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Quickly create reports from SharePoint lists

Headshot of article author Amanda Rivera

Back in December, we launched a new create experience within the Power BI service that allowed you to quick explore your data with just a few clicks. Now, we’re excited to announce, as our first integration of this experience, the launch of our Power BI integration within SharePoint lists. This experience empowers SharePoint list and Microsoft List users to easily explore their list data with just a few clicks. If you’re part of the Targeted release experience, you can try it out now, and we’ll be rolling it out in the Standard release in the future.

You’ll find this feature under the Integration menu on any lists.

Visualize the list button found in the command bar under the Integrate split button.

Once you select Visualize in Power BI, a new tab will open a report will automatically be generated. Just like within the Power BI service, you can change what data you see within the report using the Summarize pane. As you select and unselect fields within the pane, you’ll see charts automatically added or removed from view.

Auto generated report with several fields selected in the summarize pane.

It’s easy to change how fields are summarized as well. Just use the field’s context menu in the Summarize pane to switch between sum/average/max/min etc.

Context menu showing aggregation options for a numeric field

If you would like to make more substantial changes, you can also use the Edit button within the app bar to enter our full edit experience and completely control the visuals and layout of the report. Be aware though that once you save the report in the full edit experience, you will not be able to go back to the original quick edit view.

Edit button found the app bar

If you want to share the insights you find with others on your team, you can publish the report back to the list using the Publish to the list button within the app bar.

Publish to the list button found in the app bar

You’ll need to name your report and confirm you’re ready to publish back to the list. Once published everyone who has access to the list will be able to open the report and see all the data within the report.

Publish dialog where you name the report before sharing it back to the list

The reports you share in this way are not visible within the Power BI service. Instead, to make it easy for other list users to find, you’ll find these published reports within the same Integrate menu of the list.

Integrate menu in SharePoint showing the previously shared report.

The data in the report will regularly update to stay in sync with the list. Once a refresh has happened, you can use the refresh button in the ribbon to update the visuals. If you make changes to the report, you can use the Publish to the list button to save the changes. Use the Delete button to remove the report from the list for everyone.

Anyone will be able to use the “Visualize the list” feature to explore their list data, but to enter the full edit experience, publish reports, access reports others have published, or delete reports, you’ll need a Power BI Pro license. If you don’t currently have a Pro license, we’ll give you the option to buy or try a free trial.

As we continue expanding our experience to quickly explore your data, we’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback! Let us know what you’d like to see added to this experience or where’d you like to see us integrate next.