Power BI storytelling addin for ppt: issues for drillthrough filters

[Saja_Jansson1]

Hi Community!

I'm facing issues when embedding Power BI report pages in PowerPoint using the storytelling addin. The problems only occur for report pages the users reach via drill through filtering. 

Errors are shown as either:
- No data shown, and no error message: Visual elements like buttons and fixed text shown, but no underlying data loaded.

- Wrong data shown: right report page is shown, but with the wrong drill through filters applied.

I have checked the different ways to get a link to a report page in Power BI service, and noticed that the only way I see any unique identifier that I can tie to the drillthrough page (with right filters) is if I go via:

"Export" -> "PowerPoint"-> "Embed live data" + "Embed report with the data filters you selected" -> "Copy" (the link) , and add the link in the Storytelling addin in ppt. 

This path gives me a link containing a bookmark element "BookmarkUsage=" , that brings me to the right drillthrough report page with the right filters applied. The other paths to get links only contain url elements to the report page at best.

Questions:
- Is this the correct way to get the links for a drillthrough page for the PowerBI storytelling add in for Power Point, or is there a shorter path to get a functioning link for drill-through pages?
- IF this is the correct path to use, does anyone know where these autocreated guiBookmarks get stored, and what the risks are of them being cleared or corrupted? 
- IF this is the correct path, does anyone know how these guiBookmarks react where the App they direct to is updated, e.g new version of the same report is released? Will we need to redo all our ppt's and add new links at each report release? 

Thanks in advance for your help and input!

/Saja

[rohit1991 · Accepted solution]

Hii @Saja_Jansson1 

This is expected behavior: the Power BI Storytelling add-in for PowerPoint does not reliably support drillthrough context. Drillthrough relies on temporary, auto-generated GUI bookmarks (BookmarkUsage) to carry filter state, and these are not stable or guaranteed when embedding pages in PPT. Only links generated via “Embed live data >> Embed report with the data filters you selected” preserve the correct drillthrough filters. These bookmarks aren’t stored as report objects, can break if the report is updated or republished, and may require re-creating links. In short, drillthrough pages are not a supported or robust scenario for the Storytelling add-in today.

[Saja_Jansson1]

Thank you for the confirmation and good explanation Rohit!

I will see if I can find some other way to use the add-in that can give the desired output for the business users, or if we can switch way of working instead:)