Cross-Report Drillthrough Button: Is it fully supported, and why isn't the destination showing?

[B_Akira]

Hello everyone,

I'm working on setting up a reporting system that spans across two different Power BI reports (Report A and Report B) within the same workspace. I have a question regarding the setup of Cross-Report Drillthrough using buttons.

### My Current Understanding:

1. **Page Drillthrough (within same report):** Can be successfully set up and used with a Button Action.
2. **Cross-Report Drillthrough (between different reports):** Is successfully executed by **right-clicking** a visual element (standard method).

### The Core Problem:

I am trying to configure a **Button Action** to trigger the Cross-Report Drillthrough from Report A to Report B.

In the Power BI Service **Edit Mode** for Report A, when I go to the Button's Action settings:
* Action Type is set to **"Drillthrough"**.
* The **"Destination"** dropdown only shows "None" and pages within Report A. **Report B's pages are not listed.**

### My Questions:

1. **Is Button-based Cross-Report Drillthrough fully supported** as a standard feature in Power BI Service? Or is this action limited only to the right-click context menu?
2. If it *is* supported, is the setup done entirely in **Power BI Service Edit Mode**, or is there a step I'm missing in Power BI Desktop for the source report?
3. If the Destination is not showing, what are the *most common reasons* for the button failing to recognize the target report, especially when the right-click method is working? (I have already confirmed field name/type match and checked the target report's drillthrough settings.)

Any insights or troubleshooting steps would be highly appreciated! Thank you.

[v-pgoloju · Accepted solution]

Hi @B_Akira,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community, and special thanks to @ibarrau  for prompt and helpful response.

Currently, Power BI does not support cross report drill through using buttons it only works when users right click a visual and select the drill through option. That’s why, when you set up a button with a drill through action, the destination dropdown only shows pages from the same report, not from another report in the workspace. This is a product limitation, not a configuration mistake. As a workaround, you can use a Web URL button to open the target report while passing filter values through query parameters, or consider placing both drill through pages within the same report to enable button based navigation.

1). To set up a page drillthrough within the same report, first create a new page and add the field you want to drill through  into the Drillthrough section of the Filters pane. This makes the page a drillthrough target. Then design the page with visuals that show detailed information for the selected item, and add a Back button so users can easily return to the previous page. Finally, go to another page with a visual containing the same field, right-click a data point, and choose Drillthrough to navigate to your detailed page filtered for that
specific record.

2). You can set up a button to perform a drillthrough within the same report by turning on the button’s Action setting, selecting Type = Drillthrough, and choosing the desired destination page from the dropdown list(visualizations pane --> format report settings). Only pages within the same report will appear. This allows users to click the button to view detailed information related to their current selection without using the right-click menu.

Thanks & Regards,

Prasanna Kumar

[ibarrau]

Hi. You should be able to configure it. Maybe you are missing something. Can you please take a look to the 5 steps recommended to make it work in here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-drillthrough#enable-cross-report-d...

The link also contains most common problems after those steps. Check the troubleshooting too.

I hope that helps,

[B_Akira]

Hi ibarrau,

Thank you very much for your quick response and for providing the link to the official documentation. I appreciate your help!

I have carefully reviewed that Microsoft Learn page. While the document is very helpful, it seems to primarily cover three points which I am already familiar with:

1. How to set up **Page Drillthrough** (within the same report).
2. How to assign **Page Drillthrough** (within the same report) to a **Button Action**.
3. How to enable **Cross-Report Drillthrough** (using the right-click menu).

My core question remains: **Does the standard Power BI Button Action support Cross-Report Drillthrough (to a different report)**?

I have attempted the standard button setup, treating the cross-report destination similarly to a page-level destination. However, when setting the Button Action to "Drillthrough," the **"Destination" dropdown only lists the pages within the current report**, and not the target pages from the other report in the same workspace. This behavior suggests that button-based cross-report drillthrough might not be supported, or that I am missing a specific prerequisite.

Could you please confirm if there is a **separate, explicit procedure** for linking the Button Action to another report, or if this capability is only supported via the right-click context menu?

Thank you again for looking into this for me.

[ibarrau]

Hi. If a drillthrough button doesn't navigate to the target page, follow these suggestions:
1- Verify that the button’s Action is set to Drillthrough.
2- Verify that the Drillthrough target is correctly selected.
3- Make sure the report is published and the button isn't disabled due to missing filter context.
Even though there is no doc specifying it. v-pgoloju says you can't use button navigation for cross drillthroughs.

REgards