---
title: Power BI Custom Visuals - Histogram
description: Learn about the Power BI Custom Visual, Histogram.
---

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# [Power BI Custom Visuals - Histogram](https://pragmaticworks.com/blog/power-bi-custom-visuals-histogram)

 Written by [Devin Knight](https://pragmaticworks.com/blog/author/devin-knight) | Jul 07, 2016

In this module, you will learn how to use the Histogram, a Power BI Custom Visual. A Histogram is a column chart which shows the distribution of occurrences divided into categories, called bins. This type of chart is useful for estimating density and discovering outliers.

### Module 06 – Histogram

### Downloads

- Power BI Custom Visual – [Histogram](https://pragmaticworksonline.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/FileShare/Ejn3BZIKy-NHk0DHsQUqT5QBx8WaO5HCyu0Qo7pWOzaWmw?e=hQcj1V)
- Dataset – [Employee List.xlsx](https://pragmaticworksonline.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/FileShare/EhpCA5Ov7R5Eoo8WMZZTY8UBLr44PZRlsex-L9flmYoVZQ?e=mcvbbb)
- Completed Example – [Module 06 - Histogram.pbix](https://pragmaticworksonline.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/FileShare/EhpCA5Ov7R5Eoo8WMZZTY8UBLr44PZRlsex-L9flmYoVZQ?e=mcvbbb)

### Key Takeaways

- The Histogram automatically performs a [discretization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discretization) process to create bins for [continuous](https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/data-discrete-continuous.html) values.
- You do have the option to manually overwrite the number of bins that are automatically generated for you.
- This chart type does support cross filtering with other visuals you may use on the report.

<http://devinknightsql.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/image14.png> *The number of bins can be adjusted. In this case, increasing the bin size exposed a set of outliers in the data found in the last bin.*

- Under the **Format** paintbrush the options that are particularly interesting for the Histogram can be found under the Data labels, Data colors and General setting menus.
- There’s not much in the **Data labels **properties but you can adjust the number of decimal places used on the labs. 
    - Typing a value of 2 here will display 2 decimal points on your data labels. 0 or blank would show no decimal places.

<http://devinknightsql.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/image15.png>

- Under the **Data colors** properties you have a pretty self-explanatory option to change the color of the Histogram bars to your preferred color.

<http://devinknightsql.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/image16.png>

- In the **General** properties section you have typical option to control the size and location of the visual but there are also settings here to control Histogram specific features. 
    - By turning off **Frequency** (On is the default) it will change the chart to show a scale based on density instead of frequency.
    - The **Bins** option allows you to overwrite the default discretized bins that are created tell the Histogram a specific number of bins you would like. Changing this value can sometimes increase the chance of noticing an outlier in the data.

<http://devinknightsql.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/image17.png>

- In addition to these properties you have a set of settings that appears on every visual to adjust the background color, add a border around the visual and lock the aspect ratio.

### Find Out More

You will always be able to find this video module and advanced viewing of future modules on the Pragmatic Works On Demand Training platform.

[View full post](https://pragmaticworks.com/blog/power-bi-custom-visuals-histogram)

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