How to Clear All Selections in Power BI

Building a Power BI report is one thing, building a report people can easily use is another. Once you’ve loaded your data and designed your visuals, adding interactive features like filters and slicers makes your dashboard truly powerful. But what happens when a user clicks on six different slicers and two bar charts and wants to start over? They need an easy way to reset everything. This article will show you exactly how to create a "Clear All Selections" button in Power BI using two different methods.

Why a 'Clear All Selections’ Button is a Must-Have

Imagine handing over a complex sales report. Your team members start exploring, filtering by region, then by salesperson, then by product category, and finally by a specific date range. Soon, the data is so filtered down it’s hard to remember what the original view was. Without a quick reset option, they have to manually unclick every single filter to get back to the default state. It's tedious and unintuitive.

A ‘Clear All Selections’ or ‘Reset Filters’ button solves this problem instantly. With a single click, it returns all your slicers and filters to their default state, providing a clean slate for new analysis. This is a small feature that dramatically improves the user experience, making your reports feel less clunky and more professional.

Method 1: Using Bookmarks for Total Control

The classic way to create a reset button in Power BI is by using bookmarks. A bookmark captures the state of a report page, including its filters, slicers, and even the visibility of objects. By creating a bookmark of your report's default, unfiltered state, you can create a button that instantly returns the user to that state. This method gives you maximum control because it resets not only slicers but also any cross-filtering that happens when you click on elements within your charts.

Here’s how to set it up, step-by-step.

Step 1: Prepare Your Report's Default View

First, get your report page exactly how you want it to look when it's reset. This means deselecting any items in your slicers so they show all data. If you've been clicking around on charts, make sure nothing is cross-filtered. This default, unfiltered state is what your bookmark will save and what the button will return the user to.

Step 2: Create the Bookmark

With your report in its default state, you need to open the Bookmarks pane.

1. Navigate to the View tab in the Power BI ribbon.
2. Check the box next to Bookmarks. This will open the Bookmarks pane on the right side of your screen.
3. Click the Add button inside the Bookmarks pane. A new bookmark will appear with a default name like "Bookmark 1."

It’s essential to rename this bookmark immediately for clarity. Double-click the name and change it to something intuitive, like “Clear All Selections” or “Reset View.”

Step 3: Configure Your Bookmark's Settings

Simply creating the bookmark isn't enough, you need to tell it what properties to save. Hover over your newly named bookmark, click the three-dot menu (...) and look at the options at the top. The most important one for this is Data.

• Data: This must be checked. This option saves the filter and slicer state of the page. When you want to reset filters, this is the property you want the bookmark to control.
• Display: This saves the current view, such as which visuals are visible or "in focus." If you aren't hiding/showing visuals, you can leave this unchecked to keep things simple, but it's generally safe to leave it checked.
• Current Page: This option makes the bookmark navigate the user back to the page it was created on. You'll want to leave this checked.
• All visuals / Selected visuals: For a global page reset, make sure All visuals is selected. This ensures the bookmark applies its saved state to every visual on the page.

Crucially, after making any adjustments, click the three-dot menu again and press Update to save these settings to your bookmark.

Step 4: Add a Button to Your Report Canvas

Now, you need a clickable object for users to interact with. Power BI has built-in buttons perfect for this.

1. Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.
2. Click on Buttons. You'll see several options. The Blank button is a flexible choice, or you can use an icon like Reset which is visually intuitive.
3. A button will appear on your report. Drag it to a convenient and consistent location, like the top-right corner of your report header. No users like to chase buttons from page to page.

You can customize the button’s appearance in the Format pane. Add text like "Clear All," change its color for hover action, and adjust its appearance — whatever best fits your report's visual aesthetic — your users will thank you.

Step 5: Link the Bookmark to the Button

This is the final step that makes the magic happen. With your new button selected:

1. Go to the Format pane.
2. Toggle the Action setting to On.
3. Under the ‘Type’ dropdown, select Bookmark.
4. In the ‘Bookmark’ dropdown that now appears, select your bookmark, which, if using an example, must be named "Clear All Selections."

You can and should also add a helpful tooltip. In the same Action card, you'll see a 'Tooltip' text box. Writing something simple, like "Click this button to clear all filters on this page" is the clear approach.

That's it! Now, to test it, click around your report page to change a few slicer values and cross-filter some visuals. Then, Ctrl + Click your new button (in Power BI Desktop, you need to hold Ctrl to activate buttons). You should see every filter snap back to the original unfiltered state which you already saved earlier.

Method 2: Using the Built-In 'Clear All Slicers' Button

More recently, Microsoft has rolled out a new button option that simplifies part of this procedure. You'll want to add this button to include the ‘Clear All Slicers’ function.

It's much quicker to install but comes with one substantial restriction, which explains why the bookmark method is often still favored. Let's walk through the installation process.

Step 1: Adding an Image

1. From the insert area in the ribbon, choose an icon that looks good.
2. Position it on the canvas.

Step 2: Assign ‘Clear Slicers’ Action

This is where it differs significantly from the previous method:

1. Select 'Button'.
2. In the 'Formatting' pane, toggle 'Action setting' to 'On'.
3. Under 'Button selection', set to Clear all slicers.

That's the entirety! There are fewer steps than setting up a bookmark, however, the most important aspect is understanding the limitations.

What's the Difference?

The ‘Clear Slicers’ button only resets slicers. It doesn’t affect other cross-filtering done by selecting bars on a chart, for example. It also doesn't revert changes to visibility or display status.

Which Choice to Use: Bookmark vs Built-in Function

Let’s break down the main distinctions to make an easier decision.

Use the Bookmark Approach When:

• You require a full page reset. This setting restores the cross-filtering by visual interactions plus resets the slicers, as mentioned before.
• You intend to control visuals’ appearance - such as hiding/showing specific tables or graphics as part of a reset.
• You need an exact landing scene, which could potentially include some predetermined prefilterings.

Use ‘Clear All Slicer’ Action When:

• Slicers are primarily used for filtering in your report.
• Your dashboard does not include complex hide/show logic or cross-filtering.
• Quick speed is a necessary goal, setting it up takes less work than a bookmark.

My Recommendation:

Unless your report is exceedingly simple, bookmarks will often be favored for their robust characteristics, offering you much more control over how the reset functions for your report.

Tips from Professionals for a Better User Experience

Adding the button is an excellent start, but to make reports seamless, consistency is paramount:

• Place the button consistently on every page. Don’t chase users around.
• Label Clearly: Use words like “Clear” and/or icons like an eraser or restart symbol to make the intention very clear.
• Test Rigorously: Mix and match selection to see your buttons working as expected under a variety of circumstances.

Conclusion

A clearing-off button might seem like a minor detail inside the vastness of Power BI, yet the feature has a disproportionate impact on usability, making users happy. As we see, the bookmark approach offers a fully restored function, while the ‘Clear All Slicer’ action provides speed and simplicity. Choosing depends on the complexity and interactivity your reporting requires. By considering your audience’s needs first, you design a report that not only looks great but is pleasant to use as well.