Reporting - Filter a report by a specific date range or period

*** Please note, this article refers to Reporting and Analytics with Power BI. View the FAQ for more details. ***

In this article, we’ll see how you can filter your data in a Power BI report based on a date range. We'll show how to add basic, Advanced, and Relative data filters to refine and simplify a report, and provide focus on the important detail.

Date filters can be used to view only data for a specific date range or number of days or to Isolate groups of people, such as new starters who joined within the last 30 days.

Note that in a report:

• multiple date range filters can be applied
• A data field can be used multiple times in different filters

Watch the video and follow the steps to see how:

Steps to add a basic date filter to a report

For this example, the field 'Accreditation expiry date' will be applied to a specific page in a report.

1. Start a new User-created report or open an existing report
2. Open the Filters panel, and the Dates panel
3. Find in the Dates panel, the data field to apply to the report
4. Drag and drop the field into the 'Filter' panel. For this example, the filter will be added to 'Filters on this page'':This will add basic filtering. Where Basic filtering is applied, it is possible to filter a report by any of the specific dates present in the data:
5. Select Save to keep the changes

Advanced and relative date filters

As described in the steps above, a basic filter can be applied to a report, enabling a report viewer to filter a report by any of the specific dates recorded in the data.

However, allowing more flexibility in date searches can be helpful - including the option to search future and past date ranges. To achieve this, select either 'Advanced' or 'Relative date' options as the filter type.

Relative date filter type

Search forward or backward in time for a date range, in days, of your choosing including 'Today' in the calculation:

Advanced filtering Filter type

This option gives even more freedom. Select a specific data range to filter the report:

Discover more about User-created reports

For a hands-on learning experience, explore our Deep dive courses in The Academy, and watch as Gary builds reports from scratch to meet specific briefs. 

If you prefer to start at the beginning, check out Get Started: Reporting and Analytics with Power BI. You'll begin with Power BI’s top five features, then dive deeper into each one with step-by-step guidance.

Need quick answers? Check out our FAQ, Reporting and Analytics with Power BI, packed with 100+ common questions and in-depth resources. You can also join our regular Ask Me Anything: Reporting live events, to ask your question directly to a Power BI expert. Search PWRFAQ in The Academy for real-world use cases, examples, and scenarios with User-created reports.

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