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Where Is Stepped Layout in Power BI?

Cody Schneider•

If you've spent any time with Microsoft Excel's PivotTables, you're likely familiar with the different ways you can present hierarchical data. When you first switched over to Power BI, you may have found yourself hunting through menus, looking for a familiar setting: the “Stepped Layout.” It's a common stumbling block, but the good news is that this feature exists and is easy to use once you know where to look. This article will show you exactly where to find the stepped layout setting in a Power BI Matrix visual and how to customize it for your reports.

First, What Exactly is a Stepped Layout?

Before we find the setting, let's quickly clarify what a stepped layout is and how it compares to other formats. When you have hierarchical data - like product categories and sub-categories, or geographic regions and the countries within them - a stepped layout displays them in a single column.

The parent-level data (e.g., "Accessories") appears on one line, and the child-level data (e.g., "Bike Racks," "Bottles and Cages") appears on the lines below it, indented slightly. This creates a compact, easy-to-read hierarchy that's great for conserving horizontal space on your report canvas.

The main alternative is the Tabular Layout, where each level of the hierarchy gets its own separate column. This creates a wider, more spreadsheet-like view.

  • Use Stepped Layout when: You want a condensed view of your data, you’re dealing with limited dashboard space, or you want a user-friendly way for viewers to drill down through levels.

  • Use Tabular Layout when: Your users need to export the data to a flat file like a CSV, or when you need to sort or filter by individual levels of the hierarchy easily.

In Microsoft Power BI, the stepped layout is actually the default behavior for the Matrix visual, but the option to turn it off is what can be tricky to find.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Stepped Layout Option

Let's walk through the process of creating a simple matrix and locating the stepped layout toggle. It’s not in the “General” settings or “Visual” settings directly, but nested within a specific formatting pane.

Step 1: Create a Matrix Visual

Begin by adding a Matrix visual to your Power BI report canvas. For this example, let's use some hierarchical data. Drag fields into the Rows well in the Data pane. For instance, you could drag in Product Category and then Product Sub-Category underneath it.

Next, add a measure to the Values well, such as Total Sales.

At this point, you'll see a matrix on your screen with "Product Category" and "Product Sub-Category" appearing together in the first column, which confirms the stepped layout is already active.

Step 2: Navigate to the 'Format Visual' Pane

With your matrix selected, look to the right side of the screen for the Visualizations pane. Click on the paintbrush icon to open the Format visual settings. This is where you'll find all the customization options for your selected matrix.

Step 3: Expand the 'Row Headers' Section

This is the part where most people get tripped up. The setting isn’t in a general "Layout" section. Instead, you need to find and expand the Row headers card. This section contains all the formatting options specifically related to the rows of your matrix.

Step 4: Locate the 'Stepped layout' Toggle

Inside the Row headers section, scroll down until you see a sub-section called Options. Within this sub-section, you'll find a simple toggle switch for Stepped layout.

By default, it will be turned on. If you click this toggle to turn it off, your matrix will immediately switch to a tabular layout, with Product Category in its own column and Product Sub-Category in the next column to the right. To return to the default view, just toggle it back on.

Customizing Your Stepped Layout View

Now that you know where the main switch is, you can refine how your stepped layout looks and feels. Power BI offers a handful of useful settings right in that same Row headers section.

1. Adjusting the Indentation

Just below the Stepped layout toggle, you’ll find the Stepped layout indentation setting. This controls how much space is used to indent each level of your hierarchy. You can increase or decrease the pixel value to make the parent-child relationship clearer or more compact.

Practical Tip: A little goes a long way. The default is often sufficient, but increasing it to 15 or 20 pixels can improve readability if you have multiple deep levels in your hierarchy.

2. The +/- (Expand/Collapse) Icons

The stepped layout is most powerful when users can interact with it. The +/- icons let viewers expand and collapse levels on their own. In the Row headers section, you will find a dedicated sub-section for Icons.

Here, you can:

  • Change the icon style (chevron, triangle, or plus/minus).

  • Adjust the size and color to better match your report's theme.

  • Ensure they are visible and intuitive for end-users.

3. Position of Totals

Finally, your subtotal placement can affect the overall usability of your matrix. Below the stepped layout options, you’ll find the Row subtotals section. Here, you can control the subtotal position.

By default, totals often appear at the bottom of a group. Toggling the Subtotal position to "Top" puts the aggregated value for a parent category right next to its label, which can sometimes provide a cleaner reading experience in a long list.

Why Power BI Made Stepped Layout the Default

Understanding the "why" can make it easier to work with a tool's design choices. Microsoft made the stepped layout the default for the Matrix visual because it offers several key advantages for modern interactive reports:

  • Space Efficiency: Dashboards are often viewed on different screen sizes. A compact layout prevents viewers from having to scroll horizontally to see the full picture.

  • Intuitive Exploration: The expand/collapse functionality in a stepped layout feels natural and is familiar to anyone who has navigated a folder structure on a computer. It invites users to dig deeper into the data without getting overwhelmed.

  • Report Readability: By grouping hierarchical items visually, the stepped layout makes it easier for the eye to scan and understand parent-child relationships quickly. It presents a clean, organized, and focused view of the data.

While the tabular format still has its place, especially for data analysis and exports, the stepped layout is purpose-built for creating clear, interactive summaries within a dashboard context. Finding its on/off switch is the key to unlocking full control over how your matrix visuals behave.

Final Thoughts

In short, the Stepped Layout option in Power BI isn't missing, it's just neatly tucked away in the Format Visual pane under Row headers > Options. Once you know where it is, you can easily toggle between a compact, indented view and a wider, tabular format, giving you full control over how you present hierarchical data in your matrix visuals.

Wrestling with formatting panes and hunting for the right toggle is a classic experience when building reports in any BI tool. We built Graphed to let you skip that process entirely. Instead of hunting through menus, you can simply ask for what you need in plain English - like "Show me sales by product category and sub-category for last quarter" - and instantly get a real-time chart connected to your data. Our goal is to shift your focus from navigating software to asking great questions of your data.