Power BI interface
Main Views in Power BI Desktop
Description: Power BI Desktop is organized into three distinct "Views." Each view represents a specific stage of the business intelligence workflow: creating the visual interface, inspecting the underlying data, and building the logical relationships that make the report function.
Why: These views provide a structured environment for beginners. Instead of being overwhelmed by a single complex screen, you can focus on one task at a time—whether you are designing a chart, checking a column's data type, or connecting two different spreadsheets together.
The Three Essential Interfaces
You can switch between these views using the icons located on the far left-hand sidebar of the Power BI Desktop application:
| View Name | Primary Purpose |
|---|---|
| Report View | The "Canvas" where you design your dashboard. This is where you drag and drop visuals, apply filters, and format the aesthetics of your report. |
| Data View | The "Spreadsheet" view. Here, you can inspect the actual rows and columns of your loaded data. It is used to verify that your data is clean and to create new calculated columns. |
| Model View | The "Architect" view. This displays your tables as blocks and allows you to create "Relationships" (links) between them so data can flow across different sources. |
Workflow Example: From Raw Data to Insights
To build an effective report, a typical analyst will cycle through these views in the following order:
- Step 1 (Data View): Open a new sales dataset and inspect the columns to ensure "Price" and "Quantity" are formatted as numbers rather than text.
- Step 2 (Model View): Connect your "Sales" table to a "Calendar" table by dragging the
Datefield from one to the other, ensuring your charts can be filtered by year or month. - Step 3 (Report View): Finally, select a Pie Chart from the Visualizations pane and drag your "Product Category" and "Sales Amount" into the fields to see your finished visual.
Key Notes
- Visual Switching: You can switch views at any time without losing your progress. Changes made in the Model view (like renaming a table) will automatically update in the Report and Data views.
- Contextual Tabs: Depending on which view you are in, the top "Ribbon" menu will change to offer relevant tools (e.g., Table Tools in Data View vs. Format Tools in Report View).
- Large Datasets: While Data View looks like Excel, it is "read-only" for your raw source. You cannot manually type into cells to change data; you must use Power Query to transform it.
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