Changing order of rows on bar chart

[ozziecrobar]

ave several PowerBI charts gauging sentiment amongst our stakeholders, but I can only sort them based on numbers responded. I want the order of the axis to run - Very Good - Good - Remained Same - Poor

How do I reformat / reorder the order of the rows on the bar chart?

[Jai-Rathinavel · Accepted solution]

Hi @ozziecrobar 

1. You can create a conditional column called "Review Sort" on the Power Query level to have the Sort order in place. 

2. Go to your Bar graph and sort it based on Review

3. Then go to Data View and Choose the review column and Click Sort By Column -> Review Sort

Thanks,

Jai Rathinavel | LinkedIn

[v-kpoloju-msft]

Hi @ozziecrobar,
Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum. Thank you @Nasif_Azam, @grazitti_sapna, @Bibiano_Geraldo, @Jai-Rathinavel, for your inputs on this issue.

After thoroughly reviewing the details you provided, I reproduced the scenario again, and it worked on my end. I used it as sample data and successfully implemented it.

Sort the Category Column by the Sort Column: Now tell Power BI to use this custom order:

• Select the Sentiment column in the Fields pane
• Go to the ribbon → click Column Tools
• Click "Sort by Column" → choose SortOrder

outcome:

I am also including .pbix file for your better understanding, please have a look into it:

If this post helps, then please give us ‘Kudos’ and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thank you for using Microsoft Community Forum.

[Nasif_Azam]

Hey @ozziecrobar ,
By default Power BI has 2 option to sort a visual and 1 customized option which are:
1. Sort By Number:

2. Sort By Alhapetical Order:

3. Custome Sorting: If you want to sort axis or rows or columns as your need, you have to create a DAX measure to sort things as a custome way. 

To reorder the bars on your Power BI bar chart (like in your image) to a custom order such as:

Very Good → Good → Remained the same → Poor

You need to create a custom sorting column and then use that for sorting. 

1. Go to Power BI Desktop → Data View.

2. Select your sentiment column, e.g., "SentimentRating" with values like: Very Good, Good, Remained the Same, Poor

3. Create a new column (e.g., "SortOrder") with a sort index:

SortOrder =
    SWITCH(
    [SentimentRating],
    "Very Good", 1,
    "Good", 2,
    "Remained the Same", 3,
    "Poor", 4,
    99 // Default if none match
)

4. Select the "SentimentRating" column in the Fields pane.
5. Go to the "Column tools" tab.
6. Click "Sort by Column" → Select "SortOrder".

7. Go back to your bar chart.
8. Use "SentimentRating" on the axis.

If you found this solution helpful, please consider accepting it and giving it a kudos (Like) it’s greatly appreciated and helps others find the solution more easily.

Best Regards,
Nasif Azam

[grazitti_sapna]

Hi @ozziecrobar 

1. Create a Custom Sort Column:

SentimentOrder =
  SWITCH(
    [Sentiment],
    "Very Good", 1,
    "Good", 2,
    "Remained the Same", 3,
    "Poor", 4,
    5
  )

2. Sort by the New Column:

Go to the Data view in Power BI
Click on your Sentiment column.
Then go to the ribbon and select:
Modeling > Sort by Column > SentimentOrder


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[Bibiano_Geraldo · Accepted solution]

Hi @ozziecrobar , assuming that the name of column in Y-Axis is Sentiment.

1- In Power Query Editor, go to "Add Column" > "Custom Column".

2- Name the new column something like SentimentOrder.

3- Paste the code bellow and click OK

if [Sentiment] = "Very Good" then 1
else if [Sentiment] = "Good" then 2
else if [Sentiment] = "Remained Same" then 3
else if [Sentiment] = "Poor" then 4
else 99

• The 99 is the default value that will be assigned if none of the specified cases match.

Important: Make sure that the created column as Whole Number as DataType.

Close and apply.

• Select the Sentiment column.
• Go to the "Column Tools" tab.
• Click "Sort by Column" and select SentimentOrder.

[ozziecrobar]

Thanks for this, you explained it very clearly and I customised your reponse to my parameters and it worked. Very happy! ( I just now have to apply this to about 20 different barcharts but at least once it is done, it is done!) . 
Am now ready to do more epxerimentation with DAX

[Jai-Rathinavel · Accepted solution]

Hi @ozziecrobar 

1. You can create a conditional column called "Review Sort" on the Power Query level to have the Sort order in place. 

2. Go to your Bar graph and sort it based on Review

3. Then go to Data View and Choose the review column and Click Sort By Column -> Review Sort

Thanks,

Jai Rathinavel | LinkedIn

[BhavinVyas3003]

Create a Sort Order column:

SortOrder =

SWITCH(

    'YourTable'[Sentiment],

    "Very Good", 1,

    "Good", 2,

    "Remained the Same", 3,

    "Poor", 4

)

Sort the Sentiment column by SortOrder:
In Data view → select Sentiment → click "Sort by Column" → choose SortOrder.

Use Sentiment in the chart – it will now follow your custom order.