Power BI Interview Questions

Power Query:
1. What is Query Folding in Power Query and the Power BI Query Editor?
2. What is M Language in Power BI?
3. Difference between the Append and Merge?
4. What is a Parameter?
5. How many tables can you append & merge?
6. What is the storage engine used in Power Query?
7. Have you used custom functions or parameters in Power Query? Can you provide an
example?
8. How do you handle data source connections and credentials in Power Query?
9. Have you worked with custom column transformations or conditional logic in Power
Query? Can you provide an example?
10. What techniques do you use to handle data type conversions and data quality checks in
Power Query?
11. Difference between calculate table & filter?
Data Modelling:
1. Can you describe the differences between fact tables and dimension tables?
2. When to go with a calculated column or with a calculated measure?
3. What rules must be followed in creating a relationship between two tables in Power BI?
4. What is a data model in Power BI?
5. Which gives good performance - calculated column or calculated measure?
6. What is a clustered index and non-clustered index?
7. When designing a data model, what factors do you consider to ensure scalability and
performance?
8. Have you implemented any advanced modeling techniques in Power BI, such as role-
playing dimensions or bridge tables? If yes, can you provide an example?
9. How do you handle slowly changing dimensions (SCDs) in your data model?
10. Have you worked with calculated tables in Power BI? Can you explain their purpose and
when to use them?
11. What strategies do you employ for handling complex relationships or hierarchies in your
data model?
12. How do you handle large datasets or data volumes in Power BI to ensure smooth
performance?
Report View:
1. What are filters in Power BI?

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 2. What are the differences between a Power BI Dataset, a Report, and a Dashboard?
3. What is cross filtering?
4. Difference between report & dashboard?
5. How do you make a report dynamic?
6. Have you implemented any custom visuals or extensions in Power BI? If yes, can you
provide an example?
7. What kind of filters have you applied in your project?
8. Have you worked with Bookmarks?
9. Have you used conditional formatting?
10. What does Edit Interactions do at a high level in Power BI Desktop?
11. What is Edit Interaction in visuals?
12. Difference between calculated column and measure?
13. When do you go for filter & slicer?
Power BI Services:
1. What is Power BI service?
2. What licenses are available in Power BI?
3. Which license do you have?
4. Are there options available for embedding Power BI into other applications or portals?
5. What is RLS (Row Level Security)?
6. What is a gateway? How many types? How does it work?
7. How can you set the alerts in Power BI service?
8. What is Microsoft fabric?
9. How will you test from the source side once the visual is built in Power BI Desktop?
Connectivity:
1. What data sources can I connect to Power BI?
2. Difference between import & direct query mode?
3. Types of connectivity modes available in Power BI?
4. What are the sources you have used?
5. From which database will you get the data?
DAX (Data Analysis Expressions):
1. Explain what is DAX?
2. Explain CALCULATE function in DAX.
3. Differentiate between Sum() and SUMX()
4. Difference between DISTINCT() and VALUES()
5. What are some of the most common, basic DAX Functions you use or have used?
6. How is the FILTER function used?

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 7. What is the common table function for grouping data? Describe some examples of
GROUP BY like queries via DAX.
8. What are some benefits and use cases of using variables in DAX?
9. What is bi-directional cross filtering in Power BI?
10. Why do we use CALCULATE?
11. What is a CALCULATE & CALCULATE TABLE?
12. What are the ALL & ALL EXCEPT DAX functions?
13. What is TOTALYTD?
14. In time intelligence functions which are all DAX functions you have used?
15. How can you calculate the previous year's YTD?
16. When will you use the LOOKUP function?
17. What are other functions used other than SUMMARIZE?
18. Difference between SUMMARIZE & SUMMARIZE COLUMNS?
19. What DAX function have you used other than USERPRINCIPALNAME for dynamic RLS?
20. Difference between Measures & Quick Measures
21. Have you worked with calculated columns and measures that involve complex logic in
DAX? Can you provide an example?
22. How do you optimize DAX calculations to improve query performance in Power BI?
23. Can you explain the concept of context transition in DAX and its implications?
24. How do you handle error handling and exception scenarios in DAX calculations?
25. Can you explain the concept of evaluation context in DAX and how it impacts calculation
results?
26. Have you utilized DAX functions for time intelligence calculations like YEAR-TO-DATE,
PREVIOUSYEAR, or SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR? Can you provide an example?
Scenario Based
DAX (Data Analysis Expressions):
1. Scenario: There is a sales column. I need to show the sales for April month. What is the
DAX expression?
2. Scenario: Difference between DATEADD & PARALLELPERIOD DAX functions, explain a
case scenario in your project?
Report View:
1. Scenario: There is a report with 5 visuals & a slicer. If the slicer is changed, only 2 visuals
should be affected, and the remaining 3 visuals should not be affected. What will you
do?
2. Scenario: Donut chart is there that is region by volume. I want the top 10 regions by
volume. How can I achieve that?

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 3. Scenario: Rolling 24 months. So, volume, net sales & gross profit is there. In that visual
(from line & stacked bar chart), you don't want a bar chart. So, what other charts can
you use?
4. Scenario: 5 countries of data, country-wise sales are there, so need to show sales in
percentage-wise. How can you do that?
5. Scenario: 2 visuals are there on page1. In page2, I have a tile. How can I bring 2 visuals
into a tile?
6. Scenario: If there are 5 pages. To come to the home page, which feature will you use?
7. Scenario: How will you move/showcase the detailed information by using which
feature?
8. Scenario: As you said that in your project, visuals are not loading, so how do you fix
that?
9. Scenario: In a measure, if you remove the filter, will it give the same data in the card
visual?
Report Performance & Optimization:
1. Scenario: Report consists of so many visuals, some of the visuals are loading very slowly.
So, I need to optimize these visuals to load very quickly. What are the steps to perform
to improve the performance of the report?
2. Scenario: There are 2 pages in a report. On the 1st page, there is a slicer called country.
If the country is changed from the slicer on the 1st page, then automatically the next
page should also be impacted. How will you do it?
Data Modelling:
1. Scenario: 1 calculated column is Qty x unit price & 1 calculated measure sum (sales
amt). Can we write these 2 statements in 1 statement?
2. Scenario: 5 countries of data, country-wise sales are there, so need to show sales in
percent-wise. How can you do that?
3. Scenario: There are 2 columns city & sales amount. How to get a percentage based on
sales amount?
4. Scenario: Many-to-many relationships, how have you faced them?
Power BI Services:
1. Scenario: Before schedule refresh, what steps do you take in SQL Server?
Connectivity:
1. Scenario: You have worked with direct query & import query, right? So what is the basic
difference between those 2 modes?
Stakeholder Management:

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 1. Scenario: During a project, a stakeholder requests a major change in requirements, and
it results in a major change in data relationships. How would you handle this request?
2. Scenario: If you are a stakeholder where you have a normal amount of data, but you
want direct query mode to be used. What will you suggest? Can you convince me why I
should go for import mode? What are the steps you will be telling them, and what will
be the dashboard performance? Will it be faster or slower?

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