Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Enhance your career with this limited time 50% discount on Fabric and Power BI exams. Ends August 31st. Request your voucher.

Reply
PavBid
Frequent Visitor

Uploading geographic contour shapefiles into PBI

Hello All,

 

Please share suggestions on uploading geographic contour shapefiles into PBI Desktop.  

I have downloaded a copy of the U.S. county shapefile (cb_2018_us_county_500k.zip) from here: Cartographic Boundary Files - Shapefile

 

Many Thanks,

Pavan

 

 

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hello @PavBid ,

 

To visualize your shapefile in Power BI using the Shape Map visual, follow these steps:

  1. First, convert your shapefile (.shp) into a TopoJSON file using a tool like MapShaper. Then, import the TopoJSON file into Power BI. When you do this, Power BI will open the file in Power Query Editor.
  2. In Power Query, locate the column named something like objects.cb_2018_us_county_500k.geometries. Click on the expand icon and choose to expand it into rows. This will create additional columns, including a properties column.
  3. Now expand the properties column to extract the attributes for each shape (e.g., county name, GEOID,CountyFP code, etc.). These attributes are what you’ll use to match your data.
  4. After expanding the necessary columns, click Close & Load to bring the data into Power BI.
  5. Configure the Shape Map visual
    • Add a Shape Map visual from the Visualizations pane.
    • In the Location field well, drag a field from the expanded properties table (e.g., NAME or GEOID) that matches your data.
    • Add a corresponding field (e.g., measure or count) to the Color saturation or Tooltips as needed.

You can refer to the screenshots and the attached Power BI file for guidance on how this setup should look.

 

vbmanikante_0-1746724098648.png

 

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

View solution in original post

13 REPLIES 13
v-bmanikante
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @PavBid ,

 

We wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided for the issue worked? or Let us know if you need any further assistance?

 

If our response addressed, please mark it as Accept as solution and click Yes if you found it helpful.

 

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

Hi @PavBid ,

 

May I ask if you have gotten this issue resolved?

 

If it is solved, please mark the helpful reply or share your solution and accept it as solution, it will be helpful for other members of the community who have similar problems as yours to solve it faster.

 

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

Hi @PavBid ,

 

May I ask if you have gotten this issue resolved?

 

If it is solved, please mark the helpful reply or share your solution and accept it as solution, it will be helpful for other members of the community who have similar problems as yours to solve it faster.

 

Please don't forget to give a "Kudos vbmanikante_0-1747313395688.png" – I’d truly appreciate it!

 

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

v-bmanikante
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @PavBid ,

 

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

@TomMartens Thank you for your quick response.

 

You can upload geographic contour shapefiles into Power BI Desktop, but there are a few important steps:

  1. Unzip the shapefile (.zip file you downloaded) — inside, you should see files like .shp, .shx, .dbf, etc.
  2. Use Shape Map visual in Power BI:
    • Enable the Shape Map visual in Power BI Desktop >Options and settings>options>Global> Preview Features and enable Shape Map Visual if it’s not already available).
    • Add a Shape Map visual to your report canvas.
    • Under the Shape section of the visual, you can upload a .topojson file. Power BI Shape Map only supports TopoJSON format, not shapefiles (.shp) directly.
  3. Convert the Shapefile to TopoJSON:
    • You need to convert your .shp file into a .topojson file first. There are free tools for this on the internet.Example: Map Shaper
  4. Upload the converted TopoJSON into your Shape Map in Power BI.
  5. Match your data fields:
    • Make sure the column in your data (like county name or FIPS code) matches the properties inside your TopoJSON file for correct mapping.

 

 

Please refer the below document:

Use Shape maps in Power BI Desktop (Preview) - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

 

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

 

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

Thanks BM Reddy.

I am able to load the topojson file in the shape map visual.  But not getting anything meaningful out of it.  

