Create page and bookmark navigators

APPLIES TO: Power BI Desktop Power BI service

By using built-in navigators in Power BI, you can build page and bookmark navigation experiences in a few steps. These navigators save you hours of effort building and managing your page or bookmark navigation experiences.

You can find this capability in Power BI Desktop or the Power BI service.

Video

Watch this video to see how to add page and bookmark navigators, and then try it yourself.

Create a page navigator

When you select Page navigator, Power BI automatically creates a page navigator for you:

The page navigator automatically syncs with your report pages:

• The button labels match the page display names.
• The ordering of the buttons matches the order of your report pages.
• The selected button corresponds to the current page.
• The navigator updates automatically as you add or remove pages in your report.
• The button labels update automatically as you rename pages.

To further customize the pages that appear in the page navigator or to hide pages, go to the Format navigator pane. Under Pages, adjust the settings for showing hidden pages and tooltip pages:

Create a bookmark navigator

Before you can create a bookmark navigator, you need to create bookmarks. Also, create separate bookmark groups if you plan on creating different bookmark navigators within the same report.

After you create your bookmarks, create a bookmark navigator:

Power BI automatically creates a bookmark navigator for you:

The bookmark navigator automatically stays in sync with your report bookmarks:

• The button labels match the bookmark display names.
• The ordering of the buttons matches the order of your report bookmarks.
• The selected button corresponds to the last selected bookmark.
• The navigator updates automatically as you add or remove bookmarks in your report.
• The button labels update automatically as you rename bookmarks.

To customize which bookmarks appear in the bookmark navigator or to hide certain bookmarks, go to the Format navigator pane, and then go to the Bookmarks tab:

By default, the bookmark navigator shows all bookmarks. However, you can create and select a specific bookmark group to show only the bookmarks within that group.

Turn on the Allow deselection option to let users deselect all the buttons in the bookmark navigator. This option is useful for building a toggle-like experience or offering a deselected default state. To set up either of these types of experiences, first create a bookmark with the desired deselected state. Here's an example of a deselected state:

After you bookmark the deselected state, turn on Allow deselection. Under Launch on deselection, select the bookmark that you want to go to when no bookmark is selected in the navigator. In the following screenshot, that bookmark is named No filter. If you don't want the bookmark that you use for deselection to appear in the bookmark navigator, select Hide deselection bookmark.

Format navigators

Just like other buttons, the navigators offer many formatting options. These options include the following settings:

• Fill
• Text
• Outline
• Shape
• Shape shadow
• Shape glow
• Rotation

The navigators also include two more formatting options:

• Grid layout
• Selected state

Set the grid layout

Use the Grid layout tab to select the navigator orientation from the following options:

• Horizontal
• Vertical
• Grid

This tab also includes the option to change the Padding value between buttons in the navigator.

Format the selected state

You can customize the selected state of a navigator button. This option is useful for making the selected state of the button stand out from the default state. In the following example, the Fill and Text values are customized for the Selected state:

Set the page navigation destination conditionally

Use conditional formatting to set the navigation destination, based on the output of a measure you create in Power BI Desktop. For example, you might want to save space on your report canvas by having a single button to navigate to the page that the user selects:

Create a table and a slicer

To create this navigation experience, start by creating a single-column table in Power BI Desktop that contains the names of the navigation destinations:

1. On the Home tab, select Enter data.

   The Create Table dialog opens.

2. In the Create Table dialog, enter the names of your pages in the column. Power BI uses an exact string match to set the drillthrough destination. So ensure that the values you enter exactly match your drillthrough page names.

   

3. After you create the table, add it to the page as a single-select slicer:

   

Add conditional formatting

To complete the experience, use conditional formatting to link a page-navigation button to the slicer:

1. Create a button by selecting Insert > Buttons > Blank. Use the Format button pane to add text to your button and to adjust its shape and fill.

2. Select the conditional formatting option for the destination by taking the following steps:

   1. Select the button from the previous step.
   2. Go to the Format button pane.
   3. Under Style, set Action to On.
   4. Expand Action.
   5. Under Type, select Page navigation.
   6. Under Destination, select the Conditional formatting (fx) icon.

   

3. On the Destination - Action page, under What field should we base this on?, select the name of the table column you created. In this case, it's Select a destination.

   

4. Select a page in the slicer, and then select the button. The selected page opens.

   

Accessibility guidance

To help ensure your approach of using the bookmark navigator meets accessibility requirements, follow these best practices:

• Label bookmark buttons clearly and use meaningful alt text:
  • Use clear, descriptive labels for bookmark buttons to ensure all users understand the purpose of each button.
  • Use the Alt text field to provide an accessible name for the bookmark navigator. This name helps screen reader users understand what content the bookmark navigator modifies.
  • For example, if a bookmark navigator includes buttons labeled “Sales details” and “Sales summary,” and these bookmarks modify a table visual named “2025 sales data,” then the alt text for the bookmark navigator should be “2025 sales data modifier.”
• Maintain logical focus order for accessibility:
  • Position bookmark buttons and the content they modify close together in the report layout. This positioning ensures that keyboard users can navigate directly between them (for example, tabbing from the bookmark navigator to the visual).
  • Avoid placing unrelated focusable elements, such as slicers, between the bookmark navigator and the modified content. This practice helps maintain smooth navigation and reinforces the connection between the bookmark and its associated data.
• Name visuals to reflect bookmark context:
  • Each visual should have a clear and descriptive name (alt text) that aligns with the labels used in the bookmark navigator (see the example in the first bullet).
  • Ideally, this name should also appear as the visual’s title. Displaying it as a heading helps users of assistive technology locate and understand the visual more easily.

Considerations and limitations

• If you use two or more bookmark navigators on a report page, and the bookmarks in those groups control overlapping settings (such as filters, drill state, expansion, or formatting), the active bookmark shown on each navigator might not match what you expect. This behavior occurs because reports can have only one active bookmark at a time. Each navigator displays the last bookmark selected within that specific navigator, not necessarily the bookmark that's currently affecting the report. To avoid confusion, ensure that bookmarks in different groups control completely separate settings, and avoid using multiple bookmark navigators for complex analysis scenarios.
• The bookmark navigator selected state isn't reflected in exports of the report.

Related content

For more information about features that are similar or interact with buttons, see the following articles:

• Create and configure buttons in Power BI reports
• Identify and use buttons in the Power BI service
• Drillthrough in Power BI reports: Navigate to detailed insights