Create card visualizations

Article
08/10/2023

APPLIES TO: Power BI Desktop Power BI service

A single number, such as total sales, market share year over year, or total opportunities, is sometimes the most important thing you want to track. A type of visualization in Power BI called a card might be the best way to view that number. As with almost all of the native Power BI visualizations, you can create cards with the report editor or Q&A. Here's an example of a card visualization:

Screenshot of card visualization.

This tutorial uses the Retail Analysis Sample PBIX file.

At the top left, select File > Open report.
Find your copy of the Retail Analysis Sample PBIX file, and select Open.

The Retail Analysis Sample PBIX file opens in report view.
At the bottom, select the green plus symbol to add a new page to the report.

This tutorial uses the built-in Retail Analysis Sample in the Power BI service.

Sign in to the Power BI service (app.powerbi.com).
Select Learn in the left navigation.
On the Learning center page, under Sample reports, locate the Retail Analysis Sample. Select the sample to download.

The Retail Analysis Sample opens in report view.
At the top, select Edit to open the Report editor.
At the bottom, select the green plus symbol to add a new page to the report.

Note

Sharing your report with a Power BI colleague requires that you both have individual Power BI Pro licenses or that you have saved the report in Premium capacity.

Option 1: Create a card using the report editor

The first method to create a card is to use the report editor in Power BI.

On the Data pane, expand Store and select the Open Store Count checkbox.

By default, Power BI creates a clustered column chart with the single data value. You can convert the chart to a card visualization.
In the Visualizations pane, select the Card icon.

You've now successfully created a card with the report editor.

Option 2: Create a card from the Q&A question box

The Q&A question box is another option for you to use when creating a card. The Q&A question box is available in Power BI report view.

In the Visualizations pane, select the Q&A icon.

Power BI creates a Q&A visualization with a box for you to "Ask a question about your data."
Let's try searching for sales data by employee name. Enter the text "show me the open store count" in the question box.

As you enter text, Power BI tries to resolve your search text and shows results that match your input. Continue entering your input until you see an option for show me the open store count. Select that option.
Select the icon to the right of the question box to convert the Q&A visualization to a card visualization.

Power BI makes the conversion. Notice that the card icon is now highlighted in the Visualizations pane.

Screenshot showing a card example from question method.

You've now successfully created a card with the Q&A question box.

Note

If you don't see a question box at all, contact your Power BI admin.

Format a card

You have many options for changing labels, text, color and more. The best way to learn is to create a card and then explore the Format section of the Visualizations pane. Here are just a few of the formatting options available.

The Format section is available when interacting with the card in a report.

Start by selecting the paint brush icon at the top of the Visualizations pane to open the Format section.
With the card selected, expand Callout value and change the Font, Text size, and Color. If you had thousands of stores, you could use Display units to show the number of stores by thousands and control the decimal places as well. For example, 125.8 K instead of 125,832.00.
Expand Category label and change the Font, Text size, and Color.
Choose General, expand Effects, then expand Background.
Move the slider to On. Now you can change the background Color and Transparency.
Continue to explore the formatting options until your card is exactly how you'd like it.