Setting up Power BI

In this chapter

• Install and set up Power BI Desktop

• Explore Power BI Desktop interface

• Configure Power BI Desktop settings

Practice files

No practice files are necessary to complete the practice tasks in this chapter.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to get started with Power BI Desktop, the main application used for creating reports and semantic models in Power BI. Power BI Desktop is a free Windows application that provides everything you need to design, build, and publish powerful data visualizations. It’s the starting point for most Power BI projects and is used by analysts, developers, and business users alike.

This chapter will walk through the different ways to install Power BI Desktop, review the system requirements, and explore what happens the first time you launch the app. You’ll also become familiar with the user interface and learn how to configure a few key settings to optimize your experience.