Table of Contents
Columns in Power BI can be rearranged by simply clicking and dragging the desired column to its new position within the Fields pane. This allows users to easily change the order of columns in a table or matrix visualization, making it easier to analyze and present data in a more meaningful way. Additionally, users can also use the “Sort by Column” or “Sort by Column (Advanced)” options to further customize the arrangement of columns based on specific criteria. Overall, the ability to rearrange columns in Power BI allows for more flexibility and control in organizing and visualizing data.
Often you may want to change the order of columns in two different scenarios in Power BI:
Scenario 1: Change Order of Columns in Table View
Scenario 2: Change Order of Columns in a Table in Report View
The following examples show how to change the order of columns in both scenarios.
Example 1: Change Order of Columns in Table View
Suppose we have the following table in Power BI named my_data that contains information about various basketball players:
Suppose that we would like to change the columns to be in the following order:
- Team
- Rebounds
- Assists
- Points
The easiest way to do this is by using the SELECTCOLUMNS function in DAX to create a new table in which the columns are in the exact order that you specify.
To do so, click the Table tools tab and then click the New table icon:
Then type the following formula into the formula bar:
New Table = SELECTCOLUMNS ( my_data, "Team", my_data[Team], "Rebounds", my_data[Rebounds], "Assists", my_data[Assists], "Points", my_data[Points] )
This will create a new table named New Table in which the columns are in the exact order that we specified:
Note: You can find the complete documentation for the SELECTCOLUMNS function in DAX .
Example 2: Change Order of Columns in a Table in Report View
Suppose we insert the following table in Report View that summarizes the points, assists and rebounds for each unique team:
Suppose that we would like to change the columns in the table to be in the following order:
- Team
- Sum of Rebounds
- Sum of Assists
- Sum of Points
The easiest way to do so is by clicking and dragging the column names up or down within the Columns pane of the Visualizations tab to the exact order that you’d like:
Notice that the columns in the table are now in the exact order that we specified.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Power BI: