Column header menu

Right-click a column header (a measure, or a group header) to open this menu. It works in the report and in Focus Mode; the Select entry exists only in Focus Mode.

📷 Screenshot needed: column-menu.png - the menu with the Insert and Set Width submenus open.

Entries

Entry	Submenu / what it does
Sort	Sort Ascending, Sort Descending. Sorts by this header's field through Power BI itself, which re-runs the query - so the result is right even for rows that are not loaded yet. Power BI keeps the sort (in the visual's "..." menu, in bookmarks and in the saved report). A header without a field to sort by - Total, chart columns - is left alone.
Insert	Bar Chart, Needle Chart, Waterfall Chart (the chart the column has is marked), and Remove Chart once there is one. Only offered if there is a column with values to put a chart on. See Insert tab.
Rename Column	The header's text becomes an input right where it is. Enter keeps the name, Esc drops it, an empty name or the original resets to the original.
Hide Column	Hides the column (a group header hides the group with everything under it). Hidden columns come back with Show Column.
Show Column	Only while something is hidden. All, or one entry for each hidden column, named by its path ("2024 > Cost").
Number Format	A short list: PowerBI, Number, Currency, Percentage, Scientific. For more, use the Start tab's Number section.
Set Width	Auto - fit the column to what it shows (the widest value or the header, whichever is wider). Customized - an input appears in the header; type a number of px and press Enter.
Change Financial Header	Only on a measure column. Actual, Plan, Forecast, Previous Year, Deviation (the current one is marked) and None. Greyed out with the hint "Activate Financial Headers in the View Tab" while Financial Headers are off.
Select	Focus Mode only. Select All (every column), Select This Group (only where the column is in a group), Select This Measure (only on a measure header; that measure in every group, hidden columns included - a message says how many were hidden).
Copy	With Header - the header cells (each level) above the values, no row labels. Without Header - the values only. As text and as HTML with the look inline, so pasting into Excel or Word keeps it.

Set Width in detail

• Customized starts with the column's current width (default 100 px). Enter applies, Esc cancels. 200 px is read as 200; something that is not a number changes nothing. The width is held between 40 and 1000 px. An empty entry gives the column its default width back (and leaves no setting behind). Entering the width the column already has does nothing.
• Auto adds room for the cell's padding; a chart column is fitted to its labels and the room for its bars, a link column to its icon or text.
• You can also drag the right edge of a header to resize that column. The row-label column resizes the same way, from the right edge of any corner cell. Default widths: row labels 180 px, value columns 100 px, chart columns 160 px.

Group headers and several selected columns

• A group header stands for the columns under it - in Set Width, Copy, Insert, Change Financial Header and Number Format. Two entries are different: Rename Column renames the group header itself and Hide Column hides the group as a whole.
• Several selected columns: when you right-click one of several selected columns, the entry acts on all of them - one number for all in Set Width > Customized, side by side in Copy (the gap between non-adjacent columns closed), one chart on each in Insert, and one persist for Hide Column and Change Financial Header. Rename Column goes through the selected headers one after the other: Enter or Tab keeps the name and moves on, Esc ends the round, leaving a field keeps its text and ends the round.
• A right-click on a column outside the selection acts on that column alone.

Things to know

• Hide Column and Show Column are the same setting the eye in the floating strip lists.
• Renamed headers are used everywhere: in Copy, in exports and in the lists of hidden columns.