Top-50 Most Frequently asked Power Bi Interview Questions

Fundamental Questions Power BI (15 Questions)

1. What is Power BI?

• Answer: Power BI is a business analytics tool developed by Microsoft that enables users to visualize and share insights from their data.

2. What are the key components of Power BI?

• Answer: Key components include Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service (Cloud), Power BI Mobile Apps, Power BI Gateway, Power BI Report Server, and Power BI Embedded.

3. What are Power BI dashboards?

• Answer: Dashboards are single-page, often called a canvas, that tell a story through visualizations, which are tiles pulled from reports or datasets.

4. What is Power Query in Power BI?

• Answer: Power Query is a data connection technology that enables users to discover, connect, combine, and refine data across a wide variety of sources.

5. Explain the difference between Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service.

• Answer: Power BI Desktop is a local application for data transformation and report creation, while Power BI Service is an online SaaS (Software as a Service) platform for sharing and collaboration.

6. What is a DAX function?

• Answer: DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is a formula language used in Power BI for creating calculated columns, measures, and custom tables.

7. What is a Power BI report?

• Answer: A report in Power BI is a multi-page visualization that is based on one or more datasets, allowing for in-depth analysis.

8. How can you refresh data in Power BI?

• Answer: Data in Power BI can be refreshed manually, scheduled automatically in the Power BI Service, or refreshed using Power BI Gateway for on-premises data.

9. What is a calculated column in Power BI?

• Answer: A calculated column is a new column created in a Power BI table using a DAX formula, derived from existing data in the table.

10. What is a measure in Power BI?

• Answer: A measure is a dynamic aggregation calculated using DAX formulas, often used in visualizations to calculate results based on user interactions.

11. What are slicers in Power BI?

• Answer: Slicers are visual filters that allow users to segment and filter data displayed on a report or dashboard.

12. What are relationships in Power BI?

• Answer: Relationships define how data in different tables is connected, allowing Power BI to build accurate visualizations and reports.

13. Explain Power BI Gateway.

• Answer: Power BI Gateway is software that creates a secure connection between on-premises data sources and the Power BI Service, enabling live data access.

14. What is a KPI in Power BI?

• Answer: A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in Power BI is a visual cue that helps track and visualize the performance of a measure against a target.

15. How can you share Power BI reports?

• Answer: Reports can be shared via Power BI Service by publishing to workspaces, sharing dashboards, or embedding reports in applications.

Intermediate Level Questions (15 Questions)

16. What is the difference between a star schema and a snowflake schema?

• Answer: A star schema has a central fact table connected directly to dimension tables, while a snowflake schema normalizes dimensions into multiple related tables.

17. Explain the use of CALCULATE() function in DAX.

• Answer: The CALCULATE() function in DAX modifies the context of a calculation by applying specified filters, allowing for complex aggregations.

18. What are the different types of filters in Power BI?

• Answer: Power BI provides Report-level, Page-level, Visual-level filters, and Drillthrough filters.

19. How do you handle many-to-many relationships in Power BI?

• Answer: Many-to-many relationships can be managed using bridge tables or by enabling bi-directional cross-filtering in relationships.

20. What is the use of the SUMX() function in DAX?

• Answer: SUMX() calculates the sum of an expression over a table, allowing for row-by-row calculations before aggregation.

21. What is the purpose of the ALL() function in DAX?

• Answer: The ALL() function removes all filters from a specified column or table, often used to create measures that calculate over the entire dataset.

22. Explain how to implement Row-Level Security (RLS) in Power BI.

• Answer: RLS restricts data access for certain users by creating security roles and assigning DAX filters to tables that control which data users can view.

23. What is a drillthrough in Power BI?

• Answer: Drillthrough allows users to navigate from one report page to another, carrying forward filter context for deeper analysis.

24. What are bookmarks in Power BI?

• Answer: Bookmarks capture the current state of a report page, including filters, slicers, and visual selections, allowing users to save and share specific views.

25. Explain the concept of context in DAX.

• Answer: Context in DAX refers to the environment in which a DAX expression is evaluated, consisting of Row context and Filter context, which influence the results of calculations.

26. What are custom visuals in Power BI?

• Answer: Custom visuals are additional visualization types created by developers and imported into Power BI, extending the standard visuals provided by Microsoft.

27. How can you optimize Power BI reports for better performance?

• Answer: Optimization techniques include reducing the data model size, optimizing DAX formulas, minimizing visuals, and using aggregations or summarized data.

28. What is Quick Insights in Power BI?

• Answer: Quick Insights is a feature in Power BI Service that automatically generates insights and patterns in your data by applying machine learning algorithms.

29. How do you implement drill down in Power BI?

• Answer: Drill down allows users to explore hierarchical data by clicking on visuals to see detailed levels of data within the hierarchy.

30. What are the different ways to connect to data sources in Power BI?

• Answer: Power BI supports direct connections to data sources like SQL Server, Excel, Web APIs, and online services like Azure, Google Analytics, and many more.

Advanced Level Questions (10 Questions)

31. What is DirectQuery in Power BI?

• Answer: DirectQuery allows Power BI to retrieve data directly from the data source without importing it, enabling real-time data analysis but with certain limitations.

