Level 1: Beginner Power BI Questions
(Fundamentals)
1. What is Power BI?
Answer:
Power BI is a business intelligence and data visualization tool by Microsoft used to
connect to data sources, transform data, and create interactive dashboards and reports
for decision-making.
Main components include:
● Power BI Desktop
● Power BI Service
● Power BI Mobile
2. What are the main components of Power BI?
Answer:
Component Purpose
Power BI Desktop Build reports and dashboards
Power BI Service Publish and share reports online
Power BI Mobile View dashboards on mobile
devices
Power Query Data transformation
DAX Data analysis formulas
3. What is a Dashboard in Power BI?
Answer:
A dashboard is a single-page view containing multiple visuals (charts, KPIs, cards)
created in Power BI Service to monitor business metrics.
Example metrics:
● Revenue
● Website traffic
● Conversion rate
4. Difference between Report and Dashboard
Report Dashboard
Multiple pages Single page
Created in Power BI Desktop Created in Power BI
Service
Detailed analysis High-level summary
5. What are Power BI visuals?
Answer:
Visuals represent data graphically.
Examples:
● Bar chart
● Line chart
● Pie chart
● Map
● KPI card
● Table
They help users understand patterns and trends quickly.
Level 2: Intermediate Power BI
Questions
These test analytical capability and tool usage.
6. What is DAX?
Answer:
DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is a formula language used in Microsoft Power BI to
create:
● Calculated columns
● Measures
● Custom aggregations
Example:
Total Sales = SUM(Sales[Amount])
7. Difference between Calculated Column and Measure
Calculated Column Measure
Calculated row by row Calculated dynamically
Stored in table Not stored
Used for slicing/filtering Used in aggregations
Example Measure:
Average Sales = AVERAGE(Sales[Amount])
8. What is Power Query?
Answer:
Power Query is used for data transformation and cleaning before loading data into Power
BI.
Operations include:
● Removing duplicates
● Filtering rows
● Splitting columns
● Merging tables
● Data type transformation
This process is called ETL (Extract Transform Load).
9. What is a Relationship in Power BI?
Answer:
Relationships connect tables using a common column.
Example:
Table Key
Customer Customer_ID
s
Orders Customer_ID
Types:
● One-to-many
● Many-to-one
● Many-to-many
This allows cross-table analysis.
10. What are Filters in Power BI?
Types of filters:
Filter Purpose
Visual filter Applies to single chart
Page filter Applies to one page
Report filter Applies to entire report
Example:
Filter dashboard to show only 2025 sales data.
Level 3: Advanced Power BI Interview
Questions
These are commonly asked in real analyst interviews.
11. What are Star Schema and Snowflake Schema?
Star schema is the recommended model in Power BI.
Structure:
● Fact Table → metrics (sales, revenue)
● Dimension Tables → descriptive attributes (product, date)
Example:
Product
|
Customer — Sales — Date
|
Region
Benefits:
● Faster queries
● Easier analysis
12. What is a KPI Visual?
A KPI visual shows performance against a target.
Example:
Metric Target
Sales ₹10,00,00
0
Actual ₹9,20,000
It indicates if performance is above or below target.
13. What are Tooltips in Power BI?
Tooltips show extra information when hovering over visuals.
Example:
Hover on a bar chart → show:
● Revenue
● Profit
● Growth %
This improves dashboard interactivity.
14. What is Drill Down and Drill Through?
Feature Purpose
Drill Down Navigate hierarchy inside
chart
Drill Through Move to another report page
Example:
Country → State → City sales analysis.
15. How do you optimize a slow Power BI report?
Answer:
Common optimization methods:
1. Use star schema
2. Remove unnecessary columns
3. Avoid complex calculated columns
4. Use measures instead
5. Reduce visuals per page
6. Use aggregated tables
7. Disable auto date/time