Power BI Glossary for Beginners: Key Terms You Must Know

Power BI is packed with unique terms and tools. Whether you’re exploring a dashboard, taking a Power BI course, or analyzing data for your team, understanding the language helps you work faster and smarter.

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Why Learning Power BI Terms Matters

Knowing the basics helps you:

• Follow tutorials and courses easily
• Communicate better with your team
• Understand how dashboards, reports, and datasets connect
• Build confidence to explore advanced features

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⚙️ Core Power BI Components

Power BI Desktop
The main Windows app used to connect, clean, model, and visualize data. Files are saved with the .pbix extension.

Power BI Service
A cloud platform for sharing dashboards and reports online or via mobile.

Workspace
A shared online area to store and manage reports, dashboards, and datasets.

App
A packaged collection of dashboards, reports, and data models for easy sharing across teams.

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📈 Data & Modelling Terms

Data Connector
Built-in connectors that pull data from Excel, SQL Server, APIs, and other sources.

Dataflow
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes in Power BI Service for preparing reusable datasets.

Data Model / Semantic Model
The structure that defines tables, relationships, and fields used for all visualizations.

Measure
A custom DAX formula used to calculate metrics like totals or averages.

Implicit Measure
A quick automatic calculation (sum, count, etc.) added without writing a formula.

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🎨 Reporting Terms

Report
A multi-page visual report created in Power BI Desktop and published online.

Dashboard
A single-page summary view that combines visuals from multiple reports.

Visual / Visualization
Charts, tables, or KPIs that display your data.

Tile
An individual visual pinned from a report to a dashboard.

Bookmark
A saved view of filters and visuals to make storytelling easier.

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🔄 Interaction Features

Filter vs Highlight

• Filter: Excludes unrelated data
• Highlight: Dims unselected points while keeping all data visible

Drill Down / Drill Up / Drill Through
Explore data hierarchy—see details (drill down) or summaries (drill up). Drill-through opens detailed pages.

Q&A
Ask natural-language questions like “show total sales by region” and get instant visual answers.

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🔧 Advanced & Admin Terms

Gateway (On-premises Data Gateway)
A secure connection that syncs cloud reports with on-premises data sources.

Row-Level Security (RLS)
Controls what data each user can see based on their role.

Capacity / Premium Capacity
Dedicated cloud computing power for faster performance and enterprise-scale sharing.

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🧮 DAX & Power Query Basics

Power Query
The ETL tool for transforming and loading data in Power BI or Excel.

DAX (Data Analysis Expressions)
The formula language used for creating advanced calculations and business logic in Power BI.

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🚀 Why These Terms Matter

Understanding Power BI terminology helps you:

• Navigate tools and dashboards efficiently
• Learn faster in Power BI courses
• Communicate clearly with colleagues and clients
• Solve data problems with confidence

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✅ Next Steps

• Bookmark this glossary for quick reference
• Look for these terms in your next Power BI project
• Learn one new concept each week—start with Power Query or DAX

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• Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Professional Certificate
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• Data Analysis with Python
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• Excel Skills for Business Specialization
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