Power BI Interview Questions For Freshers

1. What is Power BI?

Power BI is a business analytics tool developed by Microsoft that helps you turn
multiple unrelated data sources into valuable and interactive insights. These
data may be in the form of an Excel spreadsheet or cloud-based/on-premises
hybrid data warehouses. You can easily connect to all your data sources and
share the insights with anyone.
2. Why should we use Power BI?
Because Power BI provides an easy way for anyone, including non-technical
people, to connect, change, and visualize their raw business data from many
different sources and turn it into valuable data that makes it easy to make smart
business decisions.
3. Difference between Power BI and Tableau
Both Tableau and Power BI are the current IT industry's data analytics and
visualization giants. Yet, there are a few significant differences between them.
You will now explore the important differences between Tableau and Power BI.

Tableau Power BI

Power BI uses DAX for

Tableau uses MDX for measures and dimensions
calculating measures

Power BI is qualified only to

Tableau is capable of handling large volumes of
handle a limited amount of
data
data

Power BI is suitable for both

Tableau is best suitable for experts
experts and beginners

Power BI User Interface is

Tableau User Interface is complicated
comparatively simpler

Power BI finds it difficult, as its

Tableau is capable of supporting the cloud with
capacity to handle large
ease.
volumes of data is limited.

4. Difference between Power Query and Power Pivot

The differences between Power Query and Power Pivot are explained as follows:
 Power Query Power Pivot

Power Pivot is all about getting

Power Query is all about analyzing data.
and Transforming data.

