Power BI has become one of the most widely adopted data analytics platforms globally, with over 375,000 organizations leveraging its capabilities to transform data into actionable insights. Its user base spans across various industries, from multinational corporations to small businesses, all utilizing Power BI to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency.
What sets Power BI apart is its regular updates and continuous feature enhancements. Every month, Microsoft rolls out new updates, improving everything from data connectors to visualization options. The November 2024 update is no exception, introducing a new feature that further boosts Power BI’s versatility and usability: the Text Slicer Visual.
This new feature allows users to filter large datasets by typing text directly into a slicer box, removing the need to scroll through long lists. It enables faster, more efficient data filtering, especially for those working with extensive datasets.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to enable the Text Slicer Visual, set it up in your reports, and integrate it with other visuals for a smoother and more intuitive filtering experience.
The Key Steps in Enabling the Text Slicer Visual in Power BI
Before using the Text Slicer Visual, you must manually enable it inside Power BI. It is currently available as a Preview Feature, so it is turned off by default.
Here’s exactly how you can activate it:
1. Open Options Settings
- Launch your Power BI Desktop application.
- Go to the File menu at the top left corner.
- Choose Options and Settings, then select Options from the dropdown.
2. Enable Preview Feature
- A settings window will open. On the left-hand menu, scroll down and click on Preview features.
- Find the option called Text Slicer Visual.
- Check the box next to it to enable the feature.
3. Apply Changes
- Click OK to confirm your selection.
- If you enable it for the first time, you may need to restart Power BI or open a new file for the visual to appear.
Once enabled, the Text Slicer Visual will be inside your standard visualizations panel and ready to use in your reports.
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How the Text Slicer Works
The Text Slicer Visual is simple but powerful. It allows users to type a keyword or a number directly into a slicer box and filter the data instantly based on that text.
Here’s how it works in a real report:
1. Add the Text Slicer Visual
- After enabling it, go to the Visualizations pane.
- Drag the Text Slicer visual onto your report canvas, just like you would add any other visual.
2. Connect a Field to the Slicer
- Select the Text Slicer visual.
- Drag a field from your data model (for example, Brand Name or Category) into the slicer’s field well.
- This field will now be searchable using text input.
3. Input Text to Filter
- Click inside the Text Slicer input box.
- Type any keyword, number, or partial value related to the field you linked.
- You can either press Enter or click the Apply button (small arrow) to trigger the filter.
Your report’s data will immediately narrow to show only the entries that match the text you typed. It’s fast and direct and removes the need to scroll through long lists of options.
A Simple Guide to Using the Text Slicer in a Real Report
Now that the Text Slicer Visual has been added to your report let’s walk through a real example to see how it behaves with live data.
1. Create a Table Visual
- In your Power BI report view, click on the blank canvas.
- Add a Table visual from the Visualizations pane.
- Bring fields like Brand and related measures (for example, Net Sales) into the table.
2. Add the Text Slicer
- Drag the Text Slicer Visual onto the same page.
- Link the Brand field to the Text Slicer.
- This makes your slicer ready to accept text input for filtering.
3. Test Different Text Inputs
- Click inside the Text Slicer’s input box.
- Type 1 and press Enter → The table will show all brands containing “1”.
- Change it to 11 and press Enter → the table filters further to only brands containing “11”.
- Type 10 and press the Apply arrow → you will see data related only to brand “10”.
What Are the Additional Text Slicer Options in Power BI?
The Text Slicer Visual in Power BI has some extra options that make it even more flexible during report building and usage. These options are available through the small three-dot menu on the top right corner of the visual.
Here’s what you can do:
1. Export Data
- You can export the filtered data the Text Slicer shows into a separate file.
2. Show as Table
- The slicer data can be viewed in a simple table format.
- This makes it easier to read large amounts of slicer results directly.
3. Spotlight
- The Spotlight option allows you to highlight the Text Slicer during a presentation or when explaining a report.
- It dims the rest of the report page, focusing only on the Text Slicer.
4. Sort Ascending / Descending
- You can alphabetically sort the values inside the slicer in ascending or descending order.
- This helps when working with large fields like product names or categories.
5. Clear Selection
- The Clear button inside the slicer removes the current search input.
- After clearing, the slicer will show all available values again without any filters applied.
These small but important options give you more control over managing and displaying filtered data using Text Slicer Visual. Each time you type a new value and apply it, the data in the table instantly adjusts. This shows how fast and focused the new Text Slicer makes filtering inside your reports.
Creating Dependent Slicers Based on the Text Slicer
One of the most powerful features of the Text Slicer is its ability to control other slicers on the page. As a result, this allows you to create dependent slicers that react to the values selected in the Text Slicer, thereby providing more dynamic and intuitive filtering.
1. Add Another Slicer
- After placing the Text Slicer on your report page, add another Slicer Visual from the Visualizations pane.
- For this example, let’s use a Brand List Slicer (but you can use any slicer, such as a category or region).
2. Set Up Interaction
- Now, we want the Text Slicer to filter the Brand List Slicer based on the text input.
- To do this, go to the Format tab at the top, then click on Edit Interactions.
- You’ll see small icons appear above each visual. The Text Slicer will automatically filter the Brand List Slicer, but you need to disable it for other visuals if you don’t want them affected.
