Create page and bookmark navigators

APPLIES TO: Power BI Desktop Power BI service

By using built-in navigators in Power BI, you can build page and bookmark navigation experiences in a few steps. These navigators should save hours of effort building and managing your page or bookmark navigation experiences.

You can find this capability in Power BI Desktop or the Power BI service.

Video

Watch this video showing how to add page and bookmark navigators, and then try it yourself.

Create a page navigator

When you select Page navigator, Power BI automatically creates a page navigator for you:

The page navigator is automatically in sync with your report pages:

• The button labels match the page display names.
• The ordering of the buttons matches the order of your report pages.
• The selected button is for the current page.
• The navigator is updated automatically as you add or remove pages in your report.
• The button labels are updated automatically as you rename pages.

If you want to further customize the pages that appear in the page navigator or are hidden, go to the Format navigator pane. Under Pages, adjust the settings for showing hidden pages and tooltip pages:

Create a bookmark navigator

Before you can create a bookmark navigator, you need to create bookmarks. Also, create separate bookmark groups if you plan on creating different bookmark navigators within the same report.

After you create your bookmarks, create a bookmark navigator:

Power BI automatically creates a bookmark navigator for you:

The bookmark navigator is automatically in sync with your report bookmarks:

• The button labels match the bookmark display names.
• The ordering of the buttons matches the order of your report bookmarks.
• The selected button is for the last selected bookmark.
• The navigator is updated automatically as you add or remove bookmarks in your report.
• The button labels are updated automatically as you rename bookmarks.

If you want to further customize the bookmarks that appear in the bookmark navigator or are hidden, go to the Format navigator pane, and then go to the Bookmarks tab:

By default, all bookmarks are shown in the bookmark navigator. However, you can create and select a specific bookmark group to show only the bookmarks within that group.

You also can turn on the Allow deselection option. If you do, users can deselect all the buttons in the bookmark navigator. This option is useful for building a toggle-like experience or offering a deselected default state. To set up either of these types of experiences, first create a bookmark with the desired deselected state. Here's an example of a deselected state:

After you bookmark the deselected state, turn on Allow deselection. Under Launch on deselection, select the bookmark that you want to go to when no bookmark is selected in the navigator. In the following screenshot, that bookmark is named No filter. If you don't want the bookmark that you use for deselection to appear in the bookmark navigator, select Hide deselection bookmark.

Format navigators

Just like for other buttons, there are lots of formatting options for the navigators, including the following settings:

• Fill
• Text
• Outline
• Shape
• Shape shadow
• Shape glow
• Rotation

The navigators also include two more formatting options:

• Grid layout
• Selected state

Set the grid layout

You can use the Grid layout tab to select from the following options for the navigator orientation:

• Horizontal
• Vertical
• Grid

That tab also includes the option to change the Padding value between buttons in the navigator.

Format the selected state

You can customize the selected state of a navigator button. This option is useful for making the selected state of the button stand out from the default state. In the following example, the Fill and Text values are customized for the Selected state:

Set the page navigation destination conditionally

You can use conditional formatting to set the navigation destination, based on the output of a measure you create in Power BI Desktop. For example, you might want to save space on your report canvas by having a single button to navigate to the page that the user selects:

Create a table and a slicer

To create this navigation experience, start by creating a single-column table in Power BI Desktop that contains the names of the navigation destinations:

1. On the Home tab, select Enter data.

   The Create Table dialog opens.

2. In the Create Table dialog, enter the names of your pages in the column. Power BI uses an exact string match to set the drillthrough destination. So ensure that the values you enter exactly match your drillthrough page names.

   

3. After you create the table, add it to the page as a single-select slicer:

   

Add conditional formatting

To complete the experience, use conditional formatting to link a page-navigation button to the slicer:

1. Create a button by selecting Insert > Buttons > Blank. Use the Format button pane to add text to your button and to adjust its shape and fill.

2. Select the conditional formatting option for the destination by taking the following steps:

   1. Select the button from the previous step.
   2. Go to the Format button pane.
   3. Under Style, set Action to On.
   4. Expand Action.
   5. Under Type, select Page navigation.
   6. Under Destination, select the Conditional formatting (fx) icon.

   

3. On the Destination - Action page, under What field should we base this on?, select the name of the table column you created. In this case, it's Select a destination.

   

4. Select a page in the slicer, and then select the button. The selected page opens.

   

Accessibility guidance

To help ensure your approach of using the bookmark navigator meets accessibility requirements, follow these best practices:

• Name the bookmark buttons clearly and use alt text appropriately:
  • Use clear, descriptive labels for bookmark buttons so all users understand what content the buttons modify.
  • Use each Alt text field to provide an accessible name that makes it clear to users of screen readers what the button does.
  • Whenever possible, include the name of the data grid or its containing group. For example, if the bookmark button's label is Sales details, its alt text might be Show sales details data.
• Ensure logical focus order:
  • Position the bookmark buttons and the content they control so that users navigating by keyboard can move directly between them.
  • Avoid placing unrelated focusable elements, such as slicers, between the bookmark navigator and the content it adjusts. Omitting unrelated elements makes navigation smoother and helps users quickly associate each button with its corresponding data.
• Use meaningful names for data grids:
  • Give each data grid a clear name that reflects the currently active button.
  • Give the group that contains the grid a consistent name that covers all grid updates, such as Summary data or Detailed data.

Considerations and limitations

• If the bold, italic, and underline settings are turned on for the default state of a navigator button, you can't turn them off for the selected state.
• The bookmark navigator selected state isn't reflected in exports of the report.

Related content

For more information about features that are similar or interact with buttons, see the following articles:

• Create and configure buttons in Power BI reports
• Identify and use buttons in the Power BI service
• Drillthrough in Power BI reports: Navigate to detailed insights