Power Pivot is an in-memory

Power Query is an ETL service tool.
data modeling component

5. What is Power BI Desktop

Power BI Desktop is an open-source application designed and developed by
Microsoft. Power BI Desktop will allow users to connect to, transform, and
visualize your data with ease. Power BI Desktop lets users build visuals and
collections of visuals that can be shared as reports with your colleagues or your
clients in your organization.
6. What is Power Pivot?
Power Pivot is an add-on provided by Microsoft for Excel since 2010. Power Pivot
was designed to extend the analytical capabilities and services of Microsoft
Excel.
7. What is Power Query?
Power Query is a business intelligence tool designed by Microsoft for Excel.
Power Query allows you to import data from various data sources and will enable
you to clean, transform and reshape your data as per the requirements. Power
Query allows you to write your query once and then run it with a simple refresh.
8. Describe the components of Microsoft’s self-service BI solution.
Self-service business intelligence (SSBI) is divided into the Excel BI Toolkit and
Power BI.
9. What is self-service BI, anyway?
SSBI is an abbreviation for Self-Service Business Intelligence and is a
breakthrough in business intelligence. SSBI has enabled many business
professionals with no technical or coding background to use Power BI and
generate reports and draw predictions successfully. Even non-technical users can
create these dashboards to help their business make more informed decisions.
10. What is DAX?
DAX stands for Data Analysis Expressions. It's a collection of functions, operators,
and constants used in formulas to calculate and return values. In other words, it
helps you create new info from data you already have.
11. What are Filters in Power BI?
The term "Filter" is self-explanatory. Filters are mathematical and logical
conditions applied to data to filter out essential information in rows and columns.
The following are the variety of filters available in Power BI:
 Manual filters
 Auto filters
 Include/Exclude filters
 Drill-down filters
 Cross Drill filters
 Drillthrough filters
 Drillthrough filters
 URL filters–transient
 Pass-Through filters
12. What are Custom Visuals in Power BI?
Custom Visuals are like any other visualizations, generated using Power BI. The
only difference is that it developes the custom visuals using a custom SDK. The
languages like JQuery and JavaScript are used to create custom visuals in Power
BI.
13. What is GetData in Power BI?
Get Data is a simple icon on Power BI used to import data from the source.
14. Mention some advantages of Power BI.
Some of the advantages of using Power BI:
 It helps build an interactable data visualization in data centers
 It allows users to transform data into visuals and share them with anyone
 It establishes a connection for Excel queries and dashboards for fast
analysis
 It provides quick and accurate solutions
 It enables users to perform queries on reports using simple English words
15. List out some drawbacks/limitations of using Power BI.
Here are some limitations to using Power BI:
 Power BI does not accept file sizes larger than 1 GB and doesn't mix
imported data accessed from real-time connections.
 There are very few data sources that allow real-time connections to Power
BI reports and dashboards.
 It only shares dashboards and reports with users logged in with the same
email address.
  Dashboard doesn't accept or pass user, account, or other entity
parameters.
16. What are some differences in data modeling between Power BI Desktop and
Power Pivot for Excel?
Power Pivot for Excel supports only single directional relationships (one to many),
calculated columns, and one import mode. Power BI Desktop supports bi-
directional cross-filtering connections, security, calculated tables, and multiple
import options.
17. Name the different connectivity modes available in Power BI?
There are three main connectivity modes used in Power BI.
SQL Server Import
An SQL Server Import is the default and most common connectivity type used in
Power BI. It allows you to use the full capabilities of the Power BI Desktop.
Direct Query
The Direct Query connection type is only available when you connect to specific
data sources. In this connectivity type, Power BI will only store the metadata of
the underlying data and not the actual data.
Live Connection
With this connectivity type, it does not store data in the Power BI model. All
interaction with a report using a Live Connection will directly query the existing
Analysis Services model. There are only 3 data sources that support the live
connection method - SQL Server Analysis Services (Tabular models and
Multidimensional Cubes), Azure Analysis Services (Tabular Models), and Power BI
Datasets hosted in the Power BI Service.
18. What are the various types of refresh options provided in Power BI?
Four important types of refresh options provided in Microsoft Power BI are as
follows:
 Package refresh - This synchronizes your Power BI Desktop or Excel file
between the Power BI service and OneDrive, or SharePoint Online.
 Model or data refresh - This refreshes the dataset within the Power BI
service with data from the original data source.
 Tile refresh - This updates the cache for tile visuals every 15 minutes on
the dashboard once data changes.
 Visual container refresh - This refreshes the visible container and updates
the cached report visuals within a report once the data changes.
Did You Know? 🔍
The Business Intelligence Market size is estimated at USD 37.73 billion in 2025,
and is expected to reach USD 70.00 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 13.16% during
the forecast period (2025-2030).
19. Name the data sources can Power BI can connect to?
Several data sources can be connected to Power BI, which is grouped into three
main types:
 Files: It can import data from Excel (.xlsx, .xlxm), Power BI Desktop files
(.pbix) and Comma-Separated Values (.csv).
 Content Packs: These are a collection of related documents or files stored
as a group.
 Connectors help you connect your databases and datasets with apps,
services, and data in the cloud.
20. What is a dashboard in Power BI?
A dashboard is a single-layer presentation sheet of multiple visualizations
reports. The main features of the Power BI dashboard are:
 It allows you to drill through the page, bookmarks, and selection pane and
also lets you create various tiles and integrate URLs
 A dashboard can also help you set report layout to mobile view.
21. Explain how relationships are defined in Power BI Desktop?
Relationships between tables are defined in two ways:
 Manually - Relationships between tables are manually defined using
primary and foreign keys.
 Automatic - When enabled, this automated feature of Power BI detects
relationships between tables and creates them automatically.
22. Can you have more than one functional relationship between two tables in a
Power Pivot data model?
No. There can be multiple inactive relationships, but only one active relationship
between two tables in a Power Pivot data model. Dotted lines represent inactive
relationships, and continuous lines represent active relationships.
23. Can you have a table in the model which does not have any relationship with
other tables?
Yes. There are two main reasons why you can have disconnected tables:
 The table is used to present the user with parameter values to be exposed
and selected in slicers
 It uses the table as a placeholder for metrics in the user interface
24. What is the CALCULATE function in DAX?
The CALCULATE function evaluates the sum of the Sales table Sales Amount
column in a modified filter context. It is also the only function that allows users to
modify the filter context of measures or tables.
25. Where is data stored in Power BI?
Most of the time, power BI gets assisted by the cloud to store the data. Power BI
can use a desktop service. Microsoft Azure is used as the primary cloud service
to store the data.
1. Azure SQL Database
2. Azure Blob Storage
26. What is row-level security?
Row-level security limits the data a user can view and has access to, and it relies
on filters. Users can define the rules and roles in Power BI Desktop and also
publish them to Power BI Service to configure row-level security.
27. Why should you apply general formatting to Power BI data?
Users can use general formatting to make it easier for Power BI to categorize and
identify data, making it considerably easier to work with.
28. What are the different views available in Power BI Desktop?
There are three different views in Power BI, each of which serves another
purpose:
Report View - In this view, users can add visualizations and additional report
pages and publish the same on the portal.
Data View - In this view, data shaping can be performed using Query Editor tools.
Model View - In this view, users can manage relationships between complex
datasets.
29. What are the various versions of Power BI?
 Power BI Desktop
 Power BI service
 Mobile Power BI apps for iOS and Android devices
30. Explain the building blocks of Microsoft Power BI.
The important building blocks of Power BI are as follows:
Visualizations
Visualization is the process of generating charts and graphs for the
representation of insights on business data.
Datasets
A dataset is the collection of data used to create a visualization, such as a
column of sales figures. Dataset can get combined and filtered from a variety of
sources via built-in data plugins.
Reports
The final stage is the report stage. Here, there is a group of visualizations on one
or more pages. For example, charts and maps are combined to make a final
report.
Dashboards
A Power BI dashboard helps you to share a single visualization with colleagues
and clients to view your final dashboard.
Tiles
A tile is an individual visualization on your final dashboard or one of your charts
in your final report.
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31. What are the critical components of the Power BI toolkit?
The critical components of Power BI are mentioned below.
 Power Query
 Power Pivot
 Power View
 Power Map
 Power Q&A
32. What do you mean by the content pack?
A content pack is defined as a ready-made collection of visualizations and Power
BI reports using your chosen service. You'd use a content pack when you want to
get up and running quickly instead of creating a report from scratch.
33. Define bi-directional cross filtering.
Bidirectional cross-filtering lets data modelers to decide how they want their
Power BI Desktop filters to flow for data, using the relationships between tables.
The filter context is transmitted to a second related table that exists on the other
side of any given table relationship. This procedure helps data modelers solve
the many-to-many issue without having to complicated DAX formulas. So, to sum
it up, bidirectional cross-filtering makes the job for data modelers easier.
