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Power BI dashboards flashcards

Build trusted, fast Power BI reports: Power Query, star schema models, DAX measures, sharing, security and team workflows.

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Power BI dashboardsStart from zero · 1 of 10

What is Power BI, in one plain sentence?

Power BI is Microsoft's tool for pulling data from many places, linking it, and showing it as interactive charts that update and can be shared.

Many sources in, one clickable picture out.
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What you will learn

  1. Start from zero

    • What Power BI is4 cards
    • The parts and words4 cards
    • Getting started2 cards

  2. Core basics

    • Getting and cleaning data4 cards
    • Modelling4 cards
    • First DAX4 cards
    • Report pages and sharing4 cards

  3. Next steps

    • Filter context and CALCULATE6 cards
    • Time intelligence3 cards
    • Better reports4 cards
    • Security and storage modes3 cards

  4. Go deeper

    • Performance5 cards
    • Advanced modelling4 cards
    • Team workflow3 cards
    • Governance and licences4 cards

Final test and certificate

10 questions drawn fresh from the whole topic, about 15 minutes. Sign in, score 80% or more and get a free certificate with your name and a public check link anyone can open, such as an employer or a teacher. Not signed in? Try a practice test from the cards.

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About these cards

  • Reviewed 26 October 2026
  • CoversPower BI Desktop, October 2026 releasePower BI service and Microsoft Fabric, 2026
How these cards are made

Power BI dashboards at a glance

Power BI is Microsoft's tool for turning data from many places into interactive charts and dashboards that people can explore and share.

Power BI is like a car's dashboard for a business: many gauges on one screen, each fed by a sensor (data source), updated automatically while you drive.

Words you will meet

Report
A set of pages with charts that you can click to explore
Dashboard
A single screen of key charts pinned from reports, for a quick look
Data source
Where data comes from, like an Excel file, a database or a website
Visual
One chart, table, card or map on a report page
Model
The tables Power BI has loaded and how they are linked to each other
Measure
A saved calculation, like Total Sales, that works out the answer for whatever is selected
Slicer
A clickable filter on the page, like a list of years or cities
Refresh
Fetching the latest data from the sources so charts show today's numbers

The steps

  1. 1. Start from zero (10 cards): What Power BI is, its parts, and the plain words used in the rest of the topic.
  2. 2. Core basics (16 cards): Get data, clean it in Power Query, model it as a star, write first measures and publish.
  3. 3. Next steps (16 cards): CALCULATE, filter context, time intelligence, security and design: weekly work of a BI developer.
  4. 4. Go deeper (16 cards): Performance, model design, team workflows, governance and licensing: what senior BI developers know.
All 10 cards in Start from zero
What is Power BI, in one plain sentence?
Power BI is Microsoft's tool for pulling data from many places, linking it, and showing it as interactive charts that update and can be shared.
Why use Power BI instead of an Excel report?
It refreshes data by itself, handles millions of rows, lets people click to filter every chart at once, and gives everyone the same numbers from one shared model.
Where do you meet Power BI style dashboards?
Sales screens in offices, hospital bed status boards, school result summaries, and the monthly reports managers open on their laptop or phone.
What everyday thing is a Power BI dashboard like?
A car dashboard: speed, fuel and warnings on one screen, each fed by a sensor and always current, so you can decide without opening the engine.
What are Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service?
Desktop is the free Windows app where you build reports. The service is the website (app.powerbi.com) where you publish, share and refresh them. Phones use the mobile app.
What is the difference between a report and a dashboard?
A report has one or more pages of linked visuals you can click and explore. A dashboard is a single screen in the service with tiles pinned from reports for a quick view.
What are a data source, a model and refresh?
A data source is where data lives, like Excel or a database. The model is the tables Power BI loaded and how they link. Refresh fetches the newest data into the model.
What are a visual, a measure and a slicer?
A visual is one chart or table. A measure is a saved calculation like Total Sales that adapts to whatever is selected. A slicer is an on-page filter people click.
What do you need before starting Power BI?
A Windows PC for Power BI Desktop (free), comfort with Excel tables, and a work or school account if you want to publish and share in the service.
What will you be able to do after this topic?
Load and clean data, build a proper model, write DAX measures, design clear report pages, share and refresh them, and secure and speed up reports for real teams.
Power BI dashboards cheatsheet

Core DAX

  • SUM ( T[Col] ) Add a column
  • DISTINCTCOUNT ( T[Key] ) Unique count
  • DIVIDE ( a, b ) Safe division
  • SUMX ( T, expr ) Row by row, then add
  • CALCULATE ( m, filter ) Change filters
  • REMOVEFILTERS ( T ) Ignore filters on T
  • VAR x = ... RETURN Readable measures

Time intelligence

  • TOTALYTD ( m, 'Date'[Date] ) Year to date
  • TOTALYTD ( m, 'Date'[Date], "3/31" ) Fiscal YTD (April start)
  • SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR ( 'Date'[Date] ) Last year same dates
  • DATESINPERIOD ( d, MAX ( d ), -3, MONTH ) Rolling 3 months
  • DATEADD ( 'Date'[Date], -1, MONTH ) Shift by a month

Model rules

  • Star schema Facts in middle, dimensions around
  • One-to-many, single direction Default relationship
  • Marked Date table Needed for time functions
  • Measures over calc columns For any total or ratio
  • Remove unused columns Smaller, faster model
  • Low cardinality Better compression

Power Query

  • Use first row as headers Promote headers
  • Change type Set column types early
  • Get data, Folder, Combine Load many files
  • View Native Query Check folding
  • RangeStart / RangeEnd Incremental refresh parameters

Service

  • Workspace roles Admin, Member, Contributor, Viewer
  • Scheduled refresh Semantic model settings
  • On-premises data gateway Refresh local sources
  • Deployment pipelines Dev, Test, Prod
  • Endorsement Promoted or Certified models
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