Overview
Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence and data visualization platform. You connect to data, clean and shape it, model the relationships between tables, and build interactive reports and dashboards with charts, maps, and filters. Power BI is widely used in business because it works closely with Excel and other Microsoft products, and it is now part of Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft's analytics platform.
In this guide you will install the free Power BI Desktop app, then build a small interactive report from a sample data file.
Parts of Power BI
| Part | What it is | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Power BI Desktop | A Windows app for connecting to data and building reports. Reports are saved as .pbix files. This guide focuses on Desktop. | Free |
| Power BI service | The website (app.powerbi.com) for publishing, sharing, and viewing reports and dashboards. | Free account for personal use; paid licenses (Pro, Premium Per User, or Fabric capacity) for sharing with others |
| Power BI Mobile | Apps for viewing published reports on phones and tablets. | Free app |
| Power Query | The data-preparation tool inside Desktop for cleaning and shaping data. | Included |
| DAX | Data Analysis Expressions: the formula language for calculations (measures) in Power BI. | Included |
Requirements
- Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit). Power BI Desktop does not run on macOS or Linux.
- At least 4 GB of RAM (8 GB or more recommended for larger data).
- Internet access to download and update the app.
- Optional: a work or school Microsoft account to sign in and publish to the Power BI service.
Important Notes
- Mac users: run Power BI Desktop in a Windows virtual machine (for example, Parallels Desktop on Apple silicon), use a campus computer lab, or, if your school provides it, build and view reports in the Power BI service in a web browser.
- The Power BI service does not accept personal email addresses (such as Gmail or Outlook.com) for sign-up. Use your work or school address.
- Power BI Desktop is updated monthly, so your screens may look slightly different from this guide.
Power BI Desktop Installation Instructions
There are two ways to install Power BI Desktop. The Microsoft Store version is recommended because it updates itself automatically.
Installing Power BI Desktop
Use one of the two installation tabs, not both, then complete the First Launch tab.
The guide covers these major tasks:
- Install from the Microsoft Store, or
- Download and run the installer.
- Open Power BI Desktop.
- Close or complete the sign-in prompt.
Beginner Example: A Sales Report
You will load a small sales file, add a calculated measure, and build an interactive report with a chart, a total, and a filter.
Step 1: Create the data file
Open Notepad, paste the data below, and save it as sales.csv in your Documents folder. In the Save dialog, set Save as type to All files so Notepad doesn't add .txt.
Date,Region,Product,Units,Amount
2026-01-15,West,Laptop,3,3600
2026-01-20,East,Monitor,5,1250
2026-02-03,West,Monitor,2,500
2026-02-11,Central,Laptop,4,4800
2026-02-25,East,Keyboard,10,450
2026-03-02,Central,Keyboard,6,270
2026-03-14,West,Laptop,2,2400
2026-03-21,East,Laptop,1,1200
2026-04-05,Central,Monitor,3,750
2026-04-18,West,Keyboard,8,360Step 2: Load the data
- In Power BI Desktop, open a Blank report.
- On the Home ribbon, click Get data → Text/CSV.
- Select
sales.csvand click Open. - A preview appears. Check that the columns look right, then click Load. (Clicking Transform Data instead would open Power Query, where you could clean the data first.)
- The Data pane on the right now shows a table named sales with its five columns.
Step 3: Add a measure with DAX
- Right-click the sales table in the Data pane and choose New measure.
- In the formula bar, replace the text with:
Total Sales = SUM(sales[Amount]) - Press Enter. The measure appears in the table with a calculator icon.
Step 4: Build the report
- Column chart: click an empty area of the canvas. In the Visualizations pane, choose Clustered column chart. Drag Region to the X-axis and Total Sales to the Y-axis.
- Card: click an empty area, choose the Card visual, and drag Total Sales onto it. It shows 15.58K, the total of all sales.
- Slicer: click an empty area, choose the Slicer visual, and drag Product onto it.
- Resize and arrange the three visuals on the canvas.
Step 5: Interact and save
- Click Laptop in the slicer. The chart and card update to show only laptop sales.
- Click a column in the chart. The other visuals filter to that region.
- Choose File → Save and save the report as
SalesReport.pbix.
Next Steps
- Try more visuals, such as a line chart of Total Sales by Date.
- Open Transform Data to explore Power Query's cleaning tools.
- If you have a work or school account, use Home → Publish to publish your report to the Power BI service.
- Work through Microsoft's free Power BI training on Microsoft Learn.
- Compare Power BI with Tableau using the Tableau guide.
- Power BI Desktop is a free Windows app for building reports.
- The Microsoft Store version is recommended because it updates automatically.
- You don't need an account to build reports; publishing requires a work or school account.
- Reports combine data, measures written in DAX, and interactive visuals.