How to Start Power BI
- George Apostolov
How to Start Power BI: step-by-step guide
Launch Power BI Desktop and click 'Blank report' to start with Power BI.
You’ll see a home screen where you can 'Get Data' and click on it.
Select a data source for your report.
Select the table and click 'Load'.
Power BI loads it into a data model. Then, go to the 'Visualizations' pane and select a visualization for your data.
Drag fields onto the canvas.
Click the save icon to save your report locally.
When ready, click 'Publish' to send it to the Power BI Service for sharing.
Quick answer: To start using Power BI, launch Power BI Desktop, create a blank report, get and load your data, select a visualization from the pane, drag fields onto the canvas, save the report locally, and publish it to the Power BI Service.
About this Power BI tutorial
Create and publish reports in Power BI by loading data, adding visualizations, and saving your work locally or sharing it via the service. This guide shows how to start Power BI in 8 steps, starting with "Launch Power BI Desktop and click 'Blank report' to start with Power BI" and finishing with "When ready, click 'Publish' to send it to the Power BI Service for sharing". The interactive demo above is a click-through copy of the real Power BI interface, so you can rehearse each step before doing it in your own account.
Frequently asked questions
How many steps does it take to start Power BI?
8 steps. Each one is listed in order above, and the demo highlights exactly where to click.
Can I try it without changing my own account?
Yes. Clicking through the demo doesn't touch your Power BI data or settings. Once you know the flow, repeat it in your own workspace.
This tutorial is filed under Power BI. Related guides: How to Subscribe to Power BI Report, How to Sum in Power BI and How to Summarize Data in Power BI. Last reviewed 05 Oct 2026.
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