series data to present more information on a single page and eliminate the need from scrolling.
Let’s jump in!
Table of Contents
How to Cover Scroll Bars with a Shape Visual
One method to hide scroll bars is to place a shape that is the same color as the background over the top of the scroll bar. Set the layer order of the shape over the top of the visual with the scroll bar showing. If the shape is the same color as the background, report viewers will be unable to tell that there is a scroll bar behind it.
Shapes are available in the Power BI Report View. Go to: Insert, Shapes. We Recommend using the Line Shape because it is easy to rotate 90 degrees under the Shape Format Settings, and you can easily adjust the width and color under border options.
The screenshot below shows a line shape covering a Power BI scroll bar to hide it from the view of users.
We left the shape color as bright blue for illustrative purposes. Normally, we would match it to the background color of the report.
How to Group the Shape and Visual together in Power BI
When working with layered visuals or a set of visuals, they can be easier to work with by grouping them together. Group combines multiple visuals into one object or element that can be moved or manipulated in Power BI. It eliminates the need to multi-select elements every time you need to make a layout adjustment.
To group visuals together in Power BI, you can drag across them with the cursor, then right click, Group, and select Group. Users can also use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + G to Group and SHIFT + CTRL + G to Ungroup.
Grouping objects together makes them easier to work with, especially when there are multiple layers of visuals involved in a report.
How to Overlap Visuals to Hide Scroll Bars in Power BI
To hide the existence of scroll bars in Power BI, developers can overlap visuals. By placing the edge of one visual over a scroll bar, it will look like the scroll bar does not exist. To do this, align one visual over the scroll bar you wish to hide. Select the visual you wish to be on top, and go to Format, Bring Forward, Bring to Front. This will adjust the selected visual to always be on top.
Power BI layers visuals and allows users to control which ones appear on top or below others when there are overlaps.
The example below shows a Line Chart placed over a scroll bar on a matrix visual to hide it.
We left some of the scroll bar visible for illustrative purposes.
To fine-tune the placement of a visual in Power BI, select a visual and use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move a visual one pixel at a time.
Note: Try adjusting the padding of a visual if you need more white space between the two reports. Padding options are available under Format Properties and will create additional white space around a visual. This gives you more room to hide the scroll bar of another visual.
Power BI limits maximum padding to 20 px, so it may not work in all situations.
Shrink Font Size and Columns to Hide Power BI Scroll Bars
Tried and true methods for eliminating scroll bars in Power BI include reducing column size, adjusting header with, row height, and style presets. This may not work in all scenarios, but here are some ideas to fit more data into a visual. We’ll use a Matrix Visual for an example.
The adjustments to shrink a visual’s size include:
- Reduce Column Width – drag the adjustment slider in between each of the column names to force the text to wrap.
- Change Style Preset – The Matrix visuals has a preset called “None” that is more compact than the normal default matrix layout. It also reduces row height.
- Decrease Font Size – Fonts can be reduced from the default for both the values inside of the visual, along with the size of text for row and column labels.
You could also disable subtotals and adjust the size of totals. There are a number of different ways that you can show this. Ultimately, it will come down to a design decision to determine the right fit for your dashboard.
Another option we will look at is splitting visuals into different sections. You can later group them together and in a way create modular reporting.
How to Present Gaps in Time-Series Data with Power BI
To show time series data in Power BI with a gap in the middle of the dates, split the visual into two separate visuals. Assign a specific end date and start date to the two charts. Then adjust the formatting of the second chart to hide duplicate titles. Finally, group them together to re-create the look of a continuous chart with two different time periods represented.
The example below uses two charts that have been grouped together. The screenshot has the two images highlighted to show the gap, but to the end user they won’t be able to tell that they’re two different visuals.
Adjust the date range of each report under Format Options, Visual, X or Y Axis, Range.
The other sections can be disabled under the title settings for each section.
Note: Try disabling interactions or adjusting how the interactions work if you want a more dynamic drill-down experience with the two charts. Alternatively, disable the ability to interact with it the series does not adjust as expected when utilizing slicers.
Conclusion
Power BI does not support a native feature to hide scroll bars on visuals. Luckily, there are a number of easy-to-use methods that allow you to hide scroll bars in Power BI. Developers can use a shape the same color as a background to overlay and hide a scroll bar or visuals can overlap each other.
The layer order will determine which visual is on top of the other. Use grouping to place two visuals together which makes future layouts and formatting easier.
For time series data, split a visual into two separate visuals. This lets you have a gap in the time series data while presenting the relevant date range to the report viewer. Hide duplicate titles, column headers, and row labels for a clean presentation.