top of page

Power BI Page Navigator: Add Custom Navigation to Any Report

  • Writer: admin
    admin
  • May 12
  • 6 min read

Power BI Page Navigator gives report users a way to move between pages using a clickable visual element rather than switching between the tabs at the bottom of the screen. Adding this control to your report makes it significantly easier for viewers to find the sections they need, particularly in reports with five or more pages covering different topics or data categories.


The Page Navigator visual handles this by displaying all available report pages as a thumbnail grid on the canvas, functioning as a set of navigation buttons that users can click to jump directly to any page. Once you understand how to add and configure it, you can also customize which pages appear, control how it looks in embedded reports, and combine it with bookmark navigation for more advanced use cases.



What Is the Power BI Page Navigator Visual

The Power BI Page Navigator visual is a built-in button type that generates a clickable thumbnail grid showing all pages in a report. Each thumbnail functions as a navigation button, so users can jump to any page without interacting with the default tab bar at the bottom of the screen.


The visual supports a range of customization options across layout and appearance. You can set the number of columns, adjust thumbnail dimensions, change background colors, and control which pages appear in the navigator by hiding specific pages. This flexibility makes it suitable for both compact dashboards and large multi-page reports where structured page navigation is required.


How to Add Page Navigation in Power BI

Adding page navigation in Power BI Desktop follows a straightforward sequence through the Insert tab. If you organize your report pages before starting, the navigator visual populates automatically without additional configuration.


Follow these steps to add page navigation:

  1. Open your report in Power BI Desktop.

  2. Go to the Insert tab in the top ribbon.

  3. Click Buttons, then hover over Navigator.

  4. Select Page navigator from the submenu.

  5. Resize and reposition the visual on your report canvas.

  6. Open the Format visual pane on the right side to adjust the layout and appearance.


The visual automatically populates with all visible report pages when you first place it on the canvas. Pages you have hidden in the tab bar will not appear in the navigator, which means you can keep draft or calculation pages out of view without removing them from the file.


If you are building Power BI reports for the first time, BI Solusi's Power BI training programs cover report building, data modeling, and navigation design from the ground up.


How to Customize Power BI Navigation Buttons

After placing the Page Navigator on your canvas, the Format visual pane gives you full control over how the Power BI navigation buttons look and behave. Spending time on this step produces a cleaner, more professional result that fits the visual language of your report.


The following properties are available in the Format visual pane:

  • Columns: Sets how many thumbnail buttons appear per row in the navigator grid.

  • Thumbnail size: Controls the height and width of each navigation button.

  • Background color: Sets the fill color of the navigator container.

  • Selected state: Highlights the currently active page button with a distinct style so users always know which page they are viewing.

  • Hover state: Changes the button appearance when a user moves their cursor over it.


To hide a specific page from the navigator, right-click the page tab at the bottom of Power BI Desktop and select Hide page. That page will no longer appear as a navigation button but remains accessible through bookmarks and direct links.


If your report uses slicers alongside page navigation, see how to create a dynamic slicer using Field Parameter to give users flexible filtering options on each page. For managing slicer states across a session, Apply All Slicers and Clear All Slicers provide useful workflow shortcuts that pair well with navigated reports.


Example: Hiding pages by department

Suppose your report has five department pages: Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Production, and Maintenance. A user in the marketing team does not need to navigate to "Engineering" or "Maintenance" pages, so you want to show only the pages relevant to their role. In the Format visual pane under Pages > Show, toggle off the pages you want to hide from the navigator.


The result is a cleaner navigator that shows only Sales, Marketing, and Production, without removing those pages from the report file or breaking any existing links to them.



How to Hide Page Navigation in Embedded Power BI Reports

When you embed a Power BI report in an external application or website, the default tab bar at the bottom of the report appears alongside any custom navigator visual you have added. Showing both navigation elements creates redundant controls and a cluttered interface, so removing the tab bar is a standard step when deploying embedded reports with custom navigation.


