How to Add Symbol in Power BI

Adding a simple arrow, checkmark, or warning sign to your Power BI reports turns a wall of numbers into a clear, scannable story. Using symbols to indicate performance is one of the easiest ways to make your data more intuitive for your audience. This guide will walk you through a few different methods for adding symbols in Power BI, from simple DAX functions to built-in conditional formatting.

Why Use Symbols in Your Power BI Reports?

Dashboards are all about providing insights quickly. When a stakeholder glances at a report, they should be able to grasp the key takeaways in seconds. Plain numbers don't always achieve this, but symbols do. Here’s why they’re so effective:

• Instant Context: A green up-arrow next to a sales number immediately communicates positive growth, while a red down-arrow signals a decline. This is much faster to process than reading the number and comparing it to a previous period.
• Saves Space: A single colored dot can convey "on track," "at risk," or "behind schedule" without needing bulky text labels on a crowded dashboard.
• Draws Attention: Symbols act as visual cues, directing your audience’s attention to the most important metrics, whether they show success or areas that need immediate action.
• Improves Readability: In busy tables and matrices, symbols break up the monotony of raw numbers and make the data less intimidating and easier to skim through.

Method 1: The DAX UNICHAR Function (Most Flexible)

The most powerful and versatile way to add symbols in Power BI is by using the DAX UNICHAR function. This function returns the Unicode character that corresponds to a specific number code. With tens of thousands of characters available - from arrows and geometric shapes to emojis - you have nearly limitless options.

Step 1: Find the Unicode for Your Symbol

First, you need to find the code for the symbol you want to use. Websites like unicode-table.com are fantastic resources. Search for a symbol, and you’ll find its decimal code (make sure you use the decimal code, not the hex code).

Here are a few popular ones to get you started:

• ▲ - Up Triangle: UNICHAR(9650)
• ▼ - Down Triangle: UNICHAR(9660)
• ● - Filled Circle: UNICHAR(9679)
• → - Right Arrow: UNICHAR(8594)
• ✔ - Checkmark: UNICHAR(10004)
• ❌ - Cross Mark: UNICHAR(10060)
• ❗ - Red Exclamation Point: UNICHAR(10071)

Step 2: Create a Conditional DAX Measure

The real power comes from creating a DAX measure that displays a different symbol based on your data’s value. This is typically done with an IF or a SWITCH statement. Let’s create a common business example: displaying an up or down arrow based on month-over-month (MoM) user traffic.

First, imagine you already have a measure calculating your traffic change, called [Traffic MoM %]. Now, create a new measure with the following DAX formula:

Traffic Trend Symbol = 
IF(
    [Traffic MoM %] > 0, 
    UNICHAR(9650),  // Up triangle for positive growth
    UNICHAR(9660)   // Down triangle for negative growth
)

For more complex logic, like a "traffic light" system, a SWITCH statement is often cleaner:

KPI Status Symbol = 
SWITCH(
    TRUE(),
    [Profit Margin] >= 0.25, UNICHAR(9679),  // Green circle for >25% margin (we'll color it later)
    [Profit Margin] > 0.10, UNICHAR(9679),   // Yellow circle for 10-25% margin
    UNICHAR(9679)                            // Red circle for <10% margin
)

Step 3: Combine Your Symbol with the Metric

Displaying the symbol by itself isn't very useful, you need to combine it with the value it represents. You can do this by creating a third measure that concatenates (joins) the symbol and the formatted metric using the ampersand (&) operator.

It's crucial to also use the FORMAT function to ensure your number (especially percentages and currency) displays correctly. Without FORMAT, a number like 25.5% might show up as 0.255000001.

Here’s how to create the final display measure for our traffic example:

MoM Traffic with Symbol = 
[Traffic Trend Symbol] & " " & FORMAT([Traffic MoM %], "0.0%")

The " " adds a space between the symbol and the number, which is essential for readability. Now you can drop this measure into a Card visual or a Table for a clean, intuitive KPI.

