Power BI Cheat Sheet

Updated 2026-04-20

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Power BI is Microsoft's business intelligence platform for creating interactive data visualizations and reports from diverse data sources. It combines a desktop application (Power BI Desktop), a cloud service (Power BI Service), and mobile apps into an end-to-end analytics solution. Power BI uses DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) for calculations and Power Query M for data transformation, and now integrates deeply with Microsoft Fabric for lakehouse, real-time analytics, and AI-driven insights. The platform's strength lies in its ability to handle relationships between tables automatically while giving users control over filter context — understanding how context flows through relationships and DAX calculations is the key mental model that makes everything else click.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 21 focused tables and 289 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Data Import and ConnectionTable 2: Power Query M LanguageTable 3: Data Modeling ConceptsTable 4: DAX Aggregation FunctionsTable 5: DAX Filter and Context FunctionsTable 6: DAX Time IntelligenceTable 7: DAX Logical and Conditional FunctionsTable 8: DAX Text and Conversion FunctionsTable 9: DAX Table and Iterator FunctionsTable 10: DAX Relationship FunctionsTable 11: DAX Statistical and Mathematical FunctionsTable 12: DAX Window and Ranking FunctionsTable 13: Visual CalculationsTable 14: Visualization TypesTable 15: Report Interactivity FeaturesTable 16: Security and Access ControlTable 17: Performance OptimizationTable 18: Power BI Service FeaturesTable 19: Advanced DAX PatternsTable 20: Data Gateway and ConnectivityTable 21: Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

Table 1: Data Import and Connection

Method	Example	Description
Get Data	Home → Get Data → Excel	Primary method to connect to over 100 data sources including databases, files, cloud services, and web APIs.
Import Mode	Connection settings → Import mode	• Loads data into Power BI's in-memory engine for fastest performance • default mode for most scenarios.
DirectQuery	Connection settings → DirectQuery mode	• Queries data directly at the source without importing • ideal for large or frequently updated datasets.
Direct Lake	OneLake catalog → Connect → Direct Lake	• Reads Delta/Parquet files directly from OneLake without import or refresh • combines import-like speed with DirectQuery freshness (Fabric only).
Live Connection	Get Data → Analysis Services → Live	Connects to existing data models (SSAS, Power BI semantic models) without importing data or creating a new model.

Table 1: Data Import and Connection

Method	Example	Description
Get Data	Home → Get Data → Excel	Primary method to connect to over 100 data sources including databases, files, cloud services, and web APIs.
Import Mode	Connection settings → Import mode	• Loads data into Power BI's in-memory engine for fastest performance • default mode for most scenarios.
DirectQuery	Connection settings → DirectQuery mode	• Queries data directly at the source without importing • ideal for large or frequently updated datasets.
Direct Lake	OneLake catalog → Connect → Direct Lake	• Reads Delta/Parquet files directly from OneLake without import or refresh • combines import-like speed with DirectQuery freshness (Fabric only).
Live Connection	Get Data → Analysis Services → Live	Connects to existing data models (SSAS, Power BI semantic models) without importing data or creating a new model.