34. What are the three fundamental concepts of DAX?
Syntax
This is how the formula is written—that is, the elements that comprise it. The
Syntax includes functions such as SUM (used when you want to add figures). If
the Syntax isn't correct, you'll get an error message.
Functions
These are formulas that use specific values (also known as arguments) in a
particular order to perform a calculation, similar to the functions in Excel. The
categories of functions are date/time, time intelligence, information, logical,
mathematical, statistical, text, parent/child, and others.
Context
There are two types: row context and filter context. Row context comes into play
whenever a formula has a function that applies filters to identify a single row in a
table. When one or more filters are applied in a calculation that determines a
result or value, the filter context comes into play.
35. Why and how would you use a custom visual file?
You will use a custom visual file if the prepackaged files don't fit the needs of
your business. Developers create custom visual files, and you can import them
and use them in the same way as you would the prepackaged files.
36. What are some familiar sources for data in the Get Data menu in Power BI?
A few familiar data sources are Excel, Power BI datasets, web, text, SQL server,
and analysis services.
37. What are the categories of data types?
 All
 File
 Database
 Power BI
 Azure
 Online Services
 Other
38. Name some commonly used tasks in the Query Editor.
 Connect to data
 Shape and combine data
 Group rows
 Pivot columns
 Create custom columns
 Query formulas
39. What do you mean by grouping?
Power BI Desktop helps you to group the data in your visuals into chunks. You
can, however, define your groups and bins. For grouping, use Ctrl + click to
select multiple elements in the visual. Right-click one of those elements and,
from the menu that appears, choose Group. In the Groups window, you can
create new groups or modify existing ones.
Did You Know? 🔍
The analytics and BI applications market is expected to reach $18.5 billion by
2026.
40. Explain responsive slicers in Power BI.
On a Power BI final report page, a developer can resize a responsive slicer to
various sizes and shapes, and the data collected in the container will be
rearranged to find a match. If a visual report becomes too small to be useful, an
icon representing the visual takes its place, saving space on the report page.
41. What is query folding in Power BI?
Query folding is used when steps defined in the Query Editor are translated into
SQL and executed by the source database instead of your device. It helps with
scalability and efficient processing.
42. What is "M language."
M is a programming language used in Power Query as a functional, case-
sensitive language similar to other programming languages and easy to use.
Power BI Interview Questions For Experienced
43. What are the major differences between visual-level, page-level, and report-
level filters in Power BI?
Visual-level filters are used to filter data within a single visualization. Page-level
filters are used to work on an entire page in a report, and different pages can
have various filters.
Report-level filters are used to filter all the visualizations and pages in the report.
44. List the most common techniques for data shaping.
 Adding indexes
 Applying a sort order
 Removing columns and rows
45. How is the Schedule Refresh feature designed to work?
Users can set up for an automatic refresh over data based on daily or weekly
requirements. Users can schedule only one refresh maximum daily unless they
have Power BI Pro. The Schedule Refresh section uses the pull-down menu
choices to select a frequency, time zone, and time of day.
46. What information is needed to create a map in Power Map?
Power Map can display geographical visualizations. Therefore, some location
data is needed—for example, city, state, country, or latitude and longitude.
47. Which in-memory analytics engine does Power Pivot use?
Power Pivot uses the xVelocity engine. xVelocity can handle huge amounts of
data, storing data in columnar databases. All data gets loaded into RAM memory
when you use in-memory analytics, which boosts the processing speed.
48. Mention important components of SSAS
Following are some of the important Components of SSAS:
OLP Engine
An OLAP Engine is used to extensively run the ADHOC queries at a faster pace by
the end-users
Data Drilling
It describes data Drilling in SSAS as the process of exploring details of the data
with multiple levels of granularity.
Slicers
The data Slicing process in SSAS is defined as the process of storing the data in
rows and columns.
Pivot Tables
Pivot Tables helps in switching between the different categories of data stored
between rows and columns.
49. What are the three fundamental concepts of DAX?
1. Syntax: This is how the formula is written—the elements that comprise it.
The syntax includes functions such as SUM (used when you want to add
figures). If the syntax isn't correct, you'll get an error message.
2. Functions: These are formulas that use specific values (also known as
arguments) in a certain order to perform a calculation, similar to the
functions in Excel. The categories of functions are date/time, time
intelligence, information, logical, mathematical, statistical, text,
parent/child, and others.
3. Context: There are two types: row context and filter context. Row context
comes into play whenever a formula has a function that applies filters to
identify a single row in a table. When one or more filters are applied in a
calculation that determines a result or value, the filter context comes into
play.
50. Name the variety of Power BI Formats.
Power BI is available mainly in three formats, as mentioned below.
1. Power BI Desktop: Open-Source version for Desktop users
2. Power BI Services: For Online Services
3. Power BI Mobile Application: Compatible with mobile devices
51. What are the different stages in the working of Power BI?
There are three different stages in working on Power BI, as explained below.
1. Data Integration
2. Data Processing
3. Data Presentation
Data Integration
The primary step in any business intelligence is to establish a successful
connection with the data source and integrate it to extract data for processing.
Data Processing
The next step in business intelligence is data processing. Most of the time, the
raw data also includes unexpected erroneous data, or sometimes a few data cells
might be empty. The BI tool needs to interpret the missing values and inaccurate
data for processing in the data processing stage.
Data Presentation
The final stage in business intelligence is analyzing the data got from the source
and presenting the insights using visually appealing graphs and interactive
dashboards.
52. Which professionals use Power BI the most?
Beginners and experts prefer Power BI in business intelligence. Power BI is used
mainly by the following professionals.
 Business Analysts
 Business Owners
 Business Developers
Business Analysts
A business analyst is a professional who analyses the business data and
represents the insights found using visually appealing graphs and dashboards
Business Owners
Business owners, decision-makers, or organizations use Power BI to view the
insights and understand the prediction to make a business decision.
Business Developers
Business Developers are just software developers who get hired for business
purposes to develop custom applications and dashboards to help the business
process be smooth.
53. What is the advanced editor?
Advanced editor is used to view queries that Power BI is running against the data
sources importing data. The query is rendered in M-code. Users wanting to view
the query code select “Edit Queries” from the Home tab, then click on “Advanced
Editor” to perform work on the query. Any changes get saved to Applied Steps in
the Query Settings.
54. What gateways does Power BI have and why should you use them?
Gateways function as bridges between the in-house data sources and Azure
Cloud Services.
 Personal Gateway: Used only by one person, data can be imported, and is
only valid on Power BI Service.
  On-Premises Gateway: This is an advanced form of the Personal Gateway,
supporting Direct Query and usable by multiple users to refresh data.
55. Mention some applications of Power BI
There are multiple applications of Power BI; some of them are as follows:
 Business Analysis
 Data Analysis
 Database Administration
 IT Professional
 Data Science
56. How can you depict a story in Power BI?
Every individual chart or visualization report generated is collected and
represented on a single screen. Such an approach is called a Power BI
Dashboard. A Dashboard in Power BI is used to depict a story.
57. What are KPIs in Power BI?
KPI is abbreviated as Key Performance Indicator. Any professional organization
has teams and employees follow the KPI protocols. The organizations set up KPIs
for all the employees. These KPIs act as their targets. These KPIs are compared
to previous performance and analyze the progress.
58. What is a Slicer?
Slicers are an integral part of a business report generated using Power BI. The
functionality of a slicer can be considered similar to that of a filter, but, unlike a
filter, a Slicer can display a visual representation of all values and users will be
provided with the option to select from the available values in the slicer’s drop-
down menu.
59. Explain Power BI Designer.
It is a combined solution offered to upload the reports and dashboards to the
PowerBI.com website for reference. It consists of Power Pivot, Power Query, and
Power Table.
60. How do you reshape data in Power BI?
Power BI offers a wide variety of data source connectivity options. Data Editor is
one of the tools used to manipulate rows and columns of data and helps you
reshape it according to the requirements.
1. What is Power BI?
Power BI is a highly efficient business intelligence (BI) and data visualization tool
developed by Microsoft. It enables users to establish connections with diverse
data sources, transform and manipulate data, generate interactive reports and
dashboards, and share insights with others. Power BI is extensively used in
organizations to analyze data and make informed decisions based on data-driven
insights.
Features of Power BI:
 Data Connectivity
 Data Transformation
 Data Modeling
 Power BI Service
2. What do you understand by Business Intelligence?
BI, which stands for Business Intelligence, is a technology for collecting,
analyzing and delivering business data to support decision-making in
organizations This system uses a variety of tools, applications and practices to
transform raw data organize them into valuable insights. By doing so, companies
can make informed decisions, spot trends and improve their overall performance.
3. What is the difference between Power BI and Tableau?
Below are some key differences between Power BI and Tableau

