As a new PowerBI user: filtering & multi language setup

[Matthias_Coene]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to PowerBI. Always worked in Oracle BI. 
Currently, my biggest frustration is with the limited filtering capabilities in PowerBI. All our dashboarding was done in following fashion: 
- Build a dashboard that contains data for all years, but focus on current year
- Build a dashboard that contains all regions, but focus on your own region
- Build a dashboard that contains all people, but focus on yourself

You get the drift...

In Oracle BI, you create filters by defining the "filter range" and you can give a start value for the filter if you want. This value can be the value of another column (or formula), based on a variable (coming in through integration or created as a session variable), SQL syntax, ... 
But in PowerBI you are very limited to the values you can assign to a filter, both for "range" as "default starting value" it seems? 

I read the solutions with creating a "label" and filtering on the label (e.g. "Current Year" replaces 2025 in the selection) but this gives issues with multi language setup and reverting back to the default filter value in case that's necessary. We are struggling to find a solution with bookmarks etc, that give users a decent experience in the dashboard

Is there any room for better dynamic filtering possibilities in PowerBI? 
Or do we have to rethink all the dashboards we created in OracleBI? 😅

[rohit1991]

hI @Matthias_Coene ,

1. Dynamic Default Filters: Use Relative Date slicers for “current year” or “current month”—these update automatically. To give users a “reset to default” experience, set up a bookmark with your preferred filters and link it to a button. For things like “my region,” add a calculated column (e.g., IsMyRegion) and use that as a slicer or default filter.

2. Multi-Language Reports: Build a simple translation table with keys and columns for each language. Add a language slicer, then use a DAX measure to swap labels/titles based on the user’s pick.  For multilingual data, filter or display the correct language column using your slicer.

3. User-Focused Filtering: You can filter visuals to show only data for the logged-in user using:[Email] = USERPRINCIPALNAME()

[Matthias_Coene]

1. Relative data slicers is something we can check out
2. Multi-language setup is working, just not with our "string labeled" Current Year that needs to be translated, when we are using bookmarks 

3. Will the user still be able to go to other user data in the same report?

[v-sshirivolu]

Hi @Matthias_Coene ,
Thank you for reching out to Microsot Fabric Community Forum.

Here are some solutions for dynamic filtering and setting up multi-language support in Power BI:

Dynamic Filtering with DAX Measures:

Create DAX measures that filter data based on user selections, such as the current year or a selected year. For example:

CurrentYearData = 
IF(
    YEAR(TODAY()) = YEAR(YourDateColumn),
    YourMeasure,
    BLANK()
)

This approach lets you apply filters at the measure level, similar to Oracle BI labels.
Parameters for Default Filter Values:

Use Power BI parameters (like "Year" or "Region") to allow dynamic filtering in slicers or measures. Create a new parameter from the Modeling tab and reference it as needed.

Multi-language Setup:

Power BI supports translated labels through the "Properties" pane in the "Model" view. You can also use DAX and a language table to enable dynamic language switching based on user input.

Bookmarks for Dynamic Views:

Set up bookmarks for different filter scenarios, such as "Current Year" or "Previous Year." Users can switch between these views using buttons or slicers.

Custom Visuals:

Explore custom visuals from the Power BI marketplace for advanced filtering and enhanced control over default values.

With DAX, parameters, bookmarks, and localization features, you can replicate dynamic filtering and multi-language experiences in Power BI, similar to what you had in Oracle BI.

Thank you.

[Matthias_Coene]

Hi

Bookmarks for dynamic views: 
We can create a bookmark for "Current Year". But we have "Huidig Jaar" and other translations for current year, depending on which language the user is using. The user also has to land on the bookmark in his own language when he opens the dashboard: we can't get that to work
Resetting the filter back to default is an extra challenge that prohibits this setup to work

Dynamic Filtering with dax measures:  it seems this can only be used to clear measures, but not to remove complete records from your report. It's not enough that I cannot see how many of a certain activity was performed, I don't want to see any activities that were performed in the selected year. 

Custom visuals: we haven't found any solving our need

Multi-language setup: we have a working setup, integrated in our enterprise translation solution, that PBI is using. But a bookmark is language dependant I think, so you need a separate bookmark for each language?

[v-sshirivolu · Accepted solution]

Hi @Matthias_Coene ,

Language-Aware Bookmarks

That's right, bookmarks stay the same and won’t update with language changes. Instead of separate bookmarks, try using buttons and a language slicer for similar results.

workaround:
Create a Language table with options like "en", "nl", etc..
Add a slicer connected to this Language table, define a dynamic label using DAX. Replace bookmarks with navigation buttons. The text and visuals will update automatically based on the selected language through dynamic labels.

PeriodLabel = 
SWITCH(
  SELECTEDVALUE(LanguageTable[Lang]),
  "en", "Current Year",
  "nl", "Huidig Jaar",
  "fr", "Année en cours",
  "Current Year" // default
)

Resetting Filters to Default

Power BI doesn’t natively support slicer default resets, especially for different languages. Two options: use hidden duplicate pages with default filters and a "Reset" button, or set up a bookmark with disconnected tables and logic-based visuals.

Removing Records Instead of Blanking Measures

To fully exclude rows, apply a visual-level or model-level filter:

Option 1: Calculated column
ShowRecord = IF('Date'[Year] = YEAR(TODAY()), TRUE, FALSE)

Then, filter your visuals to display only where ShowRecord is TRUE.

Option 2: Calculated table
FilteredActivities =
CALCULATETABLE(
Activities,
Activities[Year] = YEAR(TODAY())
)

This approach removes unwanted rows at the dataset level.

Thank you 

[v-sshirivolu]

Hi @Matthias_Coene ,

I hope the information provided above assists you in resolving the issue. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to support you and will be happy to help with any further assistance you may need.

[v-sshirivolu]

Hi @Matthias_Coene ,

I hope the above details help you fix the issue. If you still have any questions or need more help, feel free to reach out. We’re always here to support you

[v-sshirivolu]

Hi @Matthias_Coene ,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

[Rupak_bi]

Hi @Matthias_Coene ,

Power BI is well capable managing dynamic filtering. Please share specific issue you are facing so that we can work on that. A sample dataset and and a pic of expected result will help us to understand better.