3. Test the Interaction
- Type a value (like 1) into the Text Slicer and press Enter.
- The Brand List Slicer will now show only brands that contain “1”.
- You can use the Brand List Slicer to filter other visuals, but the Text Slicer will not affect other visuals unless you allow it to.
By controlling which visuals are impacted by the Text Slicer, you can create a more interactive and tailored experience for your users.
Demonstration: Dependent Slicer in Action
Now that we’ve set up the dependent slicers let’s see how everything works together in practice. By creating interactions between the Text Slicer and other slicers, you can control what data is displayed across multiple visuals at once.
1. Filter with the Text Slicer
- Enter a value in the Text Slicer (e.g., type 2).
- Press Enter or click the Apply button.
- The Brand List Slicer will update, showing only the brands that contain the number “2”.
2. Select from the Brand List Slicer
- Now, select a brand from the updated Brand List Slicer (e.g., select “Brand 2”).
- Your other visuals (e.g., a table, chart, or map) will be updated based on this selection.
- The interaction between the Text Slicer and the Brand List Slicer allows you to filter down the results dynamically.
3. Test Other Interactions
- Try entering different values into the Text Slicer, like 3 or 11, and notice how it updates the Brand List Slicer each time.
- The key here is that the Text Slicer filters the Brand List Slicer, which in turn updates other visuals, making it easy to drill down into the data.
By using dependent slicers, you can create an intuitive filtering experience that lets users search for data and quickly view the most relevant information across multiple visuals.
Limitation: Only One Field at a Time
While the Text Slicer Visual is powerful, there is one limitation to keep in mind: it only supports filtering on one field at a time. This means you can filter, for example, by brand or Category but not simultaneously within the same slicer.
What Does This Mean for Your Reports?
- If you drag multiple fields into the Text Slicer, only one will be active for filtering.
- For example, if you try adding both Brand and Category to the slicer, only one of them will be used for filtering at any given time.
Why This Happens?
The Text Slicer is designed to work with a single text field to keep the filtering process fast and efficient.
If you need to filter across multiple fields (e.g., Brand, Category, and Item), you would have to use workarounds like creating a combined column (explained in a later section).
This limitation is something to consider when planning how to use the Text Slicer effectively. However, it’s still a great tool for focused filtering on a single field and can be combined with other slicers to enhance the filtering experience.
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Workaround: Using a Combined Column for Multi-Field Search
Although the Text Slicer supports only one field at a time, you can create a workaround to search across multiple fields simultaneously. The trick is to create a combined column that concatenates values from different fields into one single field. This allows you to filter multiple fields at once using the Text Slicer.
Step 1: Create a New Combined Column
- Go to the Data View in Power BI.
- Select the table you’re working with (e.g., Items).
- Click on the New Column from the ribbon at the top.
- In the formula bar, use a DAX formula to combine the values from multiple fields into one string.
For example:
This formula combines Brand, Category, and Item into one field, with a space separating each value.
Step 2: Use the Combined Column in the Text Slicer
- Go back to the Report View.
- Drag the Combined column into the Text Slicer Visual.
- Now, when you type in the slicer, it will search across all three fields (Brand, Category, and Item) at once.
Step 3: Test the Combined Search
- Try entering a value like 10 in the Text Slicer and press Enter.
- You’ll see results where “10” appears in any of the combined fields — whether it’s in the Brand name, Category, or Item name.
This workaround allows you to simulate multi-field searching, making the Text Slicer more flexible when dealing with complex data models. However, it’s important to note that this is still a manual approach, and Power BI does not yet directly support true multi-field filtering within the Text Slicer.
How to Use the Text Slicer Visual with a Combined Field
Now that we’ve created a combined column, let’s see how it works in action. This method allows the Text Slicer to filter across multiple fields at once, giving you more control over the data displayed in your report.
Step 1: Filter Using the Combined Column
- In your Power BI report, go to the Text Slicer.
- Type a keyword (e.g., 10) into the slicer input box.
Step 2: View the Results
- The slicer now filters data based on the combined column.
- For example, if 10 appears in Brand, Category, or Item, it will appear in the results.
You can also test this with other values like Brand 2 or Category A, and the slicer will filter across all the combined fields. This demonstrates how you can create a more flexible search experience, even though Power BI currently supports only one field at a time in the Text Slicer.
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FAQs
How do you add text visual in Power BI?
In the Visualizations pane, select the Smart narrative icon. If you don't see it, you may need to turn on the preview. Power BI creates a text box with autogenerated text describing interesting features of the data in your report. You can format it as you would any other text box.
How do you apply a slicer to a visual in Power BI?
Adding a Slicer in Power BI
- Open the appropriate Power BI report,
- Choose the chart or table you want to add the slicer to,
- Under the 'Visualizations' window, click 'Slicer',
- Drag the desired field from the 'Fields' window to the 'Slicer' window and into 'Values',
How do you preview text slicer in Power BI?
Enabling the Text Slicer Feature
- Click on the gear icon located at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Select 'Preview Features' from the menu.
- Check the box next to 'Text Slicer Visual'.
- Click 'OK' and restart Power BI Desktop.
