If you’re reading this article, chances are you already have a basic knowledge of Power BI and want to work faster by using your keyboard. Great! Here are the 10 shortcuts in Power BI Desktop you absolutely need to know!
Which shortcuts can you use in Power BI Desktop?
Do you know what you want to do but not how?
Open Power BI Desktop and type:
SHIFT + ?
This will open a screen with the main shortcuts you can use:
At the bottom of the screen, there’s a link to a Microsoft article that lists all available shortcuts. You’ll also find the link at the end of this article..
Navigating your report
To navigate within the Report View, use: CTRL + Tab
Once selected, you can move between the report views using your keyboard, press Enter to select a view, and use the Spacebar to select elements within it. Press Esc to exit the view.
Deselecting an item
If you’ve selected an item in the view and want to deselect it: CTRL + SHIFT + C
Command bar
To access the command bar and create or modify your report using only the keyboard, press: Alt
This highlights every tool in the command bar with one or more letters. Simply type the corresponding letter(s) to select the tool.
Zooming in and out
If you want to zoom in on your data, use:
- ZOOM IN: CTRL +
- ZOOM OUT: CTRL –
DAX Shortcuts
When working with DAX, it’s often helpful to know the keyboard shortcuts. Below, you’ll find a list of the most practical ones.
Selecting a word
While writing a DAX measure, you may decide to replace a word that appears multiple times in your code.
To do this, select the word and press: CTRL + SHIFT + L
Selecting one or more rows
To select one or more rows of your code:
- Move upward: CTRL + SHIFT + ↑
- Move downward or deselect: CTRL + SHIFT + ↓
Moving one or more rows
Select one or more rows and move them:
- Upward: Alt + ↑
- Downward: Alt +↓
Commenting or uncommenting code
To comment out parts of your DAX code: CTRL + ù
Use the same shortcut to remove comments.
Finding a specific column in Power Query
In Power Query, when working with tables containing many columns, use this shortcut to quickly find a specific column: CTRL + G
This opens a search window where you can type the name of the column.
Summary Table
Shortcut | Description | |
|---|---|---|
View all shortcuts | SHIFT + ? | Shows a list of all available shortcuts in Power BI |
Navigate between views | CTRL + Tab | Switch between report views |
Deselect an item | CTRL + SHIFT + C | Deselect an item previously selected in the view |
Open the command bar | Alt | Access the command bar tools with suggested letters |
Zoom In e Zoom Out | CTRL + / CTRL – | Zoom in or out within the Report View |
Move one or more rows | Alt + ↑ / ↓ | Move one or more rows in DAX code |
Select multiple rows in DAX | CTRL + SHIFT + ↑ / ↓ | Expand the selection of rows upward or downward |
Add or remove DAX comments | CTRL + ù | Comment or uncomment selected parts of DAX code |
Select a word/partial word | CTRL + F2 | Quickly select a word or part of it |
Find a column in Power Query | CTRL + G | Quickly search for a specific column in a table within Power Query |
Conclusion
I hope these 10 shortcuts in Power BI Desktop help you speed up your work and achieve even better results in less time!
For more available shortcuts, you can refer to this official Microsoft article.
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Visualitics Team
This article was written and edited by one of our consultants.
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