Adding a Power BI Search Box to slicers makes it easier for users to find items in a list, while adding a Search Box Visual to a report make it easier for users to easily filter the results on a page. We’ll look at how to setup both options along with some tips to make searching for multiple criteria easier.
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What are Power BI Slicers?
Power BI has a special type of visual called a slicer. It’s the same as a filter, but instead of making dashboard users navigate to the filter pane of Power BI, they can see the filter drop down, or selection on the dashboard screen itself.
Slicers can be added to dashboards by clicking on the Slicer visual. It is mixed in the middle of the different charts and graphs available.
Slicers give developers more control over how visualizations interact with the user selected filter on a slicer, and provide an overall better experience by putting the navigation items that users need in front of them where they are already looking.
Why You Should Enable Search in Power BI Slicers
Power BI Search boxes improve the end user experience enabling them to find the data they need faster than would otherwise be possible. When users are faced with scrolling through a very long list, a search box is a recommended, but they may not be appropriate for lists with a small number of options, such as months, quarters or years.
By default, slicers do not have a search option turned on.
How to Enable Search on Slicers in Power BI
To enable a search box on a slicer, first add the slicer to your dashboard and assign a field to it. Then select the Slicer and in the top right corner of the visual click on the … button and choose Search. You may need to move the visual or adjust the layer order if the … button is not immediately visible.
The following example shows a Vertical List Slicer before and After the search function is enabled.
The search box only becomes visible after clicking on the slicer. The search term is typed into Power BI in place of the dropdown box which becomes a search box that users can type into. The search box will automatically filter the results in the search results.
Search boxes can be enabled for multiple types of slicers and may only become visible after a user selects the slicer, such as when using a search box with a dropdown menu.
Adding a Search Box Visual to Power BI Reports
Power BI Developers can extend the usefulness of Power BI with add-ons and custom visuals available through Microsoft App Source. To download custom visuals, click on the … button at the bottom right of the Visualization Pane and select Get More Visuals.
Navigate or search for the Text Filter Visual that is published by Microsoft.
The Text Filter visual is different from the dropdown and vertical list slicer. Instead of showing options, it places a search box visual into your dashboard. You assign a field to the text filter and it will automatically filter all visuals on the page based on the word that’s typed in.
The Text Filter visual is an extremely clean, simple and elegant way to allow users to filter data with a search box. You can even use this method to add a search bar at the top of a report page for users to quickly filter their data.
Searching Multiple Criteria in Power BI
To search for multiple criteria at one time, you must concatenate column values together. Search filters will only look for one column value at a time, so it’s important to consolidate as much search criteria into a single field. This method works especially well in combination with the Text Filter Search Box visual where users can’t see the list of selection options.
To create a search index column, Create a New Column. Then use a formula to concatenate column names with an & sign in-between column names that are defined with square brackets around them or use the DAX formula CONCATENATE in Power Query.
Conclusion
Click the … at the top right of a slicer visual and select search to enable a search box. The search box will appear differently depending on whether the slicer is a dropdown menu, vertical list, or tiles. Search enabled slicers make it easier to navigate long lists and avoid scrolling.
For an even cleaner experience, Power BI developers can add the Microsoft Text Filter visual to their report after downloading it from Power BI App Source. The Text Filter creates a full-page Search Box and is great for use cases like adding a search bar to the top of a page. Concatenate values together and assign it to the Text Filter visual to search for multiple criteria at one time.