What Is a Power BI Tooltip?

A Power BI tooltip is a pop-up information box that appears when users hover over a data point in a visualization. While default tooltips display basic field values, Power BI's Report Page Tooltips feature transforms these simple hover cards into rich, interactive mini-reports containing charts, images, KPIs, and formatted text. At EPC Group, we use custom tooltips extensively in executive dashboards to pack additional context into every data point without cluttering the main report canvas.

Default Tooltips vs. Report Page Tooltips

Power BI offers two types of tooltips, and understanding the difference is crucial for effective dashboard design:

• Default tooltips -- Automatically generated text showing the field values for the hovered data point. For example, hovering over a bar in a bar chart shows the category name and value. You can customize which fields appear by dragging them into the Tooltip well in the Visualizations pane.
• Report Page Tooltips -- Entire report pages designed at a reduced size (320x240 pixels by default) that appear as hover cards. These can contain any Power BI visual: line charts, KPI cards, images, formatted text, gauges, and more. The tooltip page automatically filters to the hovered data point.
• Canvas tooltips (modern tooltips) -- An enhanced default tooltip format that shows a visual preview within the tooltip. Enabled in the report settings, these provide a middle ground between basic text tooltips and full report page tooltips.

How to Create a Report Page Tooltip

Creating a custom Report Page Tooltip requires building a dedicated page in your Power BI report and configuring it as a tooltip source.

1. Create a new report page -- Right-click the page tab area and select "New page." Rename it descriptively (e.g., "Tooltip - Sales Detail").
2. Set the page as a tooltip -- In the Format pane for the page, expand "Page information" and toggle "Allow use as tooltip" to On. This hides the page from normal navigation.
3. Set the page size -- Under "Canvas settings," set the type to "Tooltip" (320x240 pixels). You can also create custom sizes, but keep tooltips compact -- they should supplement, not replace, the main report.
4. Design the tooltip content -- Add visuals to the tooltip page. Common elements include sparkline charts showing trends, KPI indicators, images (like product photos), and formatted text with additional context.
5. Assign the tooltip to a visual -- Select a visual on your main report page. In the Format pane under "Tooltip," set the Type to "Report page" and select your tooltip page from the dropdown. The tooltip will automatically filter based on the hovered data point.

Enterprise Use Cases for Custom Tooltips

Custom tooltips are one of the most underutilized features in enterprise Power BI dashboards. Here are the scenarios where EPC Group deploys them most effectively:

• Executive sales dashboards -- Hover over a region on a map to see a mini line chart showing the 12-month revenue trend, current quarter pipeline, and top 3 deals in progress. Executives get drill-down insight without leaving the overview page.
• Healthcare patient flow -- Hover over a department in a hospital bed utilization chart to see average length of stay trends, staffing ratios, and patient satisfaction scores. All within HIPAA-compliant, role-based security boundaries.
• Financial portfolio analysis -- Hover over an asset class in a portfolio allocation treemap to see risk metrics, historical performance, and benchmark comparisons. Analysts get context without opening separate reports.
• Project management -- Hover over a project in a Gantt chart to see budget vs. actual spend, resource allocation breakdown, and risk status indicators. Project managers can triage issues at a glance.
• Product catalog analytics -- Hover over a product in a sales chart to see the product image, inventory levels, margin percentage, and customer ratings. Merchandising teams love this approach.

Tooltip Design Best Practices

A well-designed tooltip enhances the user experience. A poorly designed one creates frustration. Follow these guidelines:

• Keep it focused -- A tooltip should answer one follow-up question, not replicate an entire dashboard. Limit tooltip content to 2-3 visuals maximum.
• Use consistent sizing -- Stick to the default 320x240 pixel size across all tooltip pages in a report for a consistent user experience. Larger tooltips can obscure the underlying chart.
• Minimize text -- Tooltips are glanced at for 2-3 seconds. Use numbers, icons, and small charts rather than paragraphs of explanatory text.
• Test on all screen sizes -- Tooltips that look great on a 27-inch monitor may not work on a laptop screen. Test at 1366x768 resolution as your minimum target.
• Consider mobile users -- Report Page Tooltips are not supported on Power BI mobile apps (touch devices cannot hover). Ensure critical information is accessible elsewhere in the report.
• Use conditional formatting -- Color-code KPI values in tooltips (green for above target, red for below) to enable instant status assessment without reading numbers.

Advanced Tooltip Techniques

Beyond basic report page tooltips, Power BI supports several advanced techniques:

• Dynamic tooltip assignment -- Use DAX measures and conditional formatting to show different tooltip pages based on the data value. For example, show one tooltip for high-performing products and a different tooltip for underperformers.
• Tooltip with images -- Include product photos, employee headshots, or company logos in tooltips by using the Image visual or embedding images via URL in your data model.
• Multi-row tooltip formatting -- For default tooltips (not report pages), use DAX measures with UNICHAR(10) for line breaks to create formatted multi-line text tooltips.
• Sparkline tooltips -- Use small line charts or area charts in tooltip pages to show historical trends for the hovered data point. This is the single most impactful tooltip pattern for executive dashboards.

Why EPC Group for Power BI Dashboard Design

Custom tooltips are just one element of effective dashboard design. EPC Group builds Power BI solutions that are visually compelling, performant, and aligned with enterprise governance requirements.

• Dashboard UX expertise -- Our designers follow data visualization best practices from Tufte and IBCS standards, creating dashboards that inform rather than overwhelm.
• Performance optimization -- We ensure tooltips load instantly by optimizing DAX measures, reducing visual complexity, and leveraging aggregation tables.
• Governance and standards -- We establish tooltip design templates and standards across your organization so dashboards have a consistent look and feel.
• Training your team -- We train your report authors to create effective tooltips so your organization can self-serve after the initial implementation.

Frequently Asked Questions