What is Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a tool provided of course by Microsoft for complete data analytics, which includes preparation, visualization and distribution of data.

How to Instal the Power BI?

It is quiet easy to install the Power BI, just open the Microsoft Store in your Windows and search for Power BI, you will see an option “Power BI Desktop”, that is the app that you have to install. After installation, open it and start exploring.

Components of Power BI?

Microsoft offers three services related to Power BI ecosystem.

  1. Power BI Desktop : The main app used for handling data, creating semantic models from data and reports with visualizations. ****
  2. Power BI Service : It is used to sharing content with others over the cloud and for creating dashboards. ****
  3. Power BI Mobile : For having an access to your work everywhere. Built on Power BI Service.

The Workflow

**Data → Transform → Model → Visualize → Share**

First thing you do is to load the data. As of 2026 Power BI supports about 150 unique connectors and that number grows over time.

After choosing which data type you want to load and selecting it, you will get the Transform option, upon clicking Power Query Editor will open where you transform the data, means, clean NULLs, remove columns, add new columns, change data types etc.

What are the three views in Power BI?

Once you open the Power BI Desktop, you will see options to select a data source. In data analytics you work with data most of the time, so first you have to select the data to work with. Right now you can simply choose the Sample data to explore the Power BI.

Once you Load the Sample Data, that will take some time, you will be in the main workspace. In the left side of your

Import vs DirectQuery vs Live Connection — when to use which?