Replacing date slicer with text slicer

[wonka1234240]

Hi all,

Say i have a column named [date]. It has months of the year and is date format. Ie March 2025

And I have another column named [date_text]. It has months of the year + the word final. Text format. Ie march 2025 - final.

Will these two slicers act the same?

Alot of my visuals use [date] column for things like top 1 latest date or top 3 latest date. I need to use date column as it allows top 1 latest, etc.

Is there a way to ensure my [date_text] slicer would act the same way as my [date] slicer would? Somehow linking them? I plan on removing my [date] slicer and just using [date_text]. Im also open to somehow syncing my [date_text] to [date] if possible and hiding [date]. 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @wonka1234240,

Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.

You're right that visuals like "Top 1 latest date" or "Top 3 latest dates" depend on the actual [date] column because it’s in a proper date format. This allows Power BI to sort, filter, and evaluate time-based logic correctly.

Now, when you use [date_text] (which contains values like "March 2025 - final"), Power BI sees it as a regular text string, not a date. So while it may look the same to the user, it won’t behave the same under the hood especially for visuals or slicers that rely on chronological logic. You also lose out on features like the Before/After/Between slicer options as mentioned by @Cookistador.

If you’d still like to show [date_text] in slicers for a cleaner or more user-friendly label, you could try this approach:

* Create a separate Date table (if you’re not using one already), with one column as the actual date (e.g., March 1,

   2025), and another column as your custom label (e.g., "March 2025 - final").

* Link your fact table’s [date] column to the Date table’s [date] column.

* Use [date_text] from the Date table in your slicer, while still keeping the real [date] for calculations and visuals.

This way, you get a friendly slicer label and proper date logic behind the scenes.

I would also take a moment to thank @Cookistador, for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference.

If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know.  

Best Regards,
Hammad.
Community Support Team

If this post helps then please mark it as a solution, so that other members find it more quickly.

Thank you.

[wonka1234240]

@v-mdharahman thanks. But how do I link?

"Link your fact table’s [date] column to the Date table’s [date] column."

[v-mdharahman · Accepted solution]

Hi @wonka1234240,

To link the tables, you’ll have to create a relationship between your fact table and your Date table using the [date] column. Here’s how you can do it. First go to Model view in Power BI (the icon that looks like a diagram on the left pane) and make sure your Date table has a column with actual date values (not text). Now drag the [date] column from your fact table onto the [date] column in your Date table, this will create a relationship. Make sure the relationship is one-to-many (Date table to fact table), and that the cardinality and cross-filter direction are set appropriately (usually single direction from Date to fact table).

Once this is done use [date_text] from the Date table in your slicers this gives your users the readable label. Use [date] from the fact table in your visuals and measures, this keeps your sorting and Top N logic working correctly.

If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know.  

Best Regards,
Hammad.
Community Support Team.

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @wonka1234240,

As we haven’t heard back from you, so just following up to our previous message. I'd like to confirm if you've successfully resolved this issue or if you need further help.

If yes, you are welcome to share your workaround and mark it as a solution so that other users can benefit as well. If you find a reply particularly helpful to you, you can also mark it as a solution.

If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are more than happy to continue to help you.
Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @wonka1234240,

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. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution so that other community members can find it easily.

Thank you.

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @wonka1234240,

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[Cookistador]

It will work the same but as it will be a text value and not a date, you will lost all slicering realted to date like: Between, before, after,....

But you can make a test

Add two slicers on your visual, one with date and the other with date_Text

Select a date, look the result, unselect the date, select the same date but in date_Text, you should get the same result

If it is not, it means that your data are not the same, so to simplify in a table you should get something like

Date               Date Text
April 2025      March 2025 final