How to Link Slicer to Graph in Power BI

A static dashboard can only tell you one story, but linking a slicer to a graph in Power BI unlocks a world of interactive data exploration. It's the difference between a picture and a magnifying glass. This article will walk you through exactly how to connect slicers to graphs, manage their interactions, and turn your reports into powerful, dynamic tools.

What is a Slicer in Power BI?

Think of a slicer as an interactive filter that lives directly on your report canvas. Instead of burying filters in a side pane, slicers let you and your audience easily click through different segments of your data. Their main job is to narrow down the information displayed in other visuals on the page, like graphs, charts, and tables.

For example, you could have a slicer for:

• Time Periods: Let users view data for this year, last quarter, or a specific month.
• Product Categories: Allow someone to see performance for just "Electronics" or "Clothing."
• Geographic Regions: Give users a way to filter the entire report down to "North America" or "Europe."

By providing these on-canvas buttons, lists, or sliders, you put the power of exploration directly into the hands of the end-user, making your reports much more engaging and useful.

What is a Graph in Power BI?

A graph, or what Power BI calls a "visual," is a graphical representation of your data. Humans are visual creatures, and turning raw numbers from a spreadsheet into a bar chart, line graph, or pie chart makes it instantly easier to spot trends, identify outliers, and understand performance at a glance.

A few common examples include:

• A bar chart comparing sales figures across different product lines.
• A line chart tracking website traffic over the last 90 days.
• A map visual showing customer concentration by country or state.

While graphs are great for presenting a clear picture of your data, their true power in Power BI is realized when they become interactive.

Why Link Slicers to Graphs?

Linking slicers to graphs is what transforms a Power BI report from a static, one-way presentation into a dynamic, two-way conversation with your data. The goal is to build an interactive experience where viewers can ask and answer their own questions.

Imagine you're a marketing manager looking at a dashboard. Without a slicer, you might see a single graph showing total website conversions for all marketing channels combined. It's useful, but limited.

Now, add a slicer for "Marketing Channel." Suddenly, you can click "Facebook Ads" and see the conversion graph instantly update to show data only from Facebook. Then, click "Google Ads" to see that channel's performance. Click "Email Marketing" next. You are actively "slicing and dicing" the data to uncover deeper insights. This direct interaction empowers users to explore trends and compare segments without needing you to create dozens of separate charts for every single view.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Link a Slicer to a Graph

The good news is that Power BI is designed to make this process incredibly intuitive. By default, visuals on the same report page are linked together automatically. Let's walk through the process with a simple sales data example.

Imagine your data has columns like Date, Product Category, Region, and Total Sales.

Step 1: Create Your Graph Visual

First, let's put a chart on the canvas that we'll want to filter later. We'll create a simple column chart showing sales by product category.

1. On the Power BI report canvas, navigate to the Visualizations pane on the right.
2. Click on the icon for a Stacked column chart. A blank visual will appear on your canvas.
3. With the new visual selected, go to the Data pane. Drag your Total Sales field to the Y-axis well and the Product Category field to the X-axis well in the Visualizations pane.

You should now see a bar chart displaying the total sales for each of your company's product categories.

Step 2: Add a Slicer to Your Report

Next, let's add the interactive filter. We'll create a slicer that allows us to filter the report by region.

1. Click on an empty space on your report canvas to deselect the bar chart.
2. In the Visualizations pane, click the Slicer icon (it looks like a funnel with a filter). A blank slicer will appear.
3. With the new slicer visual selected, go to the Data pane and drag the Region field into the "Field" well for the slicer.

You'll now see a slicer on your report page with a list of regions (e.g., "North," "South," "East," "West"), each with a checkbox.

Step 3: Test the Interaction

Here comes the easy part. Because both visuals are on the same page, Power BI has already connected them. Simply click on one of the regions in your new slicer, let's say "North."

Watch your column chart. It will instantly re-render, showing you the sales by product category for the "North" region only. Uncheck "North" and click "West," and the chart will update again. You've successfully linked your slicer to a graph!

Managing and Editing Slicer Interactions

Automatic linking is great most of the time, but what if you don't want a slicer to affect a specific graph? For instance, you might have a card visual showing the company's total sales, and you want that number to remain constant regardless of what region is selected in the slicer.

This is where Edit Interactions comes in handy.

Step 1: Activate 'Edit Interactions' Mode

1. First, select the slicer visual you want to configure. In our case, click on the Region slicer.
2. Navigate to the top ribbon and click on the Format tab.
3. Within the Format tab, you'll see a button for Edit interactions. Click it.

Step 2: Control the Behavior of Other Visuals

Once you click "Edit interactions," you'll notice a small icon appear in the corner of all other visuals on the report page.

You typically see two options:

• Filter: This is the default setting. The slicer will filter this visual. It's represented by a chart icon.
• None: The slicer will have no impact on this visual. It's represented by a circle with a diagonal line through it.

To stop our Region slicer from affecting a specific graph, you would simply click the None icon for that graph. Now, when you select a region, that particular graph will not change, while all others set to "Filter" will continue to update. When you're done, click the "Edit interactions" button again to exit the mode.

Advanced Tips for Slicers

Sync Slicers Across Multiple Pages

Sometimes you want a single slicer to control visuals across your entire report, not just on one page. Power BI has a dedicated feature for this.

1. Click on your slicer.
2. Go to the View tab in the top ribbon and check the box for Sync slicers.
3. A new "Sync slicers" pane will appear. Here, you'll see a list of all pages in your report. You can check which pages you want the selected slicer to appear on and which pages you want it to filter, even if it's not visible. This is perfect for setting a global date filter that applies to your entire dashboard.

Change Slicer Type and Formatting

Slicers don't have to be lists with checkboxes. You have several formatting options to better suit a report.

1. Select your slicer.
2. Go to the Visualizations pane and click the Format your visual brush icon.
3. Under Slicer settings > Style, you can change the slicer from a Vertical list to a Dropdown to save space on your canvas. Numeric or date fields offer a Between style, which creates a handy range slider.

Final Thoughts

Mastering the connection between slicers and graphs is a fundamental step toward creating truly effective Power BI dashboards. It shifts the user's role from a passive viewer to an active participant, allowing them to explore the data, follow their curiosity, and discover insights on their own.

While tools like Power BI are incredibly powerful, they often come with a steep learning curve and hours of manual setup—connecting data sources, arranging visuals, and configuring filters. We built Graphed to remove that friction. It connects to your marketing and sales platforms in seconds, allowing you to build real-time, interactive dashboards just by describing what you want to see. Instead of clicking through menus to configure a slicer, you can just ask, "Show me last month's sales by region and let me filter by product category," and Graphed builds it for you instantly.