How to Add and Customize a Dropdown Slicer in Power BI?

In many Power BI reports, I use a dropdown slicer. So, I thought it would be a good idea to write a comprehensive tutorial. In this article, I’ll show you how to display a slicer as a dropdown list in Power BI and customize it to match your report’s design and user needs.

I will show you how to:

• Change the background and font color of a Power BI dropdown slicer
• Format Power BI slicer dropdown item frame border color
• Customize the border color of dropdown values for better visuals
• Add a search box to the dropdown slicer Power BI
• Set a default value in a Power BI slicer dropdown
• Sort the dropdown values of Power BI slicer in descending order

Display a Slicer as a Dropdown List in Power BI

First, let’s see how to configure the slicer to display as a drop-down list in Power BI.

By default, the slicer appears with the check boxes when you add a slicer to the Power BI report canvas. See the image below:

My requirement now is to display the slicer as a drop-down list in Power BI.

See the steps mentioned below:

1. Open your Power BI report where you have added a slicer visual.
2. Go to the ‘Report View‘ of the slicer.
3. Drag the desired fields from the Data pane into the ‘Fields‘ pane of the slicer.
4. Under the Visualizations pane, select the ‘Format your visual‘ section.
5. Then, expand ‘Slicer settings‘ -> change slicer type to ‘Dropdown‘ from Vertical list.

Now, you can see that your slicer has been displayed as a drop-down list.

See: How to Add a Slicer to a Power BI Report

Change Background Color & Font Color in Power BI Slicer Dropdown

Let’s see how to change the background & font color in the Power BI Slicer dropdown.

When you add a slicer to your Power BI report canvas, it appears by default as shown in the image below, without a background color and with grey font.

See the steps to add a background color & font color to the dropdown slicer:

1. Select the Slicer visual present on the Power BI report canvas.
2. Go to Visualizations pane -> Select Format your visual icon.
3. Expand Values -> In the Background option, select the color from the chart (click on the downward arrow).

To change the font color of the slicer dropdown list item values, select the ‘Font color‘ under the Values section. Choose the font color according to your preference.

Refer to the screenshot below to modify the Font color and background color of the dropdown slicer.

Output:

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Change Power BI Slicer Dropdown Item Frame Border Color

Now, I will show you how to change the border color of an item frame in the Power BI slicer drop-down list.

You can see the image below, where the slicer has been added as a drop-down. Here, you may notice that a grey border surrounds the ‘All‘ drop-down by default.

From the image placed above, I wanted to change the border colour of the item’s frame (grayish) in the dropdown slicer.

Solution:

It can not be modified. Currently, slicer colors are only available to the slicer header and the slicer value. You can not change the color of the gray bar that surrounds the slicer drop-down.

Add Border Color to Dropdown Slicer Values in Power BI

Below is the image that shows the dropdown slicer values in Power BI without any border color.

Now, I want to add the drop-down values with a border color in Power BI Slicer visual. You can do that with the steps below.

1. On the Power BI report view, select the dropdown slicer visual.
2. Navigate to Visualizations pane.
3. Then, click on “Format your visual icon,” which displays a paintbrush.
4. Next, expand ‘Values‘ option.

5. Inside the Values section, open ‘Border‘ dropdown. Select the below properties.
   • Border position: Select the option in which side border line should display.
   • Color: Choose color according to your preference.
   • Line width: Enter number or drag the line to increase or decrease the border width.

Result:

Add a Search Box in Power BI Dropdown Slicer

By default, the drop-down slicer visual in Power BI does not display a search box.

The search box will help you find and filter the data provided. You can add a search option to the Power BI slicer with the quick steps.

1. On the Power BI report canvas, select the slicer -> Click on More options(…). Then, select the ‘Search‘ option.

2. Now, the slicer will appear with the ‘Search box‘ option in the drop-down, as shown below.

Set Default Value in Power BI Dropdown Slicer

Here, I will show how to set the default value in the Power BI dropdown slicer.

By setting the default value in the dropdown slicer, the filtered data will be automatically displayed on the Power BI report page.

The image shows a Power BI Dropdown slicer without any default value.

Check out the steps below:

1. On the Power BI report canvas, select the slicer visual.
2. Under the Visualizations pane, go to Format your visual icon.
3. Then, open ‘Slicer settings‘ -> Choose Selection -> Toggle on ‘Single select‘ option.

Now, we can see the list of items displayed in a drop-down. Select any item, and it will show as the default value in the drop-down slicer.

Sort Power BI Slicer Dropdown in Descending Order

Here, let’s see how to sort the slicer dropdown list values in descending order.

By default, the data in the Power BI Dropdown slicer will be stored in ascending order.

Suppose the screenshot below displays the Slicer dropdown with the text values [New Stores], presented in alphabetical order from A to Z.

I want to display the values of New Stores in the dropdown slicer of Power BI in descending order from [Z-A].

Check how to do it:

1. On the Power BI report canvas, select the Slicer visual.
2. Then, click on the More options icon (…).
3. Hover the mouse over the Sort axis option.
4. Next, click on the Sort descending option.

Output:

Now, you can see the Power BI Dropdown slicer values are sorted in alphabetical descending order.

Note:

In the same way, if you take numerical field as a value in Power BI Dropdown slicer, you can sort the values by number in ascending or descending order.

This is all about Power BI’s Dropdown list slicer.

I hope you found this article helpful. Feel free to mention your suggestions in the comment section below.

Other Power BI Tutorials You May Read:

• Power BI Slicer Panel
• Power BI slicer checkbox
• Power BI Slicer: Multiple Selections
• Set Default Value in Power BI Slicer

Bijay Kumar

After working for more than 18 years in Microsoft technologies like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), I thought will share my SharePoint expertise knowledge with the world. Our audiences are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. For my expertise knowledge and SharePoint tutorials, Microsoft has been awarded a Microsoft SharePoint MVP (12 times). I have also worked in companies like HP, TCS, KPIT, etc.