Power BI Tableau

DAX is used by Power BI to calculate MDX is used by Tableau for

measures. measures and dimensions.

Dashboards with a large visualization library Large visualization library, lots

that are customizable of customization

Power BI can only manage a certain amount Tableau can manage massive
of data. amounts of data.

Beginning users and professionals can use Tableau is best suited for
Power BI. professionals.

Tableau's user interface might

Simpler user interface for Power BI.
be challenging.

Due of its limited ability to manage big

The cloud can be easily
amounts of data, Power BI finds it
supported by Tableau..
challenging.

4. Differentiate between Power BI and Excel.

Feature Power BI Excel

Tabular Power BI is not very good Excel is better at handling

reports at handling tabular reports. tabular reports.

Duplicate Power BI can’t display Excel allows users to display

table duplicate tables. duplicate tables.

Excel users cannot perform

Power BI allows interactive,
Reports advanced cross-filtering between
personalized reports.
charts.

Power BI offers simple

Analytics Excel offers advanced analytics.
analytics.

Excel has new charts now but

Application Power BI is ideal for KPIs,
they can’t connect to data
s alerts, and dashboards.
model.

5. What are the different Excel BI add-ins?

The following are the most popular Power BI add-ins for Excel:
 Power Query –Editing, loading, and locating external data are made
easier with the aid of Power Query.
 Power Pivot – Power Pivot is mostly utilized in data modeling and
analysis.
 Power View – Power View is used to create interactive and visually
appealing reports.
 Power Map –Power Map is a tool for displaying information on 3D maps.
Power BI Interview Questions for Intermediate
6. Mention the essential features of Power BI.
Power BI is a powerful tool with many features. Some notable features include:
 It enables users to visualize data and share that visualization with others.
 Users are able to browse and examine data from all sources (in a unified
view).
 Users may scale across enterprises while benefiting from integrated
governance and security.
  Users can see an output once it has been generated on any device that
supports the Power BI application.
 Users can run queries on reports using basic English terms utilizing Power
BI Q&A or Power BI Q&L processing.
7. What is the difference between Calculated Columns, Calculated
Tables, and Measures?