Not sure how to --- 

  1. Match your data fields:
    • Make sure the column in your data (like county name or FIPS code) matches the properties inside your TopoJSON file for correct mapping.
    • HOW DO I DETERMINE THE PROPERTIES INSIDE THE TOPOSJON FILE?  IN MY SOURCE DATA, I HAVE COUNTRY, STATE, CITY, STREET ADDRESS.
    • Thanks Again!
      Pav

Hello @PavBid ,

 

To visualize your shapefile in Power BI using the Shape Map visual, follow these steps:

  1. First, convert your shapefile (.shp) into a TopoJSON file using a tool like MapShaper. Then, import the TopoJSON file into Power BI. When you do this, Power BI will open the file in Power Query Editor.
  2. In Power Query, locate the column named something like objects.cb_2018_us_county_500k.geometries. Click on the expand icon and choose to expand it into rows. This will create additional columns, including a properties column.
  3. Now expand the properties column to extract the attributes for each shape (e.g., county name, GEOID,CountyFP code, etc.). These attributes are what you’ll use to match your data.
  4. After expanding the necessary columns, click Close & Load to bring the data into Power BI.
  5. Configure the Shape Map visual
    • Add a Shape Map visual from the Visualizations pane.
    • In the Location field well, drag a field from the expanded properties table (e.g., NAME or GEOID) that matches your data.
    • Add a corresponding field (e.g., measure or count) to the Color saturation or Tooltips as needed.

You can refer to the screenshots and the attached Power BI file for guidance on how this setup should look.

 

vbmanikante_0-1746724098648.png

 

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

Thank You BM Reddy.

Accepting as solution!

Pav

Thanks BM Reddy.

 

When you --- 

visualize your shapefile in Power BI using the Shape Map visual, follow these steps:

  1. First, convert your shapefile (.shp) into a TopoJSON file using a tool like MapShaper. Then, import the TopoJSON file into Power BI. When you do this, Power BI will open the file in Power Query Editor. --- Do you only use the .shp file or do you use the other files as well -- such as .shx, .cpg, .dbf, .prj ??? 
    Thanks!!

Hello @PavBid ,

 

Thank you for following up.

When uploading to Power BI, I only used the TopoJSON file that I exported from the MapShaper website.

To create that TopoJSON file, I followed these steps:

  1. I first unzipped the shapefile package (which included files like .shp, .shx, .dbf, .prj, etc.).
  2. Then, I uploaded the unzipped shapefile (the full set of files) to the MapShaper website.
  3. After uploading, I used MapShaper to export the file as a TopoJSON.
  4. Finally, I imported that TopoJSON file into Power BI using the Shape Map visual.

This method worked successfully, and the map displayed correctly in Power BI.

 

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

 

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

 

Thanks BM Reddy.

I have used Map Shaper to convert shp file into topojson file. 

I also have the Shape Map visual in my power bi report.

Not sure how to read the topojson file into the Shape Map visual for something meaningful.  

Will greatly appreciate some detail steps after that.

Thanks

Pav

PavBid_0-1746457436604.png

 

Hello @PavBid ,

 

While exporting the .shp file, instead of selecting TopoJSON, try exporting it as a .csv file. You can then use that CSV to feed data into the Shape Map visual. Please check and confirm if it works well with your requirement.

vbmanikante_0-1746514445449.png

 

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

Regards,

B Manikanteswara Reddy

 

TomMartens
Super User
Super User

Hey,

 

I recommend looking at Icon Map Pro.

Here you will find the demo page: https://iconmappro.com/

 

Regards,

Tom



Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution, this will help others!

Proud to be a Super User!
I accept Kudos 😉
Hamburg, Germany

Thanks TomMartens!
It seems like a very good visual but requires an ID for each location - which unfortunately I don't have.

 

I will welcome any other suggestions -- 

On uploading geographic contour shapefiles into PBI Desktop.  

I have downloaded a copy of the U.S. county shapefile (cb_2018_us_county_500k.zip) from here: Cartographic Boundary Files - Shapefile

 

Many Thanks,

Pavan

Helpful resources

Announcements
July 2025 community update carousel

Fabric Community Update - July 2025

Find out what's new and trending in the Fabric community.

July PBI25 Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - July 2025

Check out the July 2025 Power BI update to learn about new features.