Free Text Search Slicer in Power BI

[Caroline_92]

Hi,

I have a customer who really likes QlikView functionality because it´s easy to free text search for specific part of an item for example. In QlikView you can do it all in one slicer to free text search.

I am interested in exploring the possibilities for a text search slicer in Power BI. Specifically, I am looking for a solution that allows me to search for a part of an item’s name within a slicer. For example, if the slicer contains “Article” and I search for a specific part of the article names, I often get too many results to manually check and select each one. This process is time-consuming. Ideally, I would like to be able to select all the items that match my search criteria at once.

I have shown my customer how to use filter panel for more advanced searches, that I know can perform this task, but I am curious about other options? And I have also shown my customer the Text-Filter, a third-part tool, which allows for searching but does not display all available options. But are there any other alternatives for this? Any tips and tricks are very welcome?

[vojtechsima · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Caroline_92 ,

actually ,just today,  Microsoft released new version of PBI Desktop where there's a nice slicer, probably exactly as what you need.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7262000172975423488/

[anmolmalviya05 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Caroline_92, Microsoft is Set to release a new text slicer in the upcoming November update.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Caroline_92 

Thanks for the help form anmolmalviya05 and vojtechsima. As they said, the current November version of PBI desktop has been released, which includes the new Slicer feature (Text Slicer), you can check and download the new version to see if it meets your needs.

Power BI November 2024 Feature Summary | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI

Download link(November version): Download Microsoft Power BI Desktop from Official Microsoft Download Center

Best Regards,
Yang
Community Support Team

If there is any post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.
If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know. Thanks a lot!

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[anmolmalviya05 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Caroline_92, Microsoft is Set to release a new text slicer in the upcoming November update.

[vojtechsima · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Caroline_92 ,

actually ,just today,  Microsoft released new version of PBI Desktop where there's a nice slicer, probably exactly as what you need.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7262000172975423488/

[MtnDad]

Is there any way to return the Typed Text as a measure value?

[vojtechsima]

Hello, @Caroline_92 ,

EDIT:
You prolly want this native feature in slicer:

yeah, there's great tool in visual store:

[Caroline_92]

Yes, I have tested the Text Filter in Power BI and found it to work well,  it does its job. However, as mentioned, I would prefer if this functionality were built into a regular slicer. But is there a built-in function?

[vojtechsima]

@Caroline_92 did you check my initial EDIT?

[Caroline_92]

Yes, I see that but is it a regular slicer? 

[vojtechsima]

@Caroline_92  Yes, just click the 3 dots and select Search and you will enable this feature.

[Caroline_92]

Yeah, okay. I know that function works, but the problem is that if I search for something where I get many values, like maybe 40-50, then it's a troublesome to have to click in all of them to be able to select them all. It's not possible to mark them all there so it's a bit of a shame. It won't be as user-friendly.

[vojtechsima]

@Caroline_92  Understanable.

If your default choice is to click overwhelming amount of options in slicer, perhaps, some categories would be nice.

You can create something similar, like you would categorize the stuff by what you would normally type and use that for slicer. And then have another with specific options to further adjust it.

Something like 

value |category
ABC | A

AGD | A

BC | B

etc

[Caroline_92]

Thanks for your reply, I will look into the possibilities of maybe creating some categories based on what searches are made.

[vojtechsima]

All right, @Caroline_92 ,

if any of my answers helped you or alternatively made you solve the issue, please kudo and mark the answers as solutions. 
thanks