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How to Create a Custom Report Page Tooltip in Power BI

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You hover over a column in Power BI and a small grey box appears: the category name and one number. It answers "how much?", but your manager immediately asks "made of what?". Drill down would replace the chart, and drill through would take you to another page. A report page tooltip shows a whole mini chart right where the mouse is, without leaving the visual. In this chapter you build one that shows revenue by sub-category when you hover over a category.

What you'll learn in this chapter

  • Drill down vs drill through vs tooltip
  • What the default tooltip shows
  • A tooltip page: Allow use as tooltip, Tooltip canvas
  • Way 1: the Tooltip fields well (auto-binding)
  • Way 2: Format › General › Tooltips › Report page
  • Bar chart for long names

Practice files: blinkit-sales-2025-stores.csv (900 orders) and blinkit-product-hierarchy.csv (14 products with category and sub_category).

Made-up data: fictional Blinkit-style orders from 11 stores in 2025, for practice only. Amounts are in ₹ and dates are DD-MM-YYYY.

1. The problem

A column chart shows revenue by category. Hovering over Snacks & Branded Foods shows:

  • category: Snacks & Branded Foods
  • Sum of revenue: 46,750

The manager wants to see, on the same hover, which sub-categories make up that ₹46,750: chips, biscuits or chocolates. You do not want to change the chart (drill down) or jump to another page (drill through).

2. The idea in simple words

Three ways to see the detail behind a number:

Feature How you trigger it Where the detail appears
Drill down Click the drill arrow on the visual Same visual, next level of the hierarchy
Drill through Right-click › Drill through Another page, filtered
Report page tooltip Just hover A small page pops up over the same visual

A report page tooltip is an ordinary report page that you mark as a tooltip. Power BI shows it, filtered to the data point under the mouse, instead of the grey box. Drill down and drill through are covered in How to Create a Custom Hierarchy and Drill Down by Category in Power BI and How to Use Drill Through to Another Page in Power BI.

Drill downclick the down arrow on the chartsame visual, next levelDrill throughright-click › Drill throughanother page, filteredReport page tooltipjust hover the mousesmall page pops up on the same chartIllustration (fictional data)

Figure 1. Drill down stays in the same visual, drill through goes to another page, a report page tooltip pops up on hover (illustration).

Classroom line

I don't want to change the visual or go to the next page; I want the related details right here.

3. The data

Two tables: sales (from blinkit-sales-2025-stores.csv: order_id, order_date, store_id, product_id, sales, revenue) and producthierarchy (product_id, product, category, sub_category), related on product_id.

category revenue (₹)
Dairy & Bakery 58,683
Snacks & Branded Foods 46,750
Staples 41,090
Beverages 33,015
Total 1,79,538

Sub-categories inside Snacks & Branded Foods: Chips & Namkeen 24,490, Biscuits & Cookies 14,100, Chocolates, Candies & Sweet Treats 8,160.

4. Step by step

The main chart

  1. Load both files (Get data › Text/CSV). Check in Model view that producthierarchy[product_id] and sales[product_id] are linked; if not, drag one onto the other.
  2. On a report page, insert a Clustered column chart: X-axis category (from producthierarchy), Y-axis revenue (from sales).
  3. Hover over a column. This is the default tooltip: name and value only.

The tooltip page

  1. Click + at the bottom for a new page. Double-click the tab and rename it Tooltip.
  2. Click an empty part of the canvas, so that no visual is selected. Open Format page (the paintbrush).
  3. Page information › Allow use as tooltip: On. (In older versions: Page information › Page type › Tooltip.)
  4. Canvas settings › Type: Tooltip. The page shrinks to 320 × 240 pixels. Set Vertical alignment to Middle if you like.
  5. Insert a Clustered bar chart (horizontal bars): Y-axis sub_category, X-axis revenue. Turn on Data labels and make the chart fill the small page.

Way 1: the Tooltip fields well (auto-binding)

  1. Still on the Tooltip page with nothing selected, open the Build side of the Visualizations pane and find the Tooltip fields well ("Add tooltip fields here").
  2. Drag category from producthierarchy into it.
  3. Go back to the main page and hover over Snacks & Branded Foods. The tooltip page appears, showing only that category's three sub-categories.

Way 2: link the page to one visual

  1. Select the main column chart. Format visual › General › Tooltips › Options: Type Report page, Page Tooltip.
  2. Hover again. This visual now always uses the Tooltip page, even if the field is not in the Tooltip fields well.
1. New page, rename it Tooltip2. Format page › Page information › Allow use as tooltip: On3. Canvas settings › Type: Tooltip (320 × 240)4. Add a bar chart: sub_category × revenue5. Drag category into the Tooltip fields wellIllustration (fictional data)

Figure 2. Build the tooltip page from top to bottom: new page, Allow use as tooltip, Tooltip canvas, a bar chart, then the category field in the Tooltip fields well (illustration).

Classroom line

Take a new page and click anywhere on it. Turn on Allow use as tooltip here.

