Power BI Enhancements You Need to Know – Part 5: On-Object Interaction in Power BI

Whether you're designing dashboards or quickly iterating visuals, On-Object Interaction simplifies your workflow and helps you stay in the creative zone, without navigating through endless panes or menus.

 

What is On-Object Interaction?

On-Object Interaction allows you to edit, format, and customize visuals directly by clicking on them, right where they appear on the report canvas. Instead of toggling between different panes (Visualizations, Fields, Format), you now get an inline menu that appears on top of the visual itself.

Think of it like the “right-click + edit” experience, but smarter and context-aware.

Key Benefits of On-Object Interaction

  • Reduces cognitive load by removing pane-switching

  • Speeds up design and formatting directly on visuals

  • Simplifies field editing and visual switching

  • Cleaner UI with more screen space for your visuals

  • Improves usability for new Power BI users

How to Enable On-Object Interaction

Steps to Enable:

  1. Open Power BI Desktop

  2. Go to File → Options and settings → Options

  3. Under Preview Features, check the box for On-Object Interaction

  4. Restart Power BI Desktop

anmolmalviya05_0-1749561269901.png

 

Once enabled, you’ll notice your visualizations behave slightly differently in a very good way.

How It Works: On-Object Interaction in Action

Let’s explore what’s new and how to use it effectively:

1. Field Wells Right on the Visual

When you click on a visual, you’ll see inline dropdowns for:

  • X-axis / Y-axis / Values / Legend / Tooltips, etc.

    anmolmalviya05_1-1749561332897.png

     

No need to open the Fields pane or drag-drop fields, just select them directly from the visual.

2. In-Place Formatting

Hover over or click on the title, axis labels, or legends, and you'll see:

  • Edit text inline (e.g., chart titles)

  • Change font size, alignment, color, and more

  • Rename fields or add custom labels

    anmolmalviya05_2-1749561457489.png

     

3. Change Visualization Type

Right-click or use the visual header menu to switch between chart types, such as bar → line → combo chart, without leaving the visual area.

4. Contextual Menu

Every visual now has a mini-toolbar:

  • Format visual

  • Change fields

  • Add/remove data

  • Access advanced options

    anmolmalviya05_3-1749561509036.png

     

It's like having a mini control center attached to each visual.

Why You Should Start Using It

This feature is especially powerful if:

  • You're a report designer juggling many visuals

  • You're training a team with non-technical users

  • You're working on a laptop with limited screen space

By reducing the need for the side panes, On-Object Interaction dramatically boosts efficiency and encourages more experimentation with visual types and field combinations.

 “This is the biggest user-experience shift in Power BI since the modern ribbon UI.”  A comment we hear often!

Final Thoughts

On-Object Interaction is more than just a UI upgrade - it’s a design philosophy that puts control and creativity back into the hands of the user. With Power BI evolving towards a more fluid design experience, this feature is a giant step forward.


If you haven’t tried it yet, turn it on today and feel the difference!


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