Matrix columns formatting

[Si_7777]

I have a matrix showing products on the left hand side and corresponding products bought with those items accross the columns.

There are multiple things I'd like to do but cant see how to in Power BI.

1.  Sort decending columns by value, Gloves would be fisrt then Jacket, Jersey etc

2. Formart columsn widths to be the same regardless of slicer change.

3 Formart column text to be alligned 90 degrees

These are all quite simple, easily achieved in Excel.

[v-priyankata]

Hi @Si_7777 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community.

@Msingh16 @Ritaf1983 @mh2587 Thanks for the inputs.

I hope the information provided by super users was helpful. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to the community.

[Msingh16 · Accepted solution]

I see what you’re trying to do. Let me go through your points one by one.

1. For sorting, the matrix in Power BI doesn’t let you sort the column headers by values. You can do this for rows but not for columns. The closest option is to either swap rows and columns so that you can sort by the measure, or reshape the data so it’s in a “left product / right product / count” format. That way you can sort it properly in a table or chart.
2. For column widths, you can fix them. Just select the matrix, open the format pane, turn off auto-size for column headers, and then adjust the widths manually. Once that’s done, they’ll stay the same even if you use slicers.
3. For rotating the column headers, the built-in matrix doesn’t support this. If you really need them vertical, you’ll have to use something like the Deneb custom visual or export it into Excel or Paginated Reports where rotated headers are possible.

Hope this clears it up.

If this post helps, please consider marking it as a solution so others can find it more easily.

Regards,

[Ritaf1983]

Hi @Si_7777 

Excel is cell-based, so formatting in tables is much more flexible than in Power BI.
In Power BI the Matrix has predefined behavior, just like any other visual, so it works differently.

1. You can’t sort a Matrix columns order  by value columns .

You can define the column order in advance by adding a sort column in the data model, but this is static — slicers and filters won’t change it.

Column width can be forced with a few workarounds, for example here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZtuifazEHk

Rotating column header text is simply not possible.

If you work heavily with matrices, it’s worth checking Zebra BI or Inforiver visuals. They are paid, but give much more flexibility because they are built specifically for advanced matrix scenarios.

More information about these features by the links:
https://inforiver.com/reporting-matrix/

https://zebrabi.com/power-bi-custom-visuals/tables/

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly

[mh2587]

1.Sorting columns  → Create Custom Sort column and then Sort it the column with this.
2.Fixed column width → turn off Auto-size column width in format tab.
3.Rotate text 90° → use Text rotation in column headers in format tab.