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Bookmarks, Buttons & Navigation

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tagspowerbi, bookmarks, buttons, navigation
aliasesbookmarks, selection pane, buttons

4 min read

Bookmarks, Buttons & Navigation

Definition

Bookmarks capture a snapshot of the report’s current state (filters, slicer selections, visual visibility, even sort order), which can then be restored on demand - the foundation for building custom navigation, toggleable views, and guided storytelling in a report.

Creating a Bookmark

View > Bookmarks pane > Add

Power BI captures, by default:

  • Current filter/slicer selections
  • Which visuals are visible/hidden (via the Selection Pane)
  • Current sort order, drill state, and spotlight/focus mode
Right-click a bookmark > Rename, Update (recapture current state), Delete

Bookmark options control exactly what's captured

Click the ”…” next to a bookmark, or the settings gear when creating one, to choose whether it captures Data (filters/slicers), Display (visible/hidden visuals), and Current Page - unchecking irrelevant options avoids a bookmark accidentally overriding something unintended.

Bookmarks + Selection Pane = Toggle Views

graph LR
    A["Bookmark: 'Chart View'
Chart visible, Table hidden"] 
    B["Bookmark: 'Table View'
Table visible, Chart hidden"]
    A -->|button click| B
    B -->|button click| A

1. Place both a Chart AND a Table on the SAME spot on the canvas (overlapping)
2. Selection Pane: hide the Table, show the Chart -> create Bookmark "Chart View"
3. Selection Pane: hide the Chart, show the Table -> create Bookmark "Table View"
4. Add two buttons, each set to navigate to one of the bookmarks

The classic "toggle between two visual types" trick

This pattern (overlapping visuals + Selection Pane visibility + bookmarks) is how most “switch between chart and table” or “show/hide a filter panel” interactions are built in Power BI - there’s no dedicated “toggle visibility” visual, so bookmarks fill that role.

Buttons

Insert > Buttons > choose a style (Blank, Back, Bookmark, Page Navigation, Q&A, Back)

Format pane > Action > toggle On > Type:
  Page navigation    - jump to a specific report page
  Bookmark              - apply a specific bookmark
  Web URL                  - open an external link
  Drillthrough                - jump to a drillthrough page (see 13-Hierarchies-Groups-Drillthrough), passing context
  Back                          - return to the previously viewed page/state

Buttons need "Action" turned ON to actually do anything

A button placed on the canvas is purely visual until its Format > Action toggle is switched on and configured - an easy step to forget when first building navigation.

Building a Navigation Menu

1. Create one button per report page, each with Action: Page Navigation -> that specific page
2. Style consistently (same size/font), align/distribute using the Format tab's alignment tools
3. Optionally group them (Ctrl+click all > right-click > Group) and place on every page,
   OR use a single navigation page as the report's "home"

Sync the navigation buttons across pages

Build the navigation menu once, then copy-paste it onto every page (or use a consistent header area) so users always have the same navigation options available, regardless of which page they’re currently viewing.

Bookmark Groups

Bookmarks pane > select multiple bookmarks > Group

Why group bookmarks

A bookmark GROUP can be applied together (e.g. a “Reset Filters” group that resets several unrelated things at once), and grouping also visually organizes a long bookmark list into logical sections (e.g. “Navigation” bookmarks vs “Toggle View” bookmarks).

Drillthrough Buttons (Passing Context)

Format pane > Action > Type: Drillthrough > select the target drillthrough page

See 13-Hierarchies-Groups-Drillthrough for setting up the drillthrough target page itself - drillthrough buttons/right-click actions carry the currently selected data point's context (e.g. a specific customer) to that detail page automatically.

Q&A Button (Natural Language Query)

Insert > Buttons > Q&A

What it does

Opens Power BI’s natural-language query box directly on the report, letting users type questions like “total sales by region last quarter” and get an auto-generated visual - useful as a supplementary exploration tool alongside pre-built visuals, though it depends on well-named fields/synonyms in the model to work well.

Common Uses for Bookmarks + Buttons

Popular patterns

  • Guided walkthrough: a sequence of bookmarks stepping through a narrative, with Next/Back buttons
  • Show/hide a filter panel: bookmark A shows an expanded filter sidebar, bookmark B hides it for a clean view
  • Reset button: a bookmark capturing the report’s default/blank filter state, applied via a “Reset Filters” button
  • Tab-style navigation: buttons styled as tabs across the top, each navigating to a different page

Graph View

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