Bar Slicer Plume: 9 how-to guides (Top N, Excel list, bookmarks…)

These recipes assume a Bar Slicer Plume is already in place. If it isn't, start with getting started: the examples reuse its data. Features marked ★ are premium: they work without a license, with a watermark.

How do I sync the slicer across several pages?

Your report has several pages and readers should only have to pick their categories once: slicer sync (a Power BI feature) keeps the same selection on every page you choose.

1. Select Bar Slicer Plume on the first page.

2. In the ribbon, select View › Sync slicers. The Sync slicers pane opens and lists the report's pages.

3. In the sync column (circular arrows icon), check each page that should share the selection.

4. In the visibility column (eye icon), check the pages where the slicer should also be displayed. Power BI places a copy of the visual there.

5. Check "Lighting" on the first page, then go to another checked page.

Result: "Lighting" is already checked on the other page and its visuals are filtered. A page checked for sync but not for visibility is filtered without showing the slicer.

How do I save a selection in a bookmark?

You want to offer ready-made "views" ("Indoor", "Outdoor") without readers having to check the values themselves. A bookmark (see the glossary) is a snapshot of the page's state, slicer selections included.

1. In Bar Slicer Plume, check "Lighting", "Decor" and "Home linens".
2. In the ribbon, select View › Bookmarks. The Bookmarks pane opens.
3. Click Add. A bookmark named "Bookmark 1" appears.
4. Open the bookmark's … menu › Rename, and name it "Indoor".
5. In the same … menu, make sure Data is checked: this is the option that saves slicer selections.
6. Click Clear in the slicer header, then click the "Indoor" bookmark.

Result: the three categories are checked again and the page is filtered. For a button on the page, select Insert › Buttons › Blank, then in Format › Action, choose the Bookmark type and the "Indoor" bookmark.

How do I open the report with categories already checked? ★

You want the report to already show the two flagship categories when it opens, without a bookmark or a click from the reader: preselection checks the values returned by a measure.

1. With the Sales table selected, Modeling › New measure:

Preselected Categories = "Lighting;Garden"

2. Drag Preselected Categories into the visual's Preselection well.
3. In Format › Preselection, leave Apply on Once per session: the selection applies when the report opens, then the reader is in control.
4. Click Clear in the slicer header, save the report, close it and reopen it.

Result: Lighting and Garden are checked when the report opens and the page is filtered. A selection saved in the report or recalled by a bookmark is kept; turn on Force for the preselection to replace it.

How do I stop the slicer from filtering a specific visual?

One visual on the page must stay on the total (for example a "Total store revenue" card) even when a category is checked.

1. Select Bar Slicer Plume.
2. In the ribbon, select Format › Edit interactions. Small icons appear above the other visuals.
3. Above the visual to protect, click the None icon (circle with a slash).
4. Click Edit interactions again to leave this mode.

Result: this visual ignores the slicer selection; the other visuals stay filtered.

How do I select the 5 biggest categories in one click? ★

In a meeting, people want "the top 5 categories" without looking for them one by one.

1. Make sure a measure is in Measure (bars) (here, Revenue).
2. In Format › Quick actions, leave Top N ★ on and set N to 5.
3. Click the visual's Top N button.

Result: the 5 categories with the highest revenue are checked. Note: this is a list fixed at the moment you click. If sales change after a refresh, the selection isn't recalculated; click Top N again.

How do I filter on a list copied from Excel? ★

A colleague sends you a workbook with the list of categories to track.

1. In Excel, copy the column of categories (one value per cell).
2. In Bar Slicer Plume, click the Paste a list button.
3. Paste the list into the box that opens (; and , separators are also accepted).
4. Choose whether to replace the current selection or add to it.

Result: the values from the list that exist in the slicer are checked.

How do I make a single-choice slicer?

Some pages only make sense for one value at a time (a channel, a region).

1. In Format › Selection, set Mode to Single value.
2. Turn on Always keep one value selected.

Result: radio buttons replace the checkboxes; a click replaces the chosen value, and it's impossible to uncheck everything. If nothing is checked, the visual checks the first value itself.

How do I sort months in calendar order?

With a "Month" field, sorting by measure mixes up January, March, June…

1. In Power BI's Table view, select the month name column, then Column tools › Sort by column and choose the month number column.
2. In Bar Slicer Plume, Format › Sort › Sort by: choose Model order.
3. Turn off Sort toggle in the visual if readers shouldn't change this order.

Result: months are displayed from January to December, with their bars. For codes like "M2", "M10", Label A → Z with Natural sort (2 before 10) is enough.

How do I customize the selection summary? ★

You want a business-friendly sentence instead of the standard text, for example "2 categories of 6 ·" followed by the selected revenue and its share.

1. In Format › Selection summary, enter in Text ★: {n} categories of {count} · {sel} ({pct}).
2. Turn off Share of total on the right so the share isn't shown twice.

Result: with Lighting and Garden checked, the summary starts with "2 categories of 6", then gives the revenue of these two categories and their share (about 57%).

Learn more

• Getting started with Bar Slicer Plume: the data to prepare and a first visual, step by step.
• Bar Slicer Plume: every field and setting explained: every field well and every setting.
• Getting started with Plume visuals: installation, license, styles and settings shared by all visuals.
• The visual's page: Bar Slicer Plume. Have a question? Support.