Organizational Themes in Power BI - AWESOME New Feature!

Power BI has recently released an exciting feature that allows organizations to set standardized themes across their reports. This feature, introduced in June 2025, ensures that reports are visually consistent and professional, regardless of who is creating them. In this blog post, we’ll explore how administrators can set up and use this feature, as explained by Microsoft Certified Trainer Allison Gonzalez from Pragmatic Works.

What is the Organizational Theme?

Organizational themes in Power BI provide a way for administrators to upload and manage themes that can be applied across the organization. By doing so, organizations can ensure that all reports are visually aligned with their branding, design standards, and consistency goals. This feature makes it easy for teams to access and apply professional themes without any design effort.

Setting Up Organizational Themes in Power BI

To begin using organizational themes, users need access to the Power BI Admin Center, which is available to administrators. From the Power BI service (PowerBI.com), administrators can access the Admin Portal through the gear icon. Once in the admin portal, there is a new section labeled Organizational Themes, where they can upload themes in the form of JSON files.

Steps for Setting Up Organizational Themes:

1. Access the Admin Center: Administrators must go to Power BI’s Admin Portal from the Power BI service (PowerBI.com).
2. Upload JSON Files: Themes are uploaded as JSON files, a lightweight, easy-to-read coding format that customizes colors, fonts, and other visual elements.
3. Name and Organize Themes: When uploading, administrators can provide a name and description for the theme to help identify which department or group the theme should be assigned to.
4. Enable Theme Gallery: Once the theme is uploaded, administrators can enable it for use by selecting the “enable for theme gallery” option, making it accessible to users across the organization.

Applying Organizational Themes

Once a theme is uploaded and enabled in the gallery, users across the organization can apply it to their reports. This is done via the View Ribbon in Power BI, where users can select the theme from a dropdown menu. This feature ensures that all reports are visually consistent, reducing design effort for individual users.

Adjusting Reports After Applying Themes

After applying an organizational theme, users may find that certain visuals do not fully align with the theme. Power BI allows users to manually adjust these visuals to ensure proper alignment and visibility. Although most elements will automatically adopt the theme, modifications may be necessary for more complex reports.

Advanced Customization: Using JSON

For users looking to take their Power BI designs further, understanding the underlying JSON code can provide significant flexibility. With the help of Pragmatic Works’ JSON Class and additional tutorials by Allison Gonzalez, users can learn how to:

• Customize colors, fonts, and other visual elements.
• Incorporate images and custom backgrounds into the theme.
• Master design principles such as color theory and report layout.

These advanced skills can enhance the overall aesthetic and usability of Power BI reports, ensuring that reports are not only functional but also visually appealing.

Final Thoughts

The Organizational Themes feature in Power BI is an excellent tool for businesses seeking to maintain consistent and professional visuals across all reports. This feature simplifies the process of applying corporate branding and ensures that every report looks polished and aligned with company standards.

As this feature is still in preview, it is likely to evolve based on user feedback. However, it already provides a substantial improvement in streamlining the design process for large organizations. With easy-to-use customization options and advanced capabilities through JSON, Power BI continues to be a top choice for business intelligence and data reporting.

Key Takeaways:

• Organizational themes provide a way to ensure visual consistency across all reports.
• Admins can upload custom themes in JSON format and organize them by department or team.
• Users can easily apply organizational themes without any design effort.
• Advanced customization options are available through JSON to further enhance report designs.

Are you ready to implement organizational themes in your organization? Let us know what kind of themes you'd apply to your reports in the comments below!

Don't forget to check out the Pragmatic Works' on-demand learning platform for more insightful content and training sessions on Power BI and other Microsoft applications. Be sure to subscribe to the Pragmatic Works YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on the latest tips and tricks.