16.2 The Drill Buttons
Quick answer: the short, self-contained version of this lesson is the guide Power BI Hierarchy and Drill Down.
Start with a problem
Shraddha clicks the Pune bar and nothing happens. She does not know which of the four arrow icons to use.
Explain simply
Visual header icons: ↓ Drill mode (click a bar to go down for that item), ⇊ Go to the next level (all items), ⑂ Expand all down one level (show both levels together), ↑ Drill up.
Show the data
| City | Total Sales (₹) |
|---|---|
| Pune | 850 |
| Nashik | 800 |
| Kolhapur | 450 |
| Total | 2,100 |
About this data: This table uses columns: City, Total Sales (₹). This table uses columns: Action, Bars shown. This table uses columns: Icon, Name (tooltip text), What happens, Example on the Location hierarchy. This table uses columns: Wrong result, Reason, Correction. Values shown are the lesson examples already on this page (not a new dataset).
Fictional sample data. Practice file: visuals_orders_apr_may_2026.csv (source: src/practice/).
Demonstrate
- Hover the chart › click ↓ to turn on drill mode.
- Click the Pune bar, then the chart shows Pune's stores.
- Click ↑ Drill up → back to cities.
- Click ⇊ Go to the next level → all stores of all cities.
- Click ↑ again, then ⑂ Expand all → labels like Pune Kothrud.
Show the result
Your result should look like this (fictional sample):
| Action | Bars shown |
|---|---|
| Drill mode + click Pune | Kothrud 650, Baner 200 |
| Go to next level | Kothrud 650, College Road 500, Rajarampuri 450, Gangapur 300, Baner 200 |
| Expand all down one level | Pune Kothrud 650, Pune Baner 200, Nashik College Road 500, Nashik Gangapur 300, Kolhapur Rajarampuri 450 |
Explain what happened
Drill mode adds a filter for the clicked item and moves one level down. Next level moves down without a filter. Expand keeps the parent label beside the child.
Explore further
- Right-click a bar › Drill down works without drill mode.
Detailed reference for this lesson:
When a visual has more than one level, hover over it to see the icons in the visual header. They are also on the Data/Drill tab of the ribbon (Report view, when the visual is selected) and in the right-click menu.
| Icon | Name (tooltip text) | What happens | Example on the Location hierarchy |
|---|---|---|---|
| ↑ | Drill up | Goes back one level | From Areas of Pune back to Cities |
| ↓ | Click to turn on Drill down (drill mode) | While on, clicking a bar drills into that item only | Click Pune → see Kothrud, Hinjewadi, Baner, Hadapsar, Wakad |
| ⇊ | Go to the next level in the hierarchy | Shows the next level for all items, and the parent level disappears | All areas of all cities (Kothrud, Dharampeth, CIDCO …) |
| ⤓ (fork) | Expand all down one level in the hierarchy | Shows the next level together with the parent level | "Pune Kothrud", "Pune Baner", "Nagpur Dharampeth" … |
Steps in Power BI – drill on a column chart of Orders by Location
- Insert a Clustered column chart. X-axis = Location hierarchy (State, City, Area, Store Name); Y-axis = Total Orders.
- The chart shows State (one bar: Maharashtra). Click ⇊ Go to the next level → six city bars.
- Click the ↓ icon so drill mode is on (the icon is highlighted). Click the Nagpur bar, then Dharampeth and Sitabuldi appear.
- Click ↑ Drill up → back to cities.
- Click ⤓ Expand all down one level → the axis shows City + Area pairs. Turn on Format › Visual › X-axis › Concatenate labels (On/Off) to change how the two levels are labelled.
- Right-click any bar to use Drill down, Drill up, Show next level and Expand to next level without the header icons.
Drilling on dates
On the Date hierarchy: Go to next level from Year shows Quarters (Q1–Q4 summed across all years). Expand all down shows "2024 Qtr 1, 2024 Qtr 2 … 2025 Qtr 4", which keeps the years separate. For a timeline, expand is usually what you want.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
A common mistake is not turning on drill mode (the down-arrow button) and then clicking a bar, which cross-filters other visuals instead of drilling. Show users the drill icons in the visual header, or add a short note on the page. Remember this rule.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
एक common चूक म्हणजे drill mode (खालच्या बाणाचं button) चालू न करता bar वर click करणं, त्यामुळे drill होण्याऐवजी इतर visuals cross-filter होतात. Users ना visual header मधले drill icons दाखवा, किंवा page वर एक छोटी note जोडा. हा नियम लक्षात ठेवा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
एक common गलती है drill mode (नीचे वाले तीर का button) चालू किए बिना bar पर click करना, जिससे drill होने की जगह दूसरे visuals cross-filter हो जाते हैं. Users को visual header में drill icons दिखाओ, या page पर एक छोटा note जोड़ो. यह नियम याद रखो.
Fix common mistakes
| Wrong result | Reason | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| Clicking a bar filters other visuals instead of drilling | Drill mode off | Turn on ↓ drill mode |
| Users lost after drilling | No title change | Dynamic title showing the current level |
| Next level shows mixed stores | Expected: no parent filter | Use drill mode for one parent |
Practise independently
Practice task
From City, drill into Nashik. Which bars appear?
Hints
- Nashik stores: Gangapur, College Road.
Solution
College Road ₹500 and Gangapur ₹300.
Think like a professional
Teach users the icons once with a short note on the page; adoption of drill features depends on that 30 seconds.
Revision card