Show Power BI Matrix Rows Without a Hierarchy (Tabular Layout)

A finance analyst I work with exports a Power BI matrix to Excel every month, and the nested rows drove her team crazy: Category, Product and Store Type were all squeezed into one indented column. What they wanted looked like a flat pivot table, with each field in its own column. It’s one setting.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to switch a matrix to a layout without a hierarchy, and the two extra settings that make it a truly flat grid.

Quick answer: Select the matrix, open Format visual > Visual > Layout, and under Matrix layout, set Layout to Tabular (or Outline). Each row field then gets its own column. Expand all rows with the +/- icons or Row headers > Options > Auto expand, and turn off Row subtotals if you want a flat table. There’s no longer a “stepped layout” toggle.

The default: a compact, nested matrix

With several fields in Rows, here Category, Product and Store Type, the matrix uses the Compact layout. All levels share one column, indented under each other:

Older versions called this the stepped layout and had a toggle to turn it off. That toggle has been replaced by a layout choice.

Switch to the Tabular layout

1. Select the matrix.
2. In the Visualizations pane, select Format visual and open the Visual tab.
3. Expand Layout, then Matrix layout.
4. Set Layout to Tabular.

In earlier releases, the option was in a card called Layout and style presets, as in this screenshot; the choice itself is the same:

Each row field now has its own column, side by side:

Layout	What you get
Compact (default)	All row levels in one column, indented
Outline	Each level in its own column, with totals at the top of each group, like an Excel pivot table
Tabular	Each level in its own column, no indentation

Make it a flat grid

Two more settings finish the job:

• Expand every level. The matrix may still start collapsed, showing only the first column. Use the Expand all down one level button in the visual header, the +/- icons, or turn on Row headers > Options > Auto expand.
• Turn off subtotals. Under Row subtotals, turn off Show subtotal, or use Per row level to keep only the ones you want. If you keep them, Position moves them to the bottom.

With both, the matrix reads like a table, with the category and product repeated on each row:

Other settings that help

• Layout > Freeze > Row headers keeps the row fields in view when you scroll across many columns.
• Layout > Column width sets automatic sizing: fit to content, grow to fit, or a fixed width.
• Values > Options > Switch values to rows puts several measures under each other instead of side by side.
• Row labels next to bold subtotals can look uneven; turn off bold under Row subtotals > Values and turn on Apply to labels.

If you don’t need the year columns across the top at all, a Table visual is simpler: it shows fields side by side without any hierarchy and has a single total row. For more matrix settings, see how to hide matrix column headers and how to show all values in a matrix.

These Power BI matrix tutorials may help next:

• Hide or Remove Column Headers on Power BI Matrix Visual
• How to Show All Values in Power BI Matrix [Not Just First Value]
• Power bi show value as percentage + 13 Examples
• Power bi show items with no data
• Power BI Slicer Dropdown [Setup, Search, Sort, Fixes & When to Use It]
• Power Bi count function – DAX Examples

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