Power BI technique · built-in features only
How to build a report page tooltip in Power BI
By Nawaf Sharaf · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated
When to use it. Use a tooltip page to add context on hover (a trend for the hovered category, a breakdown) without cluttering the main page. For a full detail view, use drillthrough.
Worked example
Worked example · Sable Cycles · hovering May on the units chart
Main page
Units sold by month
Tooltip page (Type: Tooltip, hidden)
May 2026
- Units
- 1,720
- vs April
- +24.6%
- Gravel
- 688 (40%)
- Road
- 516 (30%)
- E-bike
- 344 (20%)
- Kids
- 172 (10%)
Sable Cycles is a fictional bike retailer. Hovering May on the units chart (1,720 bikes, the highlighted column) opens the tooltip page beside it. Its card repeats the hovered value, a second line compares it with April (+24.6%, the spring jump), and four lines split May by bike type, with gravel bikes making up 40% of the month.
The breakdown adds up to the 1,720 on the column. That is the check to do on every tooltip page: hover a few points and confirm that the tooltip's total matches the point. If it does not, a visual on the tooltip page is missing the filter (an edit interaction was turned off) or uses a measure that removes filters it should keep.
The vs-April line is the only part that looks outside the hovered month. It uses a time-intelligence measure over the date table, so it can reach one month back even though the tooltip page is filtered to May.
Steps
- 1
Add and size the page
Add a page, then in Format page → Canvas settings set Type: Tooltip (a small default size) or a custom size that fits the content.
- 2
Allow it as a tooltip
Format page → Page information → Allow use as tooltip: On. Hide the page tab so readers don't open it directly.
- 3
Design compact visuals
Two or three visuals at most: a card with the hovered value, a small trend, a short breakdown. Use transparent backgrounds and large enough type to read at a glance.
- 4
Attach it to the chart
Select the main visual → Format → General → Tooltips → Type: Report page, Page: your tooltip page.
- 5
Control which fields trigger it
On the tooltip page's Build pane, the Tooltip fields well can hold fields; the page is then offered automatically for visuals that use those fields.
How it works
When a reader hovers a data point, Power BI renders the tooltip page with the hovered point's values applied as filters, together with the source visual's filters. Every visual on the tooltip page is evaluated in that context, which is why a card on it shows the hovered value without any extra DAX.
Canvas type Tooltip gives the page a small default size; a custom size works too, as long as it fits beside the chart. Allow use as tooltip is what makes the page appear in the Tooltips setting of other visuals, and the Tooltip fields well decides which visuals pick the page up automatically.
Measures that need context beyond the hovered point (share of the year, rank among all months) must remove filters explicitly with ALL or REMOVEFILTERS; otherwise they only see the hovered point.
What Microsoft documents
Limits and behaviour from Microsoft Learn that change how you build this.
- The page needs Tooltip turned on in the Page information card of the Format pane, and Canvas settings set to the Tooltip page size (any size works, but the page floats over the report). View → Page view → Actual size shows it at the size readers will see.
- Tooltip pages are not interactive: readers can't click slicers or scroll inside them, so everything must fit without scrolling. Screen readers can't read report tooltip content, so do not put information only in the tooltip.
- On a line chart there is one tooltip for all lines, and the legend field does not filter it. When a visual is cross-highlighted, the tooltip shows the highlighted data even if the pointer is over the faded part of a bar.
- Dashboards don't show report page tooltips. Python and R visuals don't appear in them, and clusters can't be tooltip fields. A tooltip page set by field only appears when the field's summarisation matches.
Variations
- One tooltip page for several charts: any visual whose fields match can use it, so a month tooltip can serve a column chart, a line chart and a matrix.
- Keep a default tooltip for touch-heavy pages and offer the rich page through a drillthrough button instead.
Check that it works
Hover at least three points: the largest, the smallest and one with missing data. For each, confirm the card repeats the hovered value and the breakdown adds up to it. Then cross-highlight from another visual and hover again, because the numbers should change to the highlighted portion.
Common mistakes
- Tooltip pages are filtered by the hovered data point; visuals that need unfiltered context need ALL or REMOVEFILTERS in their measures.
- Big tooltip pages hide the chart; keep them small.
- Touch devices show tooltips on tap; check them on the phone layout.
- Report page tooltips replace the default tooltip; if readers relied on the default tooltip's exact values, repeat them on the page.
FAQ
Can one tooltip page serve several charts?
Yes. Any visual whose fields match can use it; set it per visual in Format → General → Tooltips.
Can tooltip pages contain custom visuals?
Yes, they render like on any page; keep them light so hover stays responsive.
Sources
Menu names follow Power BI Desktop as documented on Microsoft Learn; they can move between releases. The companies and figures in the worked example are invented.
Related
Assets and guides that go with this technique.
More Power BI techniques
- Custom Conditional Formatting Icons
- Dynamic Titles
- Power BI Field Parameters: Switch Measures and Axes
- Calculation Groups
- Toggle Between a Chart and a Table with Bookmarks
- Drillthrough to a Detail Page
- Small Multiples
- Sparklines
- Top N with 'Others'
- Sort Month Names Correctly
- Colour Bars and Cells by a Measure