How to Make a Page and Bookmark Navigator in Power BI

Power BI's Page Navigator and Bookmark Navigator let you build custom page navigation in Power BI directly inside a report without writing any code or creating manual button links. Both are inserted as a single element and update automatically as you add or change pages and bookmarks, which makes them significantly faster to maintain than manually linked buttons.

What Is the Page Navigator in Power BI?

The Page Navigator is a built-in button group that automatically generates a navigation menu based on your report's pages. Each page gets its own button, and clicking it takes the viewer directly to that page. The menu updates on its own whenever pages are added, removed, or renamed, with no manual relinking needed.

In the report below, the Page Navigator appears as a vertical sidebar on the left with buttons for Global Sales, EU Sales, and NA Sales, each linking directly to its respective report page.

An illustration of the customized page and bookmark navigation

What Is the Bookmark Navigator in Power BI?

The Bookmark Navigator works the same way as the Page Navigator but uses bookmarks instead of pages. Each bookmark gets its own button, and clicking it applies that bookmark's saved state to the report. It is most useful for toggling between different views on the same page: switching chart types, showing and hiding visuals, or applying preset filters, without navigating away.

How to Create Bookmarks in Power BI

A bookmark captures the current state of a report page: which visuals are visible, what filters are applied, and what selections are active. You can create multiple bookmarks on a single page and use the Bookmark Navigator to let viewers switch between those states interactively.

To create a bookmark, open the Bookmarks pane from the View tab and click Add. Bookmarks can also be organized into groups, which gives you more control over what appears in the Bookmark Navigator.

In the example below, bookmarks are grouped by report section — Global Sales contains three bookmarks for Company Analysis, Genre Analysis, and Platform Analysis, each capturing a different view of the same page.

Page Navigator vs Bookmark Navigator: When to Use Each

Both navigators create button-based menus but serve different purposes.

	Page Navigator	Bookmark Navigator
Purpose	Navigate between report pages	Switch between saved views on the same page
Trigger	Click moves viewer to a different page	Click applies a saved bookmark state
Best used for	Multi-page report navigation	Toggling chart types, filters, or visible visuals
Scope	Affects the entire report page	Affects only the current page's visual state

How to Insert the Page Navigator

1. Go to the Insert tab in Power BI Desktop.

2. Click Buttons, then hover over Navigator in the dropdown.

3. Select Page navigator from the submenu that appears.

The full menu path is shown below. Navigator sits at the bottom of the Buttons dropdown, with Page navigator and Bookmark navigator as the two submenu options.

The Page Navigator is inserted automatically with a button for each report page. The buttons are linked to their respective pages by default and require no additional configuration to work.

How to Insert the Bookmark Navigator

Before inserting a Bookmark Navigator, make sure you have at least one bookmark already created. The navigator will appear empty if no bookmarks exist. The menu path is the same as the Page Navigator: Insert > Buttons > Navigator > Bookmark navigator.

Once inserted, the Bookmark Navigator renders a button for each bookmark in the report. In the example below, three bookmarks (Company Analysis, Genre Analysis, and Platform Analysis) appear as buttons side by side, with the Bookmarks pane visible on the right showing the same list.

If bookmarks are organized into groups, you can configure the navigator to show only the buttons from a specific group, which is covered in the customization section below.

How to Customize the Page Navigator and Bookmark Navigator

The Format pane lets you control button appearance across four states: default, hover, pressed, and selected. All formatting options are accessible by selecting the navigator on the canvas and opening the Format pane.

Button Style and Colors

You can change the fill color, font, border, and padding for each button state. The selected state is particularly important for the Page Navigator; it highlights which page the viewer is currently on, giving the menu a tab-like appearance.

Hiding Pages from the Page Navigator

By default, the Page Navigator includes all report pages. To hide a specific page, right-click the page tab at the bottom of the report canvas and select Hide page. Hidden pages will no longer appear as buttons in the Page Navigator while remaining accessible to report editors.

Filtering the Bookmark Navigator by Group

To show only bookmarks from a specific group, select the navigator on the canvas, open the Format pane, and find the Bookmarks setting. Change it from All Bookmarks to a specific bookmark group. This is useful when a page has multiple Bookmark Navigators, each controlling a different set of views.

Limitations and Known Behaviors

Both navigators have a few behaviors worth knowing before publishing a report that relies on them.

• Hidden pages require explicit hiding. Hiding a page from the report tab does not automatically hide it from the Page Navigator; use the right-click Hide page option on the page tab to exclude it.

• Bookmark Navigator requires existing bookmarks. The navigator cannot display anything until bookmarks exist, but updates automatically when bookmarks are added or deleted.

• Navigator buttons are not individually linkable. You cannot assign a custom action to an individual navigator button; the Page Navigator always links to pages and the Bookmark Navigator always applies bookmarks.

• Selected state in Bookmark Navigator. The selected state highlighting only works when the viewer applies the bookmark through the navigator itself, not through other methods.

Take Your Power BI Reports Further with BI Solusi

Page Navigator and Bookmark Navigator are two of the most practical navigation tools in Power BI. When set up and customized correctly, viewers can move through a report on their own without needing a walkthrough.

BI Solusi implements Power BI solutions for organizations across Indonesia and Southeast Asia, covering data modeling, report development, dashboard design, and user training. If your team needs a structured Power BI implementation or wants to improve existing reports, we can help.

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