Getting Started with Power BI Desktop

Run Power BI Desktop after installation

1. Go to the Power BI Desktop download page and choose Download Free to start the free download of Power BI Desktop.

2. Additionally, the Power BI service offers a download for Power BI Desktop. Select Power BI Desktop after clicking the Download button in the top menu.
 

3. To install Power BI Desktop on your PC, click Get on the Microsoft Store page and then follow the on-screen instructions. From the Windows Start menu or the icon in the taskbar, launch Power BI Desktop.

 

4. The Welcome screen appears when Power BI Desktop launches for the first time.
 

5. You can get data, view recent sources, access recent reports, open other words, or choose other links from the welcome screen. To exit the Welcome screen, click the close button.
 

6. The icons for the three Power BI Desktop views—Report, Data, and Model—can be found on the left side of the programme. The yellow bar on the left indicates the current view, and by choosing any of the icons, you can switch between views.

7. To focus on the group of buttons in the window when using the keyboard, use Ctrl + F6.
 

8. The Power Query Editor is another feature of the Power BI Desktop that opens in a different window. You can construct queries, transform data in Power Query Editor, and then import the finished data model into Power BI Desktop to produce reports.

Link to data

You are prepared to connect to the ever-expanding world of data after installing the Power BI Desktop. Select Get Data > More in the Power BI Desktop Home tab, then go through the list of All data sources in the Get Data panel to view the various types of data sources that are accessible. You connect to a few different Web data sources during this brief tour.

Shape data

1. You can modify the data to suit your needs now that you are connected to a data source. You give Power Query Editor detailed instructions for changing the data while it is loaded and being shown to shape it. Only this specific perspective of the data is affected by shaping; the underlying data source is unaffected.
 

2. Data transformation, also known as shaping, can involve renaming columns or tables, deleting rows or columns, or altering the data type. These actions are recorded progressively by Power Query Editor under Applied Steps in the Query Settings pane. Each time this query establishes a connection to the data source, these actions are taken each time, shaping the data in the manner you define. 

3. This process takes place when you utilise the query in Power BI Desktop or when another person uses your shared question, such as via the Power BI service.
 

4. You'll see a few stages in the Applied Steps in the Query Settings. Each step's impact may be seen by selecting it in the Power Query Editor. You specified a web source first, then looked at the Navigator window table afterwards. 
 

5. Power BI identified it when importing whole number data and switched the original online Text data type to Whole numbers in the third stage, Changing style.
 

6. Choose the appropriate column or columns if you need to modify the data type. To pick several neighbouring columns, hold down the Shift key or the Ctrl key to select multiple non-adjacent columns.
 

7. You can either drop down the list next to Data Type in the Transform group of the Home tab and choose a different data type, or you can right-click a column header, select Change Type, and then choose a new data type from the menu.

Merge data

The information on different states is fascinating and will help develop new analytical projects and questions. However, there is one issue: instead of using the actual names of the states, most data use two-letter state code abbreviations. You must find a means to link your state names and their acronyms to utilise that data.

You are fortunate. Another public data source accomplishes the same thing, but shaping the data will be necessary before you can use it with your sunglass table.

Choose New Source > Web from the New Query group on the Home tab of the ribbon to import the state abbreviations data into Power Query Editor.

Create reports

You may create reports and visualisations in the Power BI Desktop Report view. There are six critical areas in the Report view:
 

1. The top ribbon lists frequent activities related to reports and visualisations.
 

2. The central canvas area, where you can design and arrange visualisations.
 

3. Choose or add report pages using the pages tab section at the bottom.
 

4. You can filter data visualisations in the Filters window.
 

5. The Visualizations window, where you can apply drill through and add, modify, or change visualisations.
 

6. You design the report and visuals in the Format pane.

7. The Fields pane displays the query fields that are accessible. To create or alter visualisations, drag these fields onto the canvas, the Filters pane, or the Visualizations window.

