Focus Mode
Smart Matrix works in two situations:
| In the report | In Focus Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| Ribbon and side panels | Not shown | Shown |
| Click on a row label or column header | Cross-filters the rest of the report | Selects the row or column for formatting |
| Click on a value cell | Selects the cell (no filtering) | Selects the cell for formatting |
Open / close rows (+ / -) | Works | Works |
| Right-click menus | Row and column menus work; everywhere else Power BI's own menu opens (see below) | The same |
| Undo / Redo, eye and loading indicator | Floating at the top right of the visual | In the tab strip of the ribbon |
Opening Focus Mode
Use either of these:
- Power BI's Focus mode icon in the visual's header (the standard way to enlarge a visual).
- The Settings button (a gear) at the top right of the visual, in the floating strip. It opens Focus Mode for you. It is only shown outside Focus Mode, and only if the Power BI host allows a visual to open Focus Mode.
📷 Screenshot needed:
floating-strip-settings.png- the top right corner of the visual outside Focus Mode with the Undo / Redo buttons and the Settings gear.
Leaving Focus Mode
Leave it with Power BI's Back to report button. When you leave:
- all side panels are closed,
- any selected row, column, cell or first column is deselected (a selection is only useful while the ribbon is there),
- the cross-filter highlighting that was hidden while you were in Focus Mode comes back.
The formatting you did stays, of course - it is saved with the report.
Cross-filtering outside Focus Mode
In the report a click on a row label cross-filters the other visuals by that row; a click on a column header filters by that
column. Ctrl (or Cmd) toggles one more item, Shift selects a range, and clicking the only selected item again clears the
filter.
Rows and columns can be filtered at the same time. With a row and a column selected, the other visuals show only the data where the row crosses the column (with several of each: every combination of a selected row and a selected column). Each side has its own selection: a click on a row label changes only the rows, a click on a column header only the columns, and a click on the only selected item clears just that side. The Total row and the Total column have nothing to filter by, so they do not filter.
In Focus Mode the filter highlighting is hidden (but not cleared) so it does not compete with the selection outline.
Right-click
A right-click on a row label or a column header opens the visual's own row or column menu. A right-click anywhere else - a value cell, the background, the gaps between columns, the corner cells, the Layer Toggles - opens Power BI's own menu of the visual. This is how Power BI wants every visual to behave. In a text field the browser's own menu stays (cut, copy, paste).
In the reading view, Reading Mode can switch the row and the column menu off (Allow Row Right Click, Allow Column Right Click); Power BI's own menu opens there instead.
Hosts that do not allow interactions - Power BI's PDF and PowerPoint export, a dashboard tile - show the table as a picture: nothing is saved from there and controls that need a mouse are left out.