How to Get the Selected Value From a Slicer in Power BI (SELECTEDVALUE Examples)

A regional manager asked me for a sales page where the chart title says which regions they picked, and a second slicer to switch the chart between revenue, cost and profit. Both requests come down to the same skill: reading what’s selected in a slicer and using it in a measure.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to get the selected value from a slicer in Power BI with SELECTEDVALUE, handle multiple selections, use the selection in a dynamic title, and build a measure that changes based on a slicer. Everything is shown in Power BI Desktop with a real sales report.

Quick answer: Use SELECTEDVALUE(Table[Column], "default") in a measure, for example Selected Region = SELECTEDVALUE(Sales[Region], "All regions"). It returns the value when exactly one item is selected, and the default otherwise. For several selections, use CONCATENATEX(VALUES(Sales[Region]), Sales[Region], ", "). To switch a measure with a slicer, put the options in a separate table and use SWITCH on its SELECTEDVALUE.

How slicer selections reach a measure

A slicer doesn’t pass a value to your measure directly. It filters the column, and the measure reads that filter. So the functions below all ask the same question: which values of this column are visible right now? If you’re new to slicers, start with how to add and configure slicers in Power BI.

You want	Use	Returns
The single selected value	SELECTEDVALUE(col, default)	The value, or the default if 0 or 2+ are selected
All selected values as text	CONCATENATEX(VALUES(col), col, ", ")	“East, West”
How many are selected	COUNTROWS(VALUES(col))	2
Whether the user selected anything	ISFILTERED(col)	TRUE or FALSE
The first or last selected (sorted)	MIN(col) / MAX(col)	“East” / “West”
Exactly one value selected?	HASONEVALUE(col)	TRUE or FALSE

Get the single selected value with SELECTEDVALUE

Create a measure with Home > New measure:

Selected Region = SELECTEDVALUE ( SalesData[Region], "All regions" )

Put it on a card. When the user picks West, the card shows West. With nothing selected, or with two or more regions selected, it shows the second argument, “All regions”. Without that argument, SELECTEDVALUE returns blank in those cases.

SELECTEDVALUE is a shortcut for IF(HASONEVALUE(col), VALUES(col), default). If the slicer should only allow one value, turn on Single select in the slicer’s selection settings; see how to control multiple selections in a slicer.

Get multiple selected values from a slicer

When users hold Ctrl and pick several regions, SELECTEDVALUE falls back to its default. To list every selected value, join them with CONCATENATEX:

Selected Regions List =
IF (
    ISFILTERED ( SalesData[Region] ),
    CONCATENATEX ( VALUES ( SalesData[Region] ), SalesData[Region], ", ", SalesData[Region], ASC ),
    "All regions"
)

With East and West selected, it returns “East, West”. The ISFILTERED check matters: with nothing selected, every region is visible, and you’d otherwise get a long list of all of them instead of “All regions”. The fourth and fifth arguments of CONCATENATEX sort the list alphabetically.

To show the count instead, for example “2 regions selected”:

Regions Selected = COUNTROWS ( VALUES ( SalesData[Region] ) )

Use the selection in a dynamic title

A title that says what’s on screen saves readers from checking every slicer. Build the text in a measure:

Report Title = [Selected Metric Name] & " by product: " & [Selected Regions List]

Then select the chart, open Format visual > General > Title, select the fx button next to Text, keep Format style as Field value and choose the Report Title measure.

The title now updates with every slicer change. The same fx option works for colors and other text properties; see Power BI visual formatting for more ways to style reports.

Create a measure based on slicer selection

The second request was a slicer that switches the chart between Revenue, Total Cost and Profit. The trick is a small table that isn’t related to anything, used only to drive the slicer.

Step 1: Create a table of options

Select Table tools (or Modeling) > New table and enter:

Metric = { "Revenue", "Total Cost", "Profit" }

Power BI creates a one-column table with a column called Value. Add a slicer with Metric[Value].

Step 2: Read the selection and switch measures

Selected Metric Name = SELECTEDVALUE ( Metric[Value], "Revenue" )

Selected Metric Value =
SWITCH (
    [Selected Metric Name],
    "Revenue", [Revenue],
    "Total Cost", [Total Cost],
    "Profit", [Profit]
)

Use Selected Metric Value in the chart. When the user picks Profit, the bars show profit; with nothing selected, they show revenue, the default. The Revenue, Total Cost and Profit measures are the SUMX examples from SUM vs SUMX in Power BI, and SWITCH itself is explained in the Power BI SWITCH measure.

Set the slicer to single select so users can’t pick two metrics at once. Also format the Selected Metric Value measure (currency here), since a measure has only one format for all the options.

Alternative: field parameters

Power BI also has field parameters: Modeling > New parameter > Fields. You pick the measures, and Power BI creates the table and slicer for you, and keeps each measure’s own format. Use field parameters for simple switching, and the SWITCH pattern when you need custom logic, such as different calculations per option.

Get the selected value from a date slicer

A date range slicer filters a range rather than picking one value, so use MIN and MAX:

Start Date Selected = MIN ( SalesData[Order Date] )
End Date Selected = MAX ( SalesData[Order Date] )

Period Label =
FORMAT ( [Start Date Selected], "MM/DD/YYYY" ) & " - " & FORMAT ( [End Date Selected], "MM/DD/YYYY" )

These return the first and last dates in the data within the selected range, not the exact slicer handles, which is usually what you want in a label. Here’s how to create a date range slicer.

For a numeric “what if” input, such as a discount percentage, use Modeling > New parameter > Numeric range. Power BI creates the slicer and a measure that returns the selected value, built on SELECTEDVALUE.

Problems getting the selected value

• The measure returns the default even though one item is selected: another filter (a second slicer or a cross-highlight) may leave more than one value visible. Check with COUNTROWS(VALUES(col)).
• The result ignores the slicer: the slicer is on a different table than the column in your measure, with no relationship between them. Read the column the slicer uses.
• A disconnected table filters nothing: that’s expected. It only drives SELECTEDVALUE; the measure does the work.
• The selection should apply on other pages too: sync the slicer; see how to sync slicers across pages.
• You want a starting selection: see how to set a default value in a slicer.

These slicer tutorials go well with this one:

• Create a Power BI Slicer Panel – Step By Step
• How to Use the Power BI Button Slicer (Layout, Colors and Sorting)
• How to Add Search Box to Power BI Slicer?
• Power BI Slicer Filter Another Slicer

Frequently Asked Questions