Drill Through Limitations

[jaryszek]

Hi Guys,

I know 2 restrictions for it which require workarounds:

1. First one is that there are showing only one specific data point.
2. Second is that if you have multiple drill throughs pages there all will be shown in the context menu.

What else regarding inter - page (within 1 power bi report) and external page navigation (cross reports)?

Best Wishes,
Jacek

[v-yiruan-msft]

Hi @jaryszek,

There are some other additional points and limitations to be aware of when using drill through for inter-page and cross-report in Power BI beyond the two limitations you mentioned:

1. Inter-Page Drill-Through (Within the Same Report)

• Filter context limitation: Drill-through passes only explicitly defined fields (e.g., "Drill Through Fields" set on the target page). Filters from the source page’s overall context (e.g., slicers, page-level filters) are not automatically carried over unless explicitly added to the target page. And drill through only works as intended when exactly one data point (or unique combination) is selected, cannot drill through from a visual that uses a multi-select.
• Back navigation challenges: When you drill through, you leave the current page and go to the target page with the specific filter context, but Power BI does not automatically include “back” navigation. You need to set up a manual “back” button (typically using bookmarks or page navigation actions) to help users return to the source page when needed.
• Limited visual support: Some custom visuals or non-standard charts may not support drill-through, restricting where users can right-click to trigger the action.

2. Cross-Report Drill-Through (External Reports)

• Workspace Dependency: Both source and target reports must reside in the same Power BI workspace and be published to the Power BI Service (not available in Desktop for cross-report).
• Field Name Consistency: Fields used for drill-through must have identical names and data types in both reports. Mismatches will break navigation. This means pass a measure (or calculated column that isn’t directly available) as the drill through filter; only base fields that exist in both reports work.
• Security and Permissions: Users need access to both reports, and Row-Level Security (RLS) rules in the target report may override or conflict with the source report’s context.
• Performance Issues: Cross-report drill-through can be slow if the target report is large or requires re-querying data based on passed parameters.

Best Regards