Calculated Columns Calculated Tables Measures

DAX formula is used to To make complicated

DAX formula was used
add data to tables from calculations, use other
to define the values.
already existing data. DAX functions

Using DAX formulas

both Report and Data both Report and Data
instead of data sources
views were used to views were used to
to query defines values
create create
in additional columns.

Work well for storing used for sales

When data sources don't
user-requested data in forecasting, comparing
include information
the model and sales, highlighting
presented in the correct
intermediate running totals, and
format, it can be useful.
calculations other uses

8. What are the differences between a Power BI dataset, a Report, and

a Dashboard?

Power BI dataset Report Dashboard

Data storage and Data visualization and Data presentation

modeling analysis and navigation

Organizes visuals
Stores and prepares data Displays visualizations
and reports

Created in Power Query Created and edited in Created by pinning

or Power BI Desktop Power BI Desktop visuals

Export visuals and Export dashboard

No export or print options
reports visuals
Power BI dataset Report Dashboard

Interactive filters, slicers, Limited interactivity

No user interactivity
and drill-through (drill-through)

9. What are the different Power BI formats?

The following are the various formats available in Power BI:
 Power BI Desktop – You can download and install Power BI Desktop. With
the help of templates, you can connect it to a data source, manipulate the
data, and then analyze and visualize it.
 Power BI Services – Power BI Services is a cloud-based or service-as-a-
platform.
 Power BI Mobile App –The Power BI mobile app is accessible on iOS,
Android, and Windows devices.
10. How can you refresh data in Power BI?
Data can be refreshed in Power BI in the following manner:
 To manually update data in Power BI Desktop, click the "Refresh" button on
the Home tab to update your report with the latest information from your
sources.
 You can choose frequency like daily or weekly when you schedule
automatic data refresh for published reports in the Power BI Service.
 In the Power BI Service, dataflows can be scheduled for refresh to keep
shared datasets current.
 Data is always real-time for DirectQuery and Live Connection and doesn't
need to be manually refreshed.
 To automate data refresh processes and guarantee data accuracy, use
Power BI Gateway, Power Automate, APIs, or PowerShell.
Advanced Power BI Interview Questions for Experienced
11. What are the different refresh options available in Power BI?
In Power BI, there are essentially four different categories of refresh possibilities:
 Package Refresh – Dataset is updated with information from Power BI or
Excel files that are accessible online in OneDrive, Sharepoint, etc.
 Data Refresh – A gateway is used to update the dataset with on-premises
data sources, and the refresh is scheduled.
 Tile Refresh – Dashboard visual tiles are refreshed every 15 minutes and
can be made to do so manually by utilizing the visual menu.
 Visual Container Refresh – Pages in a report that contain visuals are
refreshed with new data using the visual container refresh feature.
12. What are the major components of Power BI?
There are five different components of Power BI.
 Power Pivot: Fetches and cleans data and loads on to Power Query
 Power Query: Operates on the loaded data
 Power Q&A: Makes it possible for users to interact with reports using
simple English language
 Power View: Lets users create interactive charts, graphs, maps, and other
visuals
 Power Map: Enables the processing of accurate geographic locations in
datasets
13. What is Power Query in Power BI?
 Power Query is an ETL tool. It can help shape, transform, and clean data
with the help of intuitive interfaces and no need for coding. Power Query
can help with the following:
 Importing data from various data sources like files, databases, social
media data, big data, etc.
 Appending and joining data from several sources.
 Adding or removing data to shape it according to requirements
14. What is Power Pivot in Power BI?
Microsoft Excel 2010 has a built-in feature called Power Pivot, which enhances its
analytical capabilities. Power Pivot allows us to import data from multiple
sources, compress data into a single spreadsheet, visualize tabular data using
DAX language, define relationships between tables, write formulas, calculate new
columns, create PivotTables and PivotCharts, filter and layers use, and we
analyze internal data They are. It is a powerful tool for data analysis and
management.
15. What is Power View in Power BI?
Power View is a powerful data visualization and reporting tool first introduced as
an add-on to Microsoft Excel, later added to the Power BI tool Its primary purpose
is to help users visualize data and interactive and engaging reports and
dashboards have been developed from a variety of sources. Power View makes it
easy for users to search, browse, search and present data in an intuitive and
interactive way. Overall, Power View is an essential tool for data analysts and
business professionals who need to communicate complex data clearly and
efficiently.
16. What is Power Map in Power BI and How can we create it?
Power Map, additionally called 3-d Maps, is a effective records visualization
device furnished with the aid of Power BI. It permits customers to create
interactive three-D models of geographic and spatial information on a global or
custom map. Power Map makes it clean to explore facts systems and traits in a
dynamic and immersive manner, making it ideal for geo-region-based
information analysis.
To create a Power Map in Power BI:
 Prepare location-based data in Excel.
 Launch Power Map from the "Insert" tab.
 Select location data columns and customize the map.
 Create scenes, interact with the map, and save or share your
visualizations.
17. What is Power Q&A in Power BI?
Power Q&A, which stands for Power Query and Answers, is a feature in Power BI
that allows users to explore data and ask questions using natural language.
Provides immediate visibility into charts, tables, or forms to answer user
questions. Power Q&A aims to make data analysis and analysis more accessible
and intuitive for a wide variety of people, including those unfamiliar with data
analysis tools or SQL queries.
18. What are the different ways to filter the data in Power Bi?
Data can be filtered in Power BI using various filters. There are three types of
filters:
 Drill-through filters: Power BI Desktop users can create a report page
that highlights specific entities, such as suppliers, customers, or
manufacturers, using Drillthrough filters.
 Page-level filters: On a dashboard, page-level filters are applied to
specific pages and can be used to filter charts that are present on those
pages.
 Report-level filters: Report-level filters are used to filter charts across all
report pages simultaneously.
19. What are the different types of visualizations in Power BI?
Some of the most commonly types of visualizations in Power BI include;
 Area charts
 Doughnut charts
 Funnel charts
 Gauge charts
 Bar and column charts
 Combo charts
 Decomposition tree
 Key influencers chart
20. What is DAX? What are the benefits of using variables in DAX?
DAX, or Data Analysis Expressions, is a formula language for calculating data
and performing data analysis in Power Pivot. It allows you to query and retrieve
data using a table expression, as well as create calculated columns, calculated
fields, and measurements. It is important to note that although DAX is useful for
data analysis, data cannot be loaded or transformed.
DAX Syntax: Total Sales = SUM(Sales[SalesAmount])
Benefits of using variables in DAX:
 Variables in DAX queries can be reused, avoiding additional source
database queries.
 Variables make DAX expressions understandable.
21. What are the three fundamental concepts of DAX?
Three fundamental concepts of DAX are as follows:
 Syntax: Syntax refers to the rules that define how the code is structured,
including the functions to be used. Syntax errors will result in an error
message.
 Functions: Functions refer to instructions performed in a specific
sequence to achieve a specific result.
 Context: There are two types of contexts in formulas - Row Context and
Filter Context. Row Context is applied when a formula uses a function that
filters a table to identify a specific row. Filter Context is applied when one
or more filters are used to obtain a certain value.
22. What are the most common DAX functions used?
Some of the most commonly used DAX functions are listed below:
 Aggregation Functions: SUM, MIN, MAX, AVG, COUNTROWS,
DISTINCTCOUNT
 Information Functions: ISBLANK, ISFILTERED, ISCROSSFILTERED
 Statistical Functions: GEOMEAN, MEDIAN
 Logical Functions: IF, AND, OR, SWITCH
 Date & Time Functions: DATEDIFF, DATEVALUE
 Filter Functions: VALUES, ALL, FILTER, CALCULATE, TOPN
 Other Functions: UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT, NATURALINNERJOIN,
NATURALLEFTEROUTERJOIN,
 SUMMARIZECOLUMNS, ISEMPTY, VAR
23. What is the CALCULATE function in DAX?
The CALCULATE function helps calculate the sum of the total column and can be
customized using filters
 Syntax: CALCULATE ( [, [, [, … ]]] )
  Expression: That has to be evaluated.
 Filter: The filter is an expression used to define a boolean or a table.
24. What is the purpose of the ‘Get Data’ icon in Power BI?
When users click on the "Get Data" icon in Power BI, a drop-down menu appears
listing all available data sources from which data can be retrieved.
Power BI allows users to import data from multiple sources, including files in
Excel, CSV, XML, JSON, PDF, SharePoint formats, as well as SQL, Access, SQL
Server Analysis Services, Oracle, IBM, MySQL , and many others. In addition,
Power BI data sets and data flows are compatible with each other. Users can also
import data from online sources such as Azure.
25. What are custom visualizations in Power BI?
Power BI allows users to add customized visual elements to their reports and
dashboards. These custom visuals, which can be created by users or third-party
developers, offer unique ways to present and analyze data beyond the standard
visuals provided by Power BI.
By exploring the Custom Visuals Gallery in Power BI, users can discover and
integrate these custom visuals into their reports to enhance the presentation and
analysis of data. These custom visuals are especially useful when industries
require specialized chart types or when the standard visuals don't meet specific
visualization requirements. Overall, custom visuals in Power BI enable users to
create more engaging and tailored reports and dashboards.
26. What are the different connectivity modes available in Power BI?
Power BI utilizes three primary connectivity modes:
1. SQL Server Import: An SQL Server Import is the most commonly used
connectivity type in Power BI, allowing full utilization of Power BI Desktop
capabilities.
2. Direct Query: The Direct Query connection type is only available for
specific data sources. In this type, Power BI stores only the metadata of
the underlying data, not the actual data.
3. Live Connection: When using Live Connection, data is not stored in the
Power BI model. Instead, the report interacts directly with the existing
Analysis Services model. This connectivity type is only supported by three
data sources: SQL Server Analysis Services (Tabular models and
Multidimensional Cubes), Azure Analysis Services (Tabular Models), and
Power BI Datasets hosted in the Power BI Service.
27. What are the different data sources that Power BI can connect to?
Power BI can connect to various data sources, including:
 Excel
 SQL Server
 SharePoint
  Power BI datasets
 Cloud – Azure, AWS, GCP
 Third-Party Tools
28. What are the different views available in Power BI Desktop?
Power BI has three distinct views, each serving a unique purpose:
 Report View: Users can create and publish custom reports with added
visualizations and pages.
 Data View: Query Editor tools can be used to shape data.
 Relationship View: In this view, users have the ability to manage the
relationships among different datasets.
29. How grouping are performed in Power BI?
To group data in Power BI, simply select the desired fields in a visualization and
click on "Group By". Next, define the criteria for grouping and apply functions
such as Sum or Average to aggregate data within each group. The grouped data
can then be viewed in the visualization, making it easier to analyze and
summarize data.
30. What are the different types of filters available in Power BI?
Power BI offers a range of filter types:
 Visual-level Filters: These filters can reduce the amount of data a
visualization can access and filter both calculations and data.
 Page-level Filters: Page-level filters can be different for different pages
of the same report.
 Report-level Filters: Filters are applied to the entire report, including all
visualizations and pages.
Power BI Interview Questions For Freshers
1. How would you define Power BI as an effective solution?
Power BI is a strong business analytical tool that creates useful insights and
reports by collating data from unrelated sources. This data can be extracted from
any source like Microsoft Excel or hybrid data warehouses. Power BI drives an
extreme level of utility and purpose using interactive graphical interface and
visualizations. You can create reports using the Excel BI toolkit and share them
on-cloud with your colleagues.
2. Power BI can connect to which data sources?
The data source is the point from which the data has been retrieved. It can be
anything like files in various formats (.xlsx, .csv, .pbix, .xml, .txt etc), databases
(SQL database, SQL Data Warehouse, Spark on Azure HDInsight), or form content
packets like Google Analytics or Twilio.
3. What are the available formats?
Power BI is available in various formats:
 Power BI desktop: For the desktop version
 Power BI mobile app: For using the visualizations on mobile OS and share
it
 Power BI services: For online SaaS
4. What are the available views?
In power BI, you have various kinds of views viz:
 Data View: Curating, exploring, and viewing data tables in the data set.
Unlike, Power Query editor, with data view, you are looking at the data
after it has been fed to the model.
 Model View: This view shows you all the tables along with their complex
relationships. With this, you can break these complex models into
simplified diagrams or set properties for them at once.
 Report View: The report view displays the tables in an interactive format
to simplify data analysis. You can create n number of reports, provide
visualizations, merge them, or apply any such functionality.
5. Where is the data stored in Power BI?
Primarily, Power BI has two sources to store data:
Azure Blob Storage: When users upload the data, it gets stored here.
Azure SQL Database: All the metadata and system artifacts are stored here.
They are stored as either fact tables or dimensional tables.
6. What is a Power BI desktop?
To access the Power BI features, visualize data, or model them to create reports,
you can simply download a desktop version of Power BI. With the desktop
version, you can extract data from various data sources, transform them, create
visuals or reports, and share them using Power BI services.
7. What are the different connectivity modes in Power BI?
The three major connectivity modes in Power BI are:
Direct Query: The method allows direct connection to the Power BI model. The
data doesn’t get stored in Power BI. Interestingly, Power BI will only store the
metadata of the data tables involved and not the actual data. The supported
sources of data query are:
 Amazon Redshift
 Azure HDInsight Spark (Beta)
 Azure SQL Database
 Azure SQL Data Warehouse
 IBM Netezza (Beta)
  Impala (version 2.x)
 Oracle Database (version 12 and above)
 SAP Business Warehouse (Beta)
 SAP HANA
 Snowflake
 Spark (Beta) (version 0.9 and above)
 SQL Server
 Teradata Database
Live Connection: Live connection is analogous to the direct query method as it
doesn’t store any data in Power BI either. But opposed to the direct query
method, it is a direct connection to the analysis services model. Also, the
supported data sources with live connection method are limited:
 SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Tabular
 SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Multi-Dimensional
 Power BI Service
Import Data (Scheduled Refresh): By choosing this method, you upload the
data into Power BI. Uploading data on Power BI means consuming the memory
space of your Power BI desktop. If it is on the website, it consumes the space of
the Power BI cloud machine. Even though it is the fastest method, the maximum
size of the file to be uploaded cannot exceed 1 GB until and unless you have
Power BI premium (then you have 50 GB at the expense).
But which model to choose when depends on your use and purpose.
8. What are the various refresh options available?
Four main refresh options are available in Power BI:
 Package/OneDrive refresh: This synchronizes Power BI desktop or Excel
file between the Power BI service and OneDrive
 Data/Model refresh: This means scheduling the data import from all the
sources based on either refresh schedule or on-demand.
 Tile refresh: Refresh the tiles’ cache on the dashboard every time the
data changes.
 Visual container refresh: Update the reports’ visuals and visual
container once the data changes.
9. What are the major components of Power BI?
Power BI is an amalgamation of these major components:

