Microsoft Power BI: PL-300 Certification Prep (Data Analyst)

Learn the PL-300 exam structure, including in-person or remote proctored testing, knowledge-based and case study questions, about 60 questions, 100 minutes, 700/1000 to pass, one-year validity, and about $165.

Master the four PL-300 skill areas: preparing data with profiling and cleansing, modeling with DAX, visualizing and analyzing in Power BI service, and deploying and maintaining assets.

Explore PL-300 exam question types, including knowledge-based and case study formats, with active screen, drag-and-drop, hotspot, and multiple-choice questions; learn case-study strategies and detail-focused reasoning.

Learn knowledge-based questions on the PL-300 exam, including Power Query data profiling with column quality, SQL Server import steps, and DAX TOPN logic for top 25 customers based on revenue.

Analyze the Maven Toy Emporium case study in Power BI to understand dataset types, data concerns, and reporting requirements, and determine the best way to publish reports via an app.

Learn the PL-300 exam rules for remote and in-person testing, including proctor monitoring and strict room and device requirements. In-person testing requires two forms of ID and enhanced security checks.

Create your da-100 account and schedule via Pearson VUE, choosing date and time and paying to receive confirmation; run a system test to ensure your computer and internet meet requirements.

Review the Pearson VUE exam results report for exam details, candidate ID, score, and section performance; a final comparison highlights focus areas to strengthen skills.

Renew the PL-300 annually via the online Microsoft Learn renewal, free and unproctored, focusing on new Power BI updates and the connect, study, and take steps.

Explore essential study resources for the DA-100, including MeasureUp practice tests, Microsoft Learn paths, official Power BI documentation, and Adam and Patrick in Guy in a Cube videos.

Apply hands-on practice with Power BI daily. Create a personalized study plan using available resources, follow exam rules, skip stuck questions and revisit when possible, and stay confident.

Learn how to download, install, and update Power BI Desktop, including 64-bit options, setup, and how signing in unlocks features like App Source Store and publishing to Power BI service.

Create a Power BI service account with a work or school account, then activate a 60-day premium per user trial to access Pro and premium features in Power BI Service.

Explore the Power BI service interface by navigating the left-hand pane, accessing dashboards and datasets, and adding data with Get Data or Add Content in workspaces.

Compare my workspace and workspaces in Power BI service, noting access, collaboration, and sharing licenses. Learn to create a workspace and adjust advanced settings, including premium capacity.

Prepare data for Power BI PL-300 by learning to connect to sources, adjust data source settings, choose storage modes, and use parameters.

Explore connecting to diverse Power BI data sources—from flat files and databases to Azure and online services—using Get Data and the Query Editor.

Shape, transform, and load data into the data model using the query editor. Review applied steps and M code to refine table names and ensure full dataset coverage.

Connect to a json file using the get data menu, convert the json list to a table in the query editor, expand attributes into columns, and set correct data types.

Power BI PBIDS files store a single data source connection as a shareable template, speeding setup; they do not store credentials and prompt on open.

Explore the Microsoft Dataverse as a cloud data source for Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate, with predefined tables, secure access, and easy connectivity.

Learn to connect to SSAS tabular in Power BI, selecting import or live mode, transform data with Power Query, and publish via an on-premises gateway.

Connect to SharePoint Online using the SharePoint folder connector, enter the site root URL, filter to the manufacturing document library, and load data into the Power BI data model.

Learn about Power BI storage modes: import, DirectQuery, and dual storage, including when to store data in memory, query sources live, or mix both.

Explore how to update and manage data source settings in Power BI, including changing sources, browsing file paths, handling local file paths, refreshing data, and using parameters to streamline connections.

Learn how to use parameters to dynamically switch data source values across a Power BI model, enabling one parameter to update multiple tables for production, development, and testing schemas.

Explore data profiling in the query editor to identify anomalies, examine data structures, and assess column quality, distribution, and profile options for the DA-100 data analyst exam.

Explore the view menu in the query editor to toggle the applied steps pane, M formula bar, and parameters, then use data preview tools like column quality, distribution, and profile.

Examine column quality in data profiling to see the proportion of valid, error, and empty values, and use contextual menus to clean duplicates, remove empties, and fix errors.

Use column distribution in Power BI to view distributions, distinct and unique value counts, and cleanup options like remove duplicates that identify primary keys in lookup tables and joining fields.

Explore column profile in Power BI to analyze a column’s statistics and value distribution, apply on-the-fly transformations, and verify data completeness across all states and the full data set.

Learn to clean, transform, and load data into Power BI, identify join keys, shape and combine queries, and modify M-code, with DA100 exam questions on period-over-period calculations.

Learn basic table transformations in Power BI using the Home, Transform, and Add Columns tabs to remove, rename, and create columns, promote headers, adjust data types, and create lookup tables.

Add index columns to Power BI tables to create unique IDs for rows and optionally form relationships; start values can be zero, one, or custom.

Use Power BI query editor to add a conditional column named price range, classifying unit prices as low (≤100), mid (<1000), or high (≥1000) with else unclassified, then apply changes.

Add columns from example to create new columns from existing data, formatting dates and extracting text before a delimiter, then load and transform a calendar table in Power BI.

