Totals/sum/whatever instead of actual values?

[John_Doe3]

Greetings,

Question from a novice user:

Why does Power BI always use totals, sums etc? If I grab the same data in excel and say: "Build me a d^%$ chart, it will work straightaway and there are absolutely no issues. It sees a table, it plots the graph. But Power BI insists on raising my blood pressure instead. Is there an actual reason why Power BI does this? I'm now on page 7 of my search, and I still don't know how to fix this. I put everything to "dont summarize", but still it throws a fit and insists on showing cumulative totals where there should be simple individual values. 

Again, I can make this graph in Excel in under 5 seconds. In Power BI, we're now entering hour #2, and it still won't play ball.

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @John_Doe3 

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 and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[John_Doe3]

Hi v-karpurapud,

Apologies, it's crazy busy here at my place of employement, I forgot to mark it as solution to the issue. The provided solution worked for me. 

I really appreciate the help provided!

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @John_Doe3 

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.

[v-karpurapud · Accepted solution]

Hi @John_Doe3

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum. Also, thank you @OktayPamuk80 for responding on this topic.

Power BI is built on a semantic data model, designed for analyzing large datasets unlike Excel, which directly plots individual rows. As a result, numeric fields are automatically aggregated (e.g., sum, count) when added to visuals.

Even if a field is set to “Don’t summarize,” Power BI may still aggregate it based on how the visual is structured. Specifically, if the Axis field contains repeating values (such as Date or Category), Power BI will group by that field and aggregate the corresponding numeric values. It's also important to note that changing a field’s default summarization only applies to newly created visuals, not existing ones.

To avoid unwanted aggregation, use a Table visual to verify raw data, ensure your Axis field uniquely identifies each row (like a timestamp or ID), and if needed, use a DAX measure like

ShowRawValue = SELECTEDVALUE('Table'[Column_Name]) to force display of individual values only when exactly one exists in the current context.

This approach gives  more control over how data is visualized and ensures the results match your expectations.

If this response resolves your query, kindly mark it as Accepted Solution to help other community members. A Kudos is also appreciated if you found the response helpful.

Thank You!

[OktayPamuk80]

Hi John,

First, changing an field's default summarization, doesn't change the already existing charts' summarizations. It will more change the future ones. Therefore, it is advisable to set the metadata "format, datatype, default Summarization, folder" and validate the data before starting building the visuals.

Does this relate to you issue?

Regards,
Oktay