Components of Power BI
  Power Query (for data mash-up and transformation): You can use this to
extract data from various databases (like SQL Server, MySql, and many
others ) and to delete a chunk of data from various sources.
 Power Pivot (for tabular data modeling): It is a data modeling engine that
uses a functional language called Data Analysis Expression (DAX) to
perform the calculations. Also, creates a relationship between various
tables to be viewed as pivot tables.
 Power View (for viewing data visualizations): The view provides an
interactive display of various data sources to extract metadata for proper
data analysis.
 Power BI Desktop (a companion development tool): Power Desktop is an
aggregated tool of Power Query, Power View, and Power Pivot. Create
advanced queries, models, and reports using the desktop tool.
 Power BI Mobile (for Android, iOS, Windows phones): It gives an interactive
display of the dashboards from the site onto these OS, effortlessly.
 Power Map (3D geo-spatial data visualization).
 Power Q&A (for natural language Q&A).
Power BI Intermediate Questions
1. What is a dashboard?
The dashboard is like a single-page canvas on which you have various elements
to create and visualize reports created by analyzing data. It comprises only the
most important data from the reports to create a story.
The visual elements present on the dashboard are called Tiles. You can pin these
tiles from the reports to the dashboard. Clicking any element on the dashboard
takes you to the report of a particular data set.

Power BI Dashboard
2. What are the building blocks of Power BI?
The major building blocks of Power BI are:
 Datasets: Dataset is a collection of data gathered from various sources
like SQL Server, Azure, Text, Oracle, XML, JSON, and many more. With the
GetData feature in Power BI, we can easily fetch data from any data
source.
 Visualizations: Visualization is the visual aesthetic representation of data
in the form of maps, charts, or tables.
 Reports: Reports are a structured representation of datasets that consists
of multiple pages. Reports help to extract important information and
insights from datasets to take major business decisions.
 Dashboards: A dashboard is a single-page representation of reports
made of various datasets. Each element is termed a tile.
 Tiles: Tiles are single-block containing visualizations of a report. Tiles help
to differentiate each report.
3. What are content packs in Power BI?
Content packs are packages comprising different Power BI objects such as
reports, dashboards, datasets, etc. The two types of content packs are:
Service provider content packs: Service providers such as Google Analytics,
Salesforce, etc. provide pre-built content packages
User-created content packs: Users can create their content packages and share
them within the organization.
4. What are the various Power BI versions?
The three major versions of Power BI are as follows:
 Power BI Desktop: The free interactive tool that connects multiple data
sources, transforms data, and creates visualized reports.
 Power BI Premium: The premium version is used for larger organizations
with a dedicated storage capacity for each user. With premium, data sets
up to 50GB storage capacity can be hosted along with 100TB storage on
the cloud as a whole. It costs $4995 per month.
 Power BI Pro: With the pro version, you get full access to the Power BI
dashboard, creation of reports, along with unlimited sharing and viewing
of reports. You also have a storage limit of 10GB per user.
5. What is DAX?
Data Analysis Expression (DAX) is a library of formulas used for calculations and
data analysis. This library comprises functions, constants, and operators to
perform calculations and give results. DAX lets you use the data sets to their full
potential and provide insightful reports.
DAX is a functional language containing conditional statements, nested
functions, value references, and much more. The formulas are either numeric
(integers, decimals, etc.) or non-numeric (string, binary). A DAX formula always
starts with an equal sign.

