How to Start Power BI

Updated on:

April 6, 2026

By:

Madhav Bhandari

Use this interactive demo to learn how to start using Power BI.

‍

Here’s how to do it:

‍

Launch Power BI Desktop and click 'Blank report' to start with Power BI.
You’ll see a home screen where you can 'Get Data' and click on it.
Select a data source for your report.
Select the table and click 'Load'.
Power BI loads it into a data model. Then, go to the 'Visualizations' pane and select a visualization for your data.
Drag fields onto the canvas.
Click the save icon to save your report locally.
When ready, click 'Publish' to send it to the Power BI Service for sharing.

📌 Why this matters

Starting Power BI transforms raw spreadsheets and databases into interactive dashboards that reveal trends your stakeholders actually care about. You'll move beyond static charts to create reports that update automatically as your data changes.

This matters because executives and team members can explore the data themselves rather than waiting for you to generate new reports for every question. Self-service analytics means faster decisions and fewer bottlenecks, while you spend time on analysis instead of repetitive reporting tasks.

Your product deserves an interactive demo

Start free

How to Uninstall Power BI

How to Compare Two Measures in Power BI

How to Compare Months in Power BI