Power BI: Adding Bookmarks to Buttons and the Bookmark Navigator

In this Pragmatic Works training video, Allison Gonzalez walks viewers through how to use bookmarks in Power BI to create a smoother and more user-friendly report experience. She explains that bookmarks are a great way to save specific report views, especially when users need to revisit the same filtered data repeatedly. Instead of asking end users to manually apply slicers and chart selections every time, report creators can save those exact views and make them accessible with buttons or the Bookmark Navigator.

Allison begins with a sample Power BI report containing a bar chart, a year slicer, and a map showing data across the United States. She demonstrates a common business scenario where users may need to repeatedly view data for a specific state and year, such as Georgia in 2010. Rather than forcing users to remember multiple filtering steps, she shows how to capture that exact filtered view as a bookmark.

Why Bookmarks Matter in Power BI

Allison explains that bookmarks work much like a saved point in a book, but in Power BI they act more like a live snapshot of the report’s current state. A bookmark can preserve selected filters, slicer choices, and visual interactions, making it easy to return to an exact report view instantly.

This is especially helpful when:

• Users are new to Power BI and may feel overwhelmed by interactive filtering.
• Teams frequently reference the same filtered views.
• Report designers want to simplify navigation for end users.
• Organizations want reports to feel more guided and polished.

How Allison Creates Bookmarks

To create a bookmark, Allison first sets the report exactly how she wants it. For example, she filters the report to show Georgia data for 2010. Then she opens the View ribbon and turns on the Bookmark pane. From there, she clicks Add to save the current view as a bookmark.

She strongly recommends renaming bookmarks immediately. Instead of leaving generic names like “Bookmark 1” or “Bookmark 2,” Allison renames them to descriptive labels such as:

• Georgia 2010
• Florida 2009
• Illinois 2011
• Default

This naming habit makes bookmark management much easier as more views are added to the report.

Creating a Default Report View

One of the best practices Allison highlights is creating a default bookmark. This bookmark represents the unfiltered version of the report and gives users a reliable way to return to the starting point. This is useful when end users explore data on their own and need a quick way to reset the report without manually clearing every filter and slicer.

By placing the default bookmark first, report designers can make navigation even more intuitive.

Linking Bookmarks to Individual Buttons

After creating bookmarks, Allison shows how to connect one bookmark to one button. Using the Insert ribbon, she adds a blank button to the report. Once the button is selected, the format options appear, allowing her to customize:

• Shape
• Text
• Font
• Fill color
• Padding and alignment

To make the button functional, she turns on the Action setting and changes the action type to Bookmark. Then she selects the desired bookmark, such as “Georgia 2010.” In Power BI Desktop, users must use Ctrl + Click to test the button, since the report is still in edit mode. Once published to the Power BI Service, users can click the button normally.

Allison notes that this method works well when there are only one or two bookmarks, but it becomes inefficient when many bookmarks need to be managed.

Using the Bookmark Navigator

To solve that problem, Allison introduces the Bookmark Navigator, a feature Microsoft added to make bookmark navigation faster and easier. Instead of creating and linking buttons one by one, the Bookmark Navigator automatically generates navigation buttons for all bookmarks at once.

After inserting the Bookmark Navigator from the Insert ribbon, Allison demonstrates how users can customize it in several ways:

1. Change the button shape, including rounded rectangles and other styles.
2. Adjust button states such as default, hover, and selected.
3. Update font size, font color, and background color.
4. Choose between horizontal and vertical layouts.
5. Resize the navigator to fit the available report space.

She also explains how the selected, hover, and default states help users clearly understand which bookmark they are viewing and which button they are about to click.

Grouping Bookmarks for Better Control

Another useful feature Allison covers is bookmark grouping. If report designers only want certain bookmarks to appear in the navigator, they can group selected bookmarks together and then point the navigator to that group instead of showing all bookmarks.

This is helpful when:

• Some bookmarks are meant for users and others are for internal development.
• Only a subset of report views should appear in navigation.
• Designers want to organize bookmarks by category or scenario.

In her example, Allison groups the state-based bookmarks together and keeps the default bookmark separate, showing how flexible the feature can be.

Final Takeaway

Allison Gonzalez shows that bookmarks and the Bookmark Navigator can dramatically improve the usability of a Power BI report. By saving important filtered views and turning them into clickable navigation options, report creators can reduce confusion, save time, and create a more polished user experience.

For anyone building reports for less experienced users or for teams that need quick access to standard views, bookmarks are a practical and powerful solution. With the added convenience of the Bookmark Navigator, Power BI developers can make report navigation much more efficient while keeping reports clean, interactive, and easy to understand.

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