Set up drill-through pages that give users detail views when they right-click a data point
Drill-through lets users right-click a data point (a bar, a row in a table, a point in a scatter chart) and navigate to a detailed report page filtered to that specific item. For example: right-click "Delhi" in a region chart → navigate to a Delhi detail page showing all orders, products, and customers for Delhi.
Drill-through is one of the most powerful features for executive dashboards — summary on the main page, detail accessible on demand.
Example
Setting up a drill-through page
STEP 1 — Create a detail page:
Right-click page tab → Add Page → name it "Order Detail"
STEP 2 — Add the drill-through field:
On the "Order Detail" page
Visualisations pane → Filters section → Drill through
Drag the field to drill by (e.g., "Region")
→ A Back button appears automatically
STEP 3 — Add visuals to the detail page:
Add charts, tables, cards — they will auto-filter
to the Region the user drilled from
STEP 4 — Use it:
Go back to main page
Right-click "Delhi" bar in a chart
→ "Drill through" → "Order Detail"
→ Order Detail page loads filtered to Delhi
DRILL-THROUGH FILTERS:
"Keep all filters" toggle in the Drill through field:
✓ On → carries over all page filters when drilling
✗ Off → only the drill-through field filter is applied
CUSTOMISE THE BACK BUTTON:
Select the auto-generated Back button
Format pane → Button style → change icon, fill, text
Key Points
✓Drill-through field must be on the target page — not the source page
✓Back button is auto-created when you add a drill-through field — do not delete it
✓Users can only drill through if they right-click a data point — not by clicking a blank area
✓Multiple drill-through pages can exist — right-click shows all available targets
✓Cross-report drill-through: target page in a different .pbix file is also possible
Practice Question
Where do you drag the drill-through field when setting up a drill-through page in Power BI?