To hide page navigation in embedded Power BI reports, set the navContentPaneEnabled property to false in your embed configuration using the Power BI JavaScript SDK:


{
  settings: {
    navContentPaneEnabled: false
  }
}

This removes the default tab bar from the embedded view while keeping your custom Page Navigator visual fully functional. The report will use only the navigation controls you designed, giving the embedded interface a consistent, purpose-built appearance. This property belongs in the settings object of your embed configuration and applies whether you are embedding in a web application, SharePoint page, or a custom portal.


How to Use Bookmark Navigation in Power BI

Bookmark navigation in Power BI controls what users see using saved report states rather than separate pages. Instead of moving between pages, clicking a bookmark button can show or hide specific visuals, apply a filter configuration, or switch between different layouts on the same canvas without changing the active page.


Use bookmark navigation when you need any of the following:

  • Switching between a chart view and a table view on the same page without creating two separate pages.

  • Building a guided analysis experience where each step progressively reveals new information to the viewer.

  • Creating navigation controls that respond to specific filter or slicer states saved as a bookmark.


To set up bookmark navigation, go to the View tab, open Bookmarks, create a bookmark at the desired report state, then assign it to a button through Format > Action > Bookmark.


For a complete walkthrough of combining page navigation and bookmark navigation in a single report, see how to make a page and bookmark navigator in Power BI.


In most multi-page reports, page navigation handles top-level section switching while bookmark navigation manages view variations within individual pages.


Benefits of Custom Page Navigation in Power BI

Custom page navigation addresses several practical limitations of the default tab-based interface in Power BI. The improvements are most noticeable in reports shared with large teams or external stakeholders who do not use Power BI regularly.


  • Faster report use: Users go directly to the page they need without scrolling through tabs or guessing where information is located.

  • Cleaner interface: Replacing the default tab bar with a designed navigator reduces visual clutter, particularly in embedded reports where the standard tab bar can look out of place in the host application.

  • Consistent placement: Navigation controls placed in a fixed area of every report page mean users always know where to look, regardless of which section they are viewing.

  • Controlled visibility: You decide which pages appear in the navigator, keeping internal calculation pages or draft sections hidden without changing the underlying file structure.

  • Better accessibility: Users who are unfamiliar with the tab-based interface can navigate reports without a walkthrough, reducing onboarding time for new team members.


For additional ways to improve the visual quality of your Power BI reports, see how the hierarchical axis in Power BI organizes multi-level data in charts, and how the Zoom Slider in Power BI helps users focus on specific data ranges without filtering the underlying dataset.


Conclusion

Power BI page navigation gives users clear, direct access to every section of a multi-page report. The Page Navigator visual covers the most common navigation scenario, while bookmark navigation handles view switching within individual pages. For embedded reports, setting navContentPaneEnabled to false removes the default tab bar so your custom navigation takes full effect.


Get Your Power BI Reports Built by a Microsoft Partner

Building a Power BI report that works well for your team goes beyond navigation. Data from multiple sources needs to be connected, modeled correctly, and structured so your team can act on what they see.


BI Solusi is an Official Microsoft Partner based in Indonesia with certified Power BI consultants who handle the full implementation process: from connecting your data sources and building the data model, to designing reports your team actually uses.


What BI Solusi delivers:

  • Interactive Power BI dashboards tailored to your business function: finance, sales, HR, operations, and more

  • Data modeling and source integration across your existing systems

  • Embedded reporting for web and SharePoint environments

  • Power BI training for your internal team at any skill level

  • Ongoing optimization and advisory after go-live


Clients report a 30% increase in productivity after moving from manual reporting to Power BI dashboards built by BI Solusi, replacing hours of weekly data work with real-time KPI visibility.



BI Solusi is your trusted partner for data-driven success in Indonesia, serving companies in the Southeast Asia region and beyond. We specialize in implementing cutting-edge Data Analytics, Business Intelligence platform, and Big Data solution, complemented by expert Data Science services. 

 

We offer flexible nearshore and offshore BI implementation models to meet your specific needs and deliver the highest-quality results. 

 

Our BI Consulting expertise encompasses Data Integration services (ETL), Data Warehousing, and the utilization of Data Visualization tools such as Microsoft Power BI, Qlik Sense, and Tableau for Reports and Dashboards implementation.

 

Let us help you unlock the full potential of your data and achieve your business goals.

bottom of page