 

Using the arrows at the top of the panes, you can expand and collapse the Filters, Visualizations, and Fields panes. Expanding the panes gives you extra room on the canvas to create creative visualisations.
 

The Visualizations window allows you to edit the visualisation and displays information about it.

1. Drag data fields to the Legend and other field wells in the Visualization pane using the Fields option.

2. You can format visuals and use additional controls by selecting the Format option.

3. The symbols display the style of created visualisation. You can alter the kind of selected visualisation by choosing a different icon. Alternatively, you can create a new visualisation by choosing a hero without any other visualisations selected.

Depending on the type of visualisation and data you have, different options are accessible in the Fields and Format sections.

Share your work

You can share your Power BI Desktop report with others now that you have one. Several platforms exist for sharing your work. The report's.pbix file can be shared like any other file, uploaded from the Power BI service, or Power BI Desktop immediately published to the Power BI service. To post or upload reports to the Power BI service, you must first create a Power BI account
 

1. Select Publish from the Home tab of the ribbon in Power BI Desktop to publish to the Power BI service.

2. You could be asked to choose a destination or to log into Power BI.
 

3. When publishing is finished, the following dialogue appears.
 

4. When you click the link to open the account in Power BI, your report appears in your Power BI site under My workspace > Reports.
 

5. You can also load your work from the Power BI service and share it. To launch Power BI in a browser, go to https://app.powerbi.com. To begin loading your Power BI Desktop report, choose to Get data in the lower-left corner of your Power BI Home page.

6. Choose to Get from the Files section on the following page.
 

7. Decide on the Local File on the following page. Select Open after locating and choosing your Power BI Desktop.pbix file.
 

8. After importing the file, you can find it listed in the Power BI service's left pane under My workspace > Reports.
 

9. The report's first page shows when you choose the file. The tabs on the left-hand side of the information allow you to select different pages.
 

10. By choosing More options > Edit at the top of the report canvas, you can edit a report in the Power BI service.
 

11. By choosing File > Save a copy, you can save your modifications.
 

12. You may create various eye-catching graphics from your report using the Power BI tool, which you can pin to a dashboard. Tips for developing a great dashboard contain information regarding dashboards in the Power BI service. See Share a dashboard for further details on creating, sharing, and editing dashboards.
 

13. Click the Share icon next to the name of the report or dashboard in the My workplace > Reports or My workspace > Dashboards lists to share a message or dashboard. You can also select Share > Report at the top of an open report or dashboard page.
 

14. To send an email or obtain a link to share your report or dashboard with others, complete the Share report or Share dashboard page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Power BI desktop's limitation?

Power BI can hold a maximum of 2 GB of data. When processing rows and columns of data, Power BI occasionally takes a little bit longer than usual when processing rows and columns of data or even fails.

What distinguishes Microsoft Power BI desktop from Power BI desktop?

You can connect to many data sources through the desktop and then turn the data into a data model. Adding visuals based on the data model is the last step in the report generation process. The cloud-based service where users view and interact with the reports is called the Power BI Service.

How safe is the Power BI service?

All data saved by Power BI is default encrypted with Microsoft-managed keys. Customer data stored in Azure SQL Databases are fully encrypted using Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) technology from Azure SQL. Azure Storage Encryption encrypts customer data stored in Azure Blob storage.

What is the procedure for running the Azure security benchmark?

You must add the Azure Security Benchmark initiative package to your compliance view to add the benchmark to your Azure Security Center compliance dashboard. Afterwards, you can access the dashboard and begin tracking your compliance status with benchmark controls.

What distinguishes PBIX from PBIT file extensions?

The PBIT file retains the order of your report and substitutes "DataModelSchema File" for "DataModel File." However, if you select the import mode, the PBIX file stores the report structure and all imported data from data sources.

Conclusion

This blog covered all the getting started with Power BI Desktop. We further looked at the features of  Power BI as we have already understood the processes required for getting started with Power BI Desktop. You can check out our data structure course for getting placed in any high-tech company.

Do check out our blogs on object-oriented programming and data structures. 

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