DAX
A: Name of the project
B: Start of the DAX formula
C: DAX function (to add)
D: Parentheses defining arguments
E: Name of the table
F: Name of the field
G: Operator
6. What are the purpose and benefits of using the DAX function?
DAX is much more than Power BI. If you learn DAX as a functional language, you
become better as a data professional. DAX is based on different nested filters
which magnificently improves the performance of data merging, modeling, and
filtering tables.
7. What is Power Pivot?
Power Pivot enables you to import millions of rows from heterogeneous sources
of data into a single excel sheet. It lets us create relationships between the
various tables, create columns, calculate using formulas, and create PivotCharts
and PivotTables.
At a time there can be only one active relationship between the tables which is
represented by a continuous line.
8. What is Power Query?
Power query is a function that filters transforms, and combines the data
extracted from various sources. It helps to import data from databases, files, etc
and append data
9. Difference between Power BI and Tableau?
The major differences between Power BI and Tableau are:
 While Power BI uses DAX for calculating columns of a table, Tableau uses
MDX (Multidimensional Expressions).
 Tableau is more efficient as it can handle a large chunk of data while
Power BI can handle only a limited amount.
 Tableau is more challenging to use than Power BI.
10. What is GetData in Power BI?
GetData offers data connectivity to various data sources. Connect data files on
your local system. The supported data sources are:
 File: Excel, Text/CSV, XML, PDF, JSON, Folder, SharePoint.
 Database: SQL Server database, Access database, Oracle database, SAP
HANA database, IBM, MySQL, Teradata, Impala, Amazon Redshift, Google
BigQuery, etc.
 Power BI: Power BI datasets, Power BI dataflows.
 Azure: Azure SQL, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Analysis Services,
Azure Data Lake, Azure Cosmos DB, etc.
 Online Services: Salesforce, Azure DevOps, Google Analytics, Adobe
Analytics, Dynamics 365, Facebook, GitHub, etc.
 Others: Python script, R script, Web, Spark, Hadoop File (HDFS), ODBC,
OLE DB, Active Directory, etc.
11. What are filters in Power BI?
Filters sort data based on the condition applied to it. Filters enable us to select
particular fields and extract information in a page/visualization/report level. For
example, filters can provide sales reports from the year 2019 for the Indian
region. Power BI can make changes based on the filters and create graphs or
visuals accordingly. Types of filters are:
 Page-level filters: These are applied on a particular page from various
pages available within a report.
 Visualization-level filters: These are applied to both data and
calculation conditions for particular visualizations.
 Report-level filters: These are applied to the entire report.
Power BI Interview Questions For Experienced
1. What are the various type of users who can use Power BI?
Anyone and everyone can use PowerBI to their advantage. But even then a
specific set of users are more likely to use it viz:
 Business Users: Business users are the ones who constantly keep an eye
on the reports to make important business decisions based on the
insights.
 Business Analysts: Analysts are the ones who create dashboards,
reports, and visual representations of data to study the dataset properly.
Studying data needs an analytical eye to capture important trends within
the reports.
 Developers: Developers are involved while creating custom visuals to
create Power BI, integrating Power BI with other applications, etc.
Professionals: They use Power BI to check the data scalability, security,
and availability of data.
2. What are the types of visualizations in Power BI?
Visualization is a graphical representation of data. We can use visualizations to
create reports and dashboards. The kinds of visualizations available in Power BI
are Bar charts, Column charts, Line chart, Area chart, Stacked area chart, Ribbon
chart, Waterfall chart, Scatter chart, Pie chart, Donut chart, Treemap chart, Map,
Funnel chart, Gauge chart, Cards, KPI, Slicer, Table, Matrix, R script visual, Python
visual, etc.
3. What do we understand by Power BI services?
Power BI provides services for its cloud-based business analytics. With these
services, you can view and share reports via the Power BI website. Power BI is a
web-based service for sharing reports. Power BI service can be best referred to
as PowerBI.com, PowerBI workspace, PowerBI site, or PowerBI portal.
4. What is the comprehensive working system of Power BI?
Power BI’s working system mainly comprises three steps:
 Data Integration: The first step is to extract and integrate the data from
heterogeneous data sources. After integration, the data is converted into a
standard format and stored in a common area called the staging area.
  Data Processing: Once the data is assembled and integrated, it requires
some cleaning up. Raw data is not so useful therefore, a few
transformation and cleaning operations are performed on the data to
remove redundant values, etc. After the data is transformed, it is stored in
data warehouses.
 Data Presentation: Now that the data is transformed and cleaned, it is
visually presented on the Power BI desktop as reports, dashboards, or
scorecards. These reports can be shared via mobile apps or web to various
business users.
5. What are custom visuals in Power BI?
Using Power BI visualizations, you can apply customized visualizations like
charts, KPIs, etc. from the rich library of PowerBI’s custom visuals. It refrains the
developers from creating it from scratch using JQuery or Javascript SDK. Once the
custom visual is ready, it is tested thoroughly. Post testing, they are packaged
in .pbiviz file format and shared within the organization.
Types of visuals available in Power BI are:
 Custom visual files.
 Organizational files.
 Marketplace files.
1. What are the benefits of self-service BI platforms like Power BI?
Self-service BI emphasizes the user rather than the developer. It enables the user
to find solutions and generate insights independently without waiting for another
dedicated department (like IT) to do it for them.
2. Do you know of other BI platforms? How does Power BI compare to
them?
Another top-rated BI platform is Tableau, which is an excellent alternative to
Power BI. However, one of the most significant advantages of using Power BI
over Tableau is that there is usually a much lower learning curve for Power BI.
This is especially true if the developer (or the user) is already familiar with
Microsoft Excel since Power BI uses many of the same elements as in Excel.
3. What are some of the disadvantages or risks that we should look out
for as we use Power BI?
One of the biggest disadvantages of using Power BI is that their cloud-based
solution (Power BI Service) is locked into the Microsoft ecosystem. Only those
with a Microsoft 365 account and Power BI PRO subscription can access reports
and dashboards. In addition, another disadvantage is that Power BI desktop only
works on Windows and cannot be installed on machines that run MacOS or Linux.
4. What are some use cases where Power BI can provide immediate
value to an organization?
Power BI is highly valuable for creating interactive dashboards and reports that
allow users to explore data and derive insights. It is often used for sales tracking,
financial reporting, customer satisfaction analysis, and inventory management.
By transforming raw data into visualizations, decision-makers can quickly identify
trends and make data-driven decisions.
5. How does Power BI integrate with other Microsoft products?
Power BI integrates with Microsoft products like Excel, Azure, SQL Server, and
SharePoint. Users can directly import Excel files, connect to Azure Synapse for
advanced analytics, and embed Power BI reports into Microsoft Teams or
SharePoint for better collaboration.
6. What are some key features that make Power BI a powerful BI tool?
Power BI provides features like AI-powered insights, real-time dashboards,
extensive data connectivity options, advanced data modeling with DAX, and
robust data visualization capabilities. Additionally, its cloud-based Power BI
Service enables easy sharing and collaboration.
Power BI Desktop & Power BI Service Interview Questions
7. What is Power Query, and what is it used for in Power BI?
Power Query is an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool within Power BI. It allows us
to import, clean, transform, merge, and modify data sets.
8. What are the different types of filters in Power BI reports?
Power BI reports can be filtered using slicer visuals or through the collapsable
filter pane on the right-hand side of Power BI. Slicer visuals are intuitive and easy
to use. The filter pane offers more complex filtering options, such as page-level,
report-level, and drillthrough filters. However, this can stay hidden from the user
and be preset and locked so that they persist for all users.
9. What's the difference between a report and a dashboard in Power BI?
Power BI reports are typically designed using Power BI desktop and are then
published to the Power BI service. On the other hand, dashboards are made up of
'tiles' from one or more reports in a single workspace. Dashboards allow us to
condense present insights from multiple reports in one place.
10. How can we refresh the data in a report published to Power BI
Service?
Data that is imported from an on-premise storage location can only be refreshed
from Power BI service through a gateway. This offers a secure way for cloud-
based reports to access locally-stored data.
11. How can you share a Power BI report with others in your
organization?
You can share a Power BI report with others by publishing it to the Power BI
Service. From there, you can share the report by sending direct links or
embedding the report in applications like Microsoft Teams or SharePoint.
Permissions can be managed to control who has access to view or edit the
report.
12. What is the difference between Power BI Free, Power BI Pro, and
Power BI Premium?
Power BI Free allows individual users to create reports and dashboards but lacks
sharing capabilities. Power BI Pro provides collaboration features like sharing and
publishing reports, while Power BI Premium is designed for enterprise-level
analytics, offering dedicated cloud capacity, larger storage, and AI capabilities.
13. How do Power BI Workspaces help in managing reports and
dashboards?
Power BI Workspaces enable teams to collaborate by organizing reports,
datasets, and dashboards in a centralized environment. They help manage
permissions, facilitate version control, and streamline the publishing process for
reports.
