Day 13: Conditional Formatting in Power BI

Select the Table/Matrix visual → Format pane → scroll to the column you want to format → click "Conditional formatting" → choose the format type: Background colour (colour scale or rules), Font colour, Data bars (in-cell bars), Icons (arrows, flags, shapes), Web URL (turn text into hyperlinks). Each type has two modes: Gradient (colour scale based on value range) or Rules (define specific conditions with custom colours). This is the fastest way to make a large data table scannable at a glance.

Select the column → Format pane → Conditional formatting → Icons → Rules mode → set 3 rules: Green (value >= target), Yellow (value between 85%-100% of target), Red (value < 85% of target). Choose the traffic light icon style. If your target is dynamic (from a measure), use a "Field value" icon format — create a DAX measure that returns the icon name: IF([Achievement %] >= 1, "Green circle", IF([Achievement %] >= 0.85, "Yellow circle", "Red circle")). This makes the icon respond to measure logic dynamically.

Power BI does not support conditional number formatting natively per cell for measures. Workarounds: (1) Create a separate string measure that formats the number and adds the condition: Format(Revenue, "₹#,##0.0M") — but then it is text, not a number. (2) Use colour conditional formatting to signal the condition visually while keeping the number. (3) Use Icons or Data Bars alongside the number to add visual context without changing the number format. For dashboards: combine a number card with an icon visual positioned nearby for the same effect.

Table/Matrix → Format → Conditional formatting → Background Colour → Gradient → set: Minimum = red or white, Maximum = green. Or: Rules mode → Add rule: "If value is top 1 (absolute) then format as green". Rules mode with "Top N" or specific value conditions gives precise control. For a KPI table showing all sales reps and highlighting the top performer: Rules → "If value is top 1" → bright green background. Automatically updates when data refreshes.

Format → Conditional formatting → choose format type → click "Field value" instead of Rules or Gradient → select the measure that returns the format specification. For colours: create a measure that returns a colour name or hex code: Status Colour = IF([Achievement %] >= 1, "#16a34a", IF([Achievement %] >= 0.85, "#d97706", "#dc2626")). Power BI uses this hex colour for the background or font colour of each cell. This is the most powerful approach — the colour logic lives in DAX and responds to all filter context changes.