17.1 What Is Drill Through?
Quick answer: the short, self-contained version of this lesson is the guide Power BI Drill-through Pages.
Start with a problem
Rani sees Pune at ₹850 on the overview and wants the exact Pune orders on a separate page – with one right-click.
Explain simply
Drill through jumps from a data point to a detail page that is filtered to that point (for example City = Pune). The detail page has a field in its Drill through well.
Show the data
| Order ID | Order Date | City | Store | Platform | Category | Amount (₹) | Delivery mins | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | 06-Apr-2026 | Pune | Kothrud | Blinkit | Dairy | 400 | 8 | Delivered |
| 302 | 06-Apr-2026 | Pune | Baner | Amazon Now | Snacks | 200 | 12 | Delivered |
| 303 | 07-Apr-2026 | Nashik | Gangapur | Blinkit | Dairy | 300 | 14 | Delivered |
| 304 | 04-May-2026 | Nashik | College Road | Blinkit | Fruits | 150 | 9 | Delivered |
| 305 | 04-May-2026 | Kolhapur | Rajarampuri | Amazon Now | Snacks | 450 | 7 | Delivered |
| 306 | 05-May-2026 | Pune | Kothrud | Blinkit | Fruits | 250 | 16 | Delivered |
| 307 | 05-May-2026 | Nashik | College Road | Amazon Now | Dairy | 350 | 11 | Delivered |
| 308 | 05-May-2026 | Kolhapur | Rajarampuri | Blinkit | Dairy | 0 | Cancelled |
About this data: This table uses columns: Order ID, Order Date, City, Store, Platform, Category, Amount (₹), Delivery mins, Status. This table uses columns: Order ID, Store, Amount (₹). 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
- Create a page Store detail.
- Put
Cityin Build › Drill through on that page. - Add a table: Order ID, Store, Amount.
- Go to the overview, right-click Pune › Drill through › Store detail.
Show the result
Your result should look like this (fictional sample):
| Order ID | Store | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|---|
| 301 | Kothrud | 400 |
| 302 | Baner | 200 |
| 306 | Kothrud | 250 |
| Total | 850 |
Explain what happened
Power BI passes the clicked City as a filter to the target page and opens it. A Back button is added automatically.
Explore further
- Drill down stays in one visual; drill through moves to another page.
Detailed reference for this lesson:
Drill through lets a user right-click an item (a city, a store, a product) on one page and jump to another page that shows details filtered to that item. Drill down stays inside one visual (Module 16). Drill through moves to a different page.
Our example: the City Summary page shows Orders by Store Name. Right-click Blinkit Kothrud Hub › Drill through › Dark Store Details opens a page with that store's KPIs, orders by hour, delivery partners and a list of late orders.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, many students confuse drill through with drill down. Drill down stays inside the same visual; drill through jumps to another page filtered by the item you right-clicked. Use drill through for "details about this one store or city". Practise, and it will feel very easy.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, बरेच students drill through आणि drill down मध्ये गल्लत करतात. Drill down त्याच visual मध्ये राहतो; drill through तुम्ही right-click केलेल्या item ने filter झालेल्या दुसऱ्या page वर जातो. "या एका store किंवा city बद्दल तपशील" साठी drill through वापरा. Practice करा, मग एकदम सोपं वाटेल.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, बहुत से students drill through और drill down को आपस में मिला देते हैं. Drill down उसी visual के अंदर रहता है; drill through तुम्हारे right-click किए item से filter हुए दूसरे page पर ले जाता है. "इस एक store या city की details" के लिए drill through इस्तेमाल करो. Practice करो, फिर बहुत आसान लगेगा.
Fix common mistakes
| Wrong result | Reason | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| Drill through not in the menu | Source visual does not use City | Use the same field in the source visual |
| Detail page shows all cities | Users opened the page directly | Hide the detail page |
| No way back | Back button deleted | Insert › Buttons › Back |
Practise independently
Practice task
Drill through on Nashik. Give the rows and total.
Hints
- 303, 304, 307.
Solution
303 Gangapur 300, 304 College Road 150, 307 College Road 350 – total ₹800.
Think like a professional
Drill-through keeps overview pages clean and detail available. It is the standard pattern for action lists in operations reports.
Revision card
Interview card
Comparison card