Understanding DAX Functions and Expressions
14. What is the difference between DAX functions, expressions, and
variables?
 DAX functions are pre-built definitions that allow you to perform
calculations on your data.
 DAX expressions are made up of one or more DAX functions.
 Variables store the results of a DAX expression for use within a particular
DAX expression.
15. What's the difference between a measure and a calculated column
in Power BI?
Measures and calculated columns both use DAX expressions. However, measures
perform an aggregation on the data and will return a value based on the filters in
the report. Calculated columns return the result of a DAX expression for each row
of a table. The result of a calculated column can be viewed just like any other
column in the Data and Model views.
16. Describe how you would use function X
The types of functions that are asked about in this question are unique for each
organization. However, you should have a good understanding of most of the
available DAX functions in Power BI.
17. What are circular dependencies? How can you avoid creating
circular dependencies in your DAX expressions?
Circular dependencies are created when two expressions reference each other,
and Power BI doesn't know which one to calculate first to determine the result.
Usually, circular dependencies occur when improperly using the CALCULATE
function.
18. Can you explain the use of the CALCULATE function in Power BI?
The CALCULATE function in DAX is used to modify the filter context for a
calculation. It evaluates an expression in a context that is modified by the filters
you specify. CALCULATE is powerful because it allows you to perform
aggregations based on specific conditions, making it essential for dynamic
reports.
19. How do you use the SUMX function in Power BI?
The SUMX function iterates over a table, evaluating an expression for each row
and then aggregating the results. It is useful when performing calculations that
depend on row context, such as calculating total revenue by multiplying the price
and quantity for each row.
TotalRevenue = SUMX(Sales, Sales[Quantity] * Sales[Price])
20. What is the difference between ALL and REMOVEFILTERS in DAX?
Both functions remove filters from a dataset, but ALL removes filters on specific
columns or tables, while REMOVEFILTERS removes filters from all columns in a
given table. ALL is often used in calculations like percent of the total,
whereas REMOVEFILTERS is used to clear filters dynamically.
21. Describe what a star schema is and how it works.
A star schema is made up of a central fact table and multiple dimension tables
branching off this fact table, giving the appearance of a star. A fact table is made
up of values that can be aggregated, as well as one or more keys that link to the
dimension tables.
22. What is cardinality?
Four cardinality choices exist: many-to-one, one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-
to-many. When creating relationships, it is recommended that the joining field
contains unique values in at least one of the tables. This allows you to use the
one-to-many or many-to-one options in your data model.
23. Explain the difference between single and bi-directional
relationships
The directionality of relationships is defined using the cross-filter direction option.
Relationships flow from the table with unique values to the table with many
values, affecting filtering. The single direction is recommended for most cases.
24. Describe a common issue with using many-to-many cardinality in a
relationship
Many-to-many relationships can become an issue if there are different levels of
granularity in the data. Power BI cannot infer greater levels of granularity if it
does not exist in one of the tables. This causes the results of calculations to get
duplicated according to the filter applied.
25. What is DirectQuery, and when should it be used?
DirectQuery is a method of connecting Power BI to a data source without
importing the data. Instead, queries are sent directly to the data source each
time the report is refreshed. DirectQuery should be used when working with large
datasets or when real-time data is required, but it can result in slower
performance compared to data imports.
26. What are Composite Models in Power BI, and why are they useful?
Composite Models allow users to combine DirectQuery and Import mode in a
single dataset. This feature is beneficial when working with large datasets,
enabling real-time updates via DirectQuery while maintaining performance with
pre-aggregated data using Import mode.
27. What is the role of Incremental Refresh in Power BI?
Incremental Refresh allows Power BI to update only the new or changed data
instead of refreshing the entire dataset. This improves performance and reduces
the load on data sources, making it ideal for large-scale reporting.
28. What's the difference between a standard and a personal gateway?
The personal gateway is linked to the user account that installed it. This means
that multiple users cannot share and configure the gateway. For example, if the
user left the organization and their user account was deleted, the gateway would
stop working. On the other hand, a standard gateway is not linked to any user
account and allows more centralized management of data sources. In addition,
the standard gateway supports other connection types, such as Direct Query.
29. What considerations should be made when choosing a machine to
install the gateway on?
The biggest factor affecting the performance of data gateways is the number of
concurrent users consuming the report. This is especially important to consider if
any reports use real-time data connections.
30. Can a gateway contain both import and direct query connections?
Yes. However, using separate gateways for import and direct query connections
is good practice. This is because direct query connections can place a lot of
strain on the machine that the gateway is installed on. To avoid delays or
potential issues as you scale the number of reports and the number of users for
those reports, it is best to use separate gateways.
31. What happens if a data gateway is offline when trying to refresh a
Power BI report?
If a data gateway is offline, the scheduled refresh for a report that uses on-
premise data will fail. Power BI will not be able to access the necessary data
source until the gateway is back online. To prevent issues, it's crucial to ensure
the gateway is always available or set up a redundant gateway cluster for high
availability.
32. We want to design a Power BI report on complaints and
compliments received through our customer services department.
However, this information is located within a folder of about 100 files.
How would you go about importing these files into Power BI?
You can select an entire folder as a data source in Power BI. Using the format
from a single file in the folder, you can import all files according to that same
format. However, it is essential to remember that every file should follow the
same format, or the imported data will make little sense.
33. We currently have a Power BI report that imports a large volume of
data from our warehouse. How would you optimize the performance of
a Power BI report for big data?
There are three basic things you can do to immediately improve the performance
of reports that use large volumes of data:
1. Turn off time intelligence - this is a feature of Power BI that automatically
creates date/time hierarchies every time a date field is added to a visual,
causing a bloated, slow Power BI report.
2. Only load the columns you actually need - if a column is not used in the
report, do not import (for example, ID fields).
3. Only load the rows you actually need - it is better to either filter out or
aggregate historical data.
34. How would you handle merging data from two different systems
with inconsistent data formats in Power BI?
In Power BI, I would use Power Query to clean and transform the data from both
systems. This could involve renaming columns, standardizing data types, and
merging or appending tables. Additionally, I would implement custom
transformations or conditional logic to reconcile differences in data structure,
ensuring a unified dataset for reporting.
35. You need to create a Power BI report for a finance team with strict
data access controls. How would you ensure data security?
I would implement Row-Level Security (RLS) to restrict data access based on user
roles. Additionally, I would configure workspace permissions and enforce data
governance policies to ensure only authorized users can view or modify reports.
 to optimal navigation in Power BI reports is to use bookmarks and buttons.
Additionally, good use of icons in the report can save space and make
navigation more intuitive.
Advanced Analytics & AI
These features of Power BI can significantly improve the speed and quality of
insights you generate from reports. You should be familiar with these as well as
any new features:
 What-if parameters in Power BI visuals
 Anomaly detection
 Key influencers visual
 Decomposition trees
 Smart narratives
 Context-specific insights
Power BI Interview Questions for Experienced Professionals
The final section of this blog post is reserved for experienced Power BI
professionals. When interviewing for very high-level Power BI jobs in an
organization, you will typically not get asked about any of the technical aspects
of Power BI. Instead, the interview will focus on your past experiences and
knowledge of report optimization, governance, and management. At this level,
you should be familiar with working with or leading Power BI teams, choosing the
best approach or solution for a business problem, and implementing it from
working with stakeholders on problem definition to deployment and maintaining
and improving those projects over time.
Discussing a Challenging Power BI Project
This will be unique to your own experiences. However, you can prepare for this
type of question by thinking about your previous projects with these guidelines:
 What was the business problem and associated solution using Power BI?
 What approach did you take when applying Power BI?
 What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address those
challenges?
Data Governance & Security
Data governance is a highly complex topic, generally reserved for experienced
Power BI professionals. You should know the regulations and policies that make
up a good governance strategy. This involves aspects such as:
 Policies around user permissions and access.
 Policies and decision guidelines around workspaces, gateways, sharing,
administration, privacy, data sources, etc.
 Policies for satisfying the conditions for any regulations in your industry
and/or country.
 Understanding and reducing the risk of data leakage.