5. Your result should look like this

Hover over The tooltip page shows
Snacks & Branded Foods Chips & Namkeen 24,490 · Biscuits & Cookies 14,100 · Chocolates, Candies & Sweet Treats 8,160
Dairy & Bakery Ghee & Butter 35,100 · Milk & Curd 23,583
Staples Atta, Rice & Dals 27,220 · Edible Oils 13,870
Beverages Tea & Coffee 22,620 · Juices & Soft Drinks 10,395

The sub-category numbers always add up to the column you hovered: 24,490 + 14,100 + 8,160 = 46,750.

58,683Dairy & Bakery46,750Snacks & Branded41,090Staples33,015BeveragesTooltip: Snacks & Branded FoodsChips & Namkeen24,490Biscuits & Cookies14,100Chocolates, Candies & Sweet Treats8,160Revenue by category (₹), hover on a barIllustration (fictional data)

Figure 3. Hovering over Snacks & Branded Foods opens the tooltip page with its three sub-categories (illustration).

6. What happened

  • The Tooltip page is a normal page with a filter applied on the fly: the data point under the mouse (category = Snacks & Branded Foods) filters every visual on that page.
  • Way 1 works by field: any visual on any page that uses category picks up the tooltip page automatically.
  • Way 2 works by visual: you choose the tooltip page for one chart, whatever fields it uses.
  • The Tooltip canvas (320 × 240) keeps the pop-up small enough not to cover the chart.

Classroom line

Whenever we move the mouse over a category, revenue by sub-category should appear.

7. Explore further

  • Long names. "Chocolates, Candies & Sweet Treats" gets cut off under a column chart. On a small tooltip page use a bar chart: the names sit on the left and stay readable.
  • Hide the tooltip page. Right-click the Tooltip tab › Hide page. Readers of the published report do not see it as a tab, but the tooltip still works.
  • More than one field. Put both category and sub_category in the Tooltip fields well, and the page works for charts of either field.
  • Back to the grey box. For one visual: Format › General › Tooltips › Type Default. To switch tooltips off: Tooltips Off.
  • Cards and numbers. A tooltip page can hold cards too, for example total units and number of orders for the hovered category.

Classroom line

If the names on the X-axis are long, use a bar chart.

8. Common mistakes

Wrong result Reason Fix
Still the grey default tooltip The page is not marked as a tooltip, or nothing links it Allow use as tooltip On; add the field to the Tooltip fields well, or set Type Report page › Page on the visual
Tooltip shows all four categories' totals The bar chart on the tooltip page uses fields from a table with no relationship Check the product_id relationship in Model view
Tooltip is huge and covers the chart Canvas type left at 16:9 Canvas settings › Type Tooltip
Tooltip fields well not visible A visual is selected on the tooltip page Click empty canvas first
Names are cut off Column chart with long labels Use a bar chart

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Build the tooltip page so it answers one question in two seconds: one small chart, big labels, no title clutter. If people have to read it slowly, it belongs on a drill-through page, not in a tooltip.

Classroom line

Look how ugly the default tooltip looks.

9. Practise on your own

Practice task

Load blinkit-sales-2025-stores.csv and blinkit-product-hierarchy.csv, and build the Tooltip page from this chapter.

  1. What does the tooltip show when you hover over Beverages?
  2. Which sub-category is the largest in the whole data, and in which category is it?
  3. Add a card with Sum of sales (units) to the tooltip page. Why does its number change with each hover?
  4. Which setting makes only one chart use the page, even without the Tooltip fields well?
Show solution
  1. Tea & Coffee 22,620 and Juices & Soft Drinks 10,395 (total 33,015).
  2. Ghee & Butter, 35,100, in Dairy & Bakery.
  3. The hovered category filters every visual on the tooltip page, the card included.
  4. Format visual › General › Tooltips › Type Report page, Page Tooltip.

10. Think like a professional

  • Business view. Tooltips save space: one chart on the page, the breakdown on demand.
  • Keep it fast. Every hover renders the tooltip page. Two or three simple visuals are enough.
  • Name it clearly. Call the page "TT Category breakdown" and hide it, so other report authors know what it is for.
  • Same field, many charts. With Way 1 the same tooltip appears on every chart of category, which keeps the report consistent.

Interview questions

  1. What is a report page tooltip? A report page marked Allow use as tooltip that pops up on hover, filtered to the data point.
  2. Two ways to attach it to a visual? Put the field in the tooltip page's Tooltip fields well (auto), or set Format › General › Tooltips › Type Report page and pick the page.
  3. Drill down vs drill through vs tooltip? Same visual next level; another page; pop-up on hover.
  4. Which canvas size is used for a tooltip page? Canvas type Tooltip, 320 × 240 pixels.

Recap

In short

  1. The default tooltip shows only a name and a value.
  2. A tooltip page: new page › Allow use as tooltip On › Canvas Type Tooltip.
  3. Put a bar chart of sub_category × revenue on it.
  4. Way 1: drag category into the Tooltip fields well.
  5. Way 2: Format › General › Tooltips › Report page › the page.
  6. Hide the tooltip page; use bar charts for long names.

Ravi Sir's Cards for this lesson

Custom report page tooltip. A plain tooltip cannot show a chart.Revision card

मराठी cards