32. Explain how incremental data refresh works in Power BI.

• Answer: Incremental refresh updates only the data that has changed since the last refresh, reducing load times and improving efficiency for large datasets.

33. What is the use of USERELATIONSHIP() function in DAX?

• Answer: USERELATIONSHIP() activates an inactive relationship between tables, allowing for dynamic switching of relationships within DAX calculations.

34. How would you handle dynamic titles in Power BI?

• Answer: Dynamic titles can be created using DAX measures that concatenate text strings and values, which can then be displayed in card visuals or title fields.

35. What is Power BI Embedded?

• Answer: Power BI Embedded is a service that allows developers to integrate Power BI reports and dashboards into their applications, providing analytics to end-users without requiring them to access the Power BI Service.

36. Explain the process of creating a custom connector in Power BI.

• Answer: A custom connector in Power BI can be created using the M programming language to connect to data sources not natively supported by Power BI.

37. What are dataflows in Power BI?

• Answer: Dataflows are self-service ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tools in Power BI Service that allow users to create and manage reusable data transformations in the cloud.

38. How do you handle circular dependencies in Power BI?

• Answer: Circular dependencies, where a calculation depends on itself, can be resolved by breaking the cycle through redesigning the data model or calculations.

39. What is the use of RELATEDTABLE() in DAX?

• Answer: RELATEDTABLE() retrieves a table related to the current row context, useful for aggregating data from related tables.

40. What is Composite Model in Power BI?

• Answer: Composite Model allows Power BI users to combine data from different sources (both import and DirectQuery) into a single model, enabling flexibility in data analysis.

Practical/Scenario-Based Questions (10 Questions)

41. How would you create a year-over-year (YoY) growth calculation in Power BI?

• Answer: A YoY growth calculation can be created using DAX functions like CALCULATE(), SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(), and simple arithmetic to compare current and previous year values.

42. Explain how you would design a sales dashboard in Power BI.

• Answer: A sales dashboard should include key metrics such as total sales, sales by region, product performance, and customer segmentation, using visualizations like bar charts, pie charts, KPIs, and slicers for interaction.

43. How do you implement conditional formatting based on a field value in Power BI?

• Answer: Conditional formatting can be applied to visuals based on a field value by setting rules or using a color scale that changes visual elements based on data values.

44. Describe a scenario where you used Power BI to solve a complex business problem.

• Answer: (Answer will vary based on experience; candidates can discuss a scenario involving complex data modeling, advanced DAX calculations, or creating a comprehensive dashboard to meet specific business needs.)

45. How would you manage large datasets in Power BI?

• Answer: Managing large datasets involves using techniques like incremental refresh, partitioning data, using DirectQuery mode, and aggregating data to improve performance.

46. What approach would you take to migrate an existing Excel report to Power BI?

• Answer: Migrating an Excel report to Power BI involves importing the Excel file, transforming data using Power Query, recreating calculations using DAX, and designing the report with Power BI visuals.

47. How do you ensure data security when sharing Power BI reports?

• Answer: Data security can be ensured using Row-Level Security (RLS), controlling access permissions in workspaces, and applying data encryption both at rest and in transit.

48. Explain how you would automate the process of data extraction, transformation, and loading in Power BI.

• Answer: Automation can be achieved using dataflows for ETL processes, setting up scheduled refreshes in Power BI Service, and using Power BI API or Power Automate for further automation.

49. What would you do if a Power BI report is not performing as expected?

• Answer: Steps include reviewing the data model for inefficiencies, optimizing DAX formulas, reducing visual complexity, analyzing performance with the Performance Analyzer, and considering data partitioning or aggregation.

50. How would you handle a requirement to integrate Power BI with other business applications?

• Answer: Integration can be achieved using Power BI’s REST API, embedding reports in applications with Power BI Embedded, or using Power Automate and Power Apps for workflow automation and data connectivity.

Check out our Trending Courses Demo Playlist

Data Analytics with Power Bi and Fabric

Could Data Engineer

Data Analytics With Power Bi Fabic

AWS Data Engineering with Snowflake

Azure Data Engineering

Azure & Fabric for Power bi

Full Stack Power Bi

Kick Start Your Career With Our Data Job

Master Fullstack Power BI – SQL, Power BI, Azure Cloud & Fabric Tools

Master in Data Science With Generative AI Transform Data into Business Solutions

Master Azure Data Engineering – Build Scalable Solutions for Big Data

Master AWS Data Engineering with Snowflake: Build Scalable Data Solutions

Transform Your Productivity With Low Code Technology: Master the Microsoft Power Platform

Social Media channels

► KSR Datavizon Website :- https://www.datavizon.com
► KSR Datavizon LinkedIn :- https://www.linkedin.com/company/datavizon/
► KSR Datavizon You tube :- https://www.youtube.com/c/KSRDatavizon
► KSR Datavizon Twitter :- https://twitter.com/ksrdatavizon
► KSR Datavizon Instagram :- https://www.instagram.com/ksr_datavision
► KSR Datavizon Face book :- https://www.facebook.com/KSRConsultingServices
► KSR Datavizon Playstore :- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.datavizon.courses&hl=en-IN
► KSR Datavizon Appstore :- https://apps.apple.com/in/app/ksr-datavizon/id1611034268