Step 4: Adding Conditional Color

A black triangle is good, but a colored triangle is even better. To add color to your symbol, first create a new measure that defines the color based on the metric's value.

MoM Traffic Color = 
IF(
    [Traffic MoM %] > 0, 
    "#12A451",  // Green for positive
    "#E1153A"   // Red for negative
)

Now, select the visual displaying your KPI (e.g., the Card visual). Go to the "Format your visual" pane, find the visual element you want to color (for a Card, this is under Callout value > Color), and click the little "fx" button next to it.

1. In the new window, select "Field value" for the Format style.
2. Under "What field should we base this on?," select your color measure (MoM Traffic Color).
3. Click "OK."

Your symbol and text will now dynamically change color along with their value. This combination of UNICHAR and conditional color formatting is a simple way to build professional-looking visuals.

Method 2: Built-in Conditional Formatting with Icons

For tables and matrices, Power BI has a built-in icon feature via conditional formatting that requires no DAX. This is quicker to set up but offers less control over the specific icons and logic.

How to Set it Up:

1. Select your Table or Matrix visual.
2. In the Visualizations pane, right-click the field you want to format in the "Values" well (e.g., Sales Variance), and select Conditional formatting -> Icons.
3. This opens the icon configuration dialogue. From here, you can define rules to display different icons.
4. In the Format style dropdown, leave it as "Rules".
5. Under Apply to, make sure it’s set to "Values only."
6. In the rules section, you can configure your logic. For instance:
7. Click "OK." The icons will now appear next to the values in your table column.

This method is fantastic for a quick implementation inside a table but has its limits. The icon set is fixed, and you can't use these icons in Card visuals or other visual types. For maximum flexibility and custom symbols, DAX with UNICHAR is still the go-to method.

Method 3: Dynamic SVG Images in Measures (Advanced)

For complete creative freedom, you can use DAX to generate dynamic SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) images. This allows you to create custom shapes, bars, or symbols that change color, size, or even structure based on your data. This is an advanced technique, but it's incredibly powerful.

The basic idea is to write a DAX measure that outputs SVG code as a text string. You then set the data category of that measure to "Image URL." Power BI will render the code as an image.

Let's create a simple filled circle that changes color based on performance, just like our earlier "traffic light" example.

Step 1: Write the DAX measure to generate the SVG code.

KPI Status SVG = 
// Define VAR to hold the color based on logic
VAR CircleColor =
    SWITCH(
        TRUE(),
        [Profit Margin] >= 0.25, "green",
        [Profit Margin] > 0.10, "gold",
        "red"
    )

// Construct the SVG string using the variable
RETURN
    "data:image/svg+xml,utf8," &
    "&lt,svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 100 100'&gt," &
    "&lt,circle cx='50' cy='50' r='45' fill='" & CircleColor & "' /&gt," &
    "&lt,/svg&gt,"

Step 2: Change the measure’s Data Category.

With the measure selected, go to the Measure tools section in the ribbon at the top of the Power BI window. In the Properties section, click the Data category dropdown and select Image URL.

Now you can add this measure to a table or a slicer, and it will render as a little green, gold, or red circle depending on your profit margin. This opens up a world of possibilities for creating custom, data-driven visuals directly within Power BI.

Final Thoughts

Transforming complex numbers into simple, clear symbols and indicators makes your Power BI reports more effective and engaging. Whether you use a straightforward UNICHAR function in DAX, the built-in conditional icons, or dive into dynamic SVGs, these techniques help you communicate your data's story instantly.

Even with powerful visual tricks, building custom dashboards across different data sources in Power BI still involves a significant amount of manual setup, from managing data connections to writing DAX for every KPI. That's why we created Graphed. We connect directly to your marketing and sales platforms like Google Analytics, Shopify, and Salesforce and let you automatically generate dashboards using simple, natural language. It removes the friction of manual report building so you can focus on the insights, not the setup.