How to make cross-filter the default interaction in Power BI

Power BI cross-highlights by default. One report setting switches it to cross-filtering, and saves you changing every interaction by hand.

To make cross-filter the default interaction in Power BI Desktop, open File, then Options and settings, then Options. Under Current File, choose Report settings and tick the option to change the default visual interaction from cross highlighting to cross filtering. In the Power BI service, the same option sits in the report's settings when you are editing it.

That one setting changes how every visual on every page responds when someone clicks a data point. It applies to the current report only, so you set it once per report.

What the setting actually changes

Out of the box, Power BI uses cross-highlighting. Click a bar in one chart and the other visuals on the page keep showing their full data, with the related portion highlighted and the rest faded.

With cross-filtering as the default, the other visuals redraw to show only the data related to your selection. Everything else disappears rather than fading.

The difference is easy to underestimate. With highlighting, a reader is looking at the selection and the whole at the same time, in the same space. With filtering, they see only what is relevant, and the axes rescale to fit it.

Why many report builders switch it

The main reason is practical. If you prefer filtering, the alternative is opening Edit interactions and changing each visual, on each page, by hand. On a report with a dozen visuals per page, that is a lot of clicks and a lot of chances to miss one.

There are design reasons too:

• Less visual noise. Faded bars still take up space and still catch the eye.
• Clearer answers. When a reader selects a region, the other visuals show that region's numbers and nothing else.
• Better scale. A filtered chart rescales, so a small segment is readable rather than a sliver at the bottom of a tall bar.
• Consistency. Some visuals, including line charts, scatter charts and maps, can only cross-filter anyway. Making filter the default means the whole page behaves the same way.

What it does not change

• Individual overrides still work. You can open Edit interactions and set any visual to filter, highlight or none, whatever the default.
• Slicers are unaffected. They filter other visuals already.
• It is per report, not per user or per tenant. New reports start with the standard default unless you build from a template that already has it set.

That last point is worth acting on. If your team prefers filtering, set it in your report template so every new report starts that way. It pairs well with a consistent Power BI theme, so layout, colour and behaviour are decided once rather than report by report.

Should cross-filter always be the default?

Not always. Cross-highlighting is genuinely useful when the reader needs to see a part against the whole, such as one product's share of total sales. We cover how to choose between them, visual by visual, in the next article in this series.

For most operational and management reports, though, filtering is the cleaner starting point. Set it as the default, then switch individual visuals back to highlighting where the context of the whole really matters.

If you would like a second opinion on how your reports behave for the people using them, our Power BI team can help, and a free analytics audit is the simplest place to start.

Small setting. Noticeably cleaner reports.