Learn to group by and aggregate data in Power Query within Power BI to produce a two-column summary of total quantity by product key, illustrating granularity trade-offs.

Explore pivoting and unpivoting in Power BI, turning years into columns or columns into years, and reshape data to year, products sold, and profit using transpose.

Merge queries in Power BI by joining the Maven Cycles sales table with the products table on product key, using left outer joins and expanding columns.

Append queries to stack tables with identical structure, creating a taller multi-year dataset from 2019 and 2020 sales, and use a folder as a data source to add files continuously.

Modify queries in the query editor by editing m-code or adjusting applied steps via the UI, using the left-side queries pane and gear icons, then refine via the advanced editor.

Explore M code and data mashup in Power Query, and learn to edit applied steps with the formula bar, fx button, and the advanced editor to tailor queries.

Explore the advanced editor in Power BI's M code, learn let and in blocks, and see how variables and applied steps transform data.

Master common M function categories in Power BI data analysis, including table, list, text, and date functions, with examples like Table.FromList, List.Select, Text.BeforeDelimiter, and Date.EndOfMonth.

Learn to write M-code to filter rows in Power BI using Table.SelectRows, note case sensitivity, reference the prior step, and filter where quantity sold equals two.

Explore core data modeling essentials for Power BI, including data models, DAX measures, table roles, relationships, star and snowflake schemas, date tables, and optimization tips.

Explore what defines a data model, establish relationships to connect fact and lookup tables, and apply star schema and one-way filters to optimize Power BI data models.

Explore how Power BI data models use data tables (fact tables) and lookup (dimension) tables, linked by foreign keys to primary keys, to describe metrics with calendar attributes.

Learn to create table relationships in Power BI by linking lookup tables to the fact table instead of merging, using drag and connect or manage relationships dialog to set cardinality.

Explore relationship cardinality, showing how one-to-many keys connect lookup and fact tables, and how single directional filter flow passes context from lookups to the sales table.

Master active and inactive relationships in Power BI, learn to use DAX functions like USERELATIONSHIP to access inactive links, and leverage a single calendar table for multiple date fields.

Build snowflake schemas to connect the sales table to product, subcategory, and category lookups via one-to-many relationships. Demonstrate how filters traverse this chain to filter sales data by product category.

Power BI automatically creates hidden date tables for each date column, with a full date range and year, month, quarter fields. Disable auto date time and use a date dimension.

Master Power BI date table requirements: include all dates from fact tables, ensure unique dates, use a date or datetime field, keep a consistent time, and mark as date table.

Optimize your Power BI data model by normalizing tables, removing redundant data, and simplifying queries to boost performance; separate time from date, enforce one-to-many relationships, and consider aggregating data.

Explore DAX calculations in Power BI, including calculated columns and measures, aggregation and table functions, time intelligence, and DA-100 themes like top 50 revenue generating products and monthly rolling averages.

Meet DAX: learn how the data analysis expressions language drives Power BI visuals by creating calculated columns and measures for tabular data models.

Learn how calculated columns in Power BI use DAX to add row-level, static values like year and start of month, and why they are not ideal for aggregations.

Use DAX measures to aggregate data for visuals, evaluated under filter context, and store as numerical values in the values field; build a total orders measure from distinct invoice IDs.

Explore quick measures, prebuilt DAX templates you drag and drop to create rolling averages and year-to-date calculations.

Explore common DAX function categories for the PL-300 exam: math and stats, logicals, text, filter, and date/time. Understand iterator functions such as SUMX, AVERAGEX, RANKX, and COUNTX.

Explore basic aggregation functions in Power BI, including sum, average, min, max, and divide, and learn about parameters, fully qualified references, and when to use measures.

explore dax iterator functions like sumx that loop through a table, evaluate per row expressions, and apply aggregations to build total cost and total revenue measures.

Learn the divide function in Power BI DAX to perform safe division with numerator and denominator, handle divide-by-zero with an alternate result like N/A or zero, applied to profit margin.

Calculate evaluates an expression under a defined filter context and can override competing filters. The Australian orders example shows how this filter context takes priority over the visual country context.

Explore calculate modifiers that alter filter context, access columns via inactive relationships, and control filter flow with crossfilter, using userelationship and options like all, allselected, allexcept, keepfilters, and removefilters.

Use userelationship to activate an inactive relationship between foreign key and primary key in a calculate context, enabling measures from stock date and transaction date with a calendar table.

Explore the ALL function in Power BI to clear filter context, use calculate for modified contexts, and build measures like percent of total profit with a fixed denominator.

The filter function returns a subset table and acts as an iterator. It uses a table input and boolean expression to form a filter context with calculate or sumx.

Learn how TOPN returns the top N rows using N_Value, TableName, and optional OrderBy expressions, then build a top 10 products table with SUMMARIZE and quantity sold.

Master time intelligence in Power BI by using CALCULATE with date functions to compare performance to date, previous periods, and rolling totals, including last month revenue, profit, and margin.

Learn to create and enrich Power BI reports and dashboards by inserting visuals, enabling navigation, and using tool tips, with insights on publishing to the Power BI service.

Explore the Power BI report view, customizing themes, layouts, and panes while selecting visual types, fields, and analytics options. Learn to apply drill-through filters, page filters, and multi-page navigation.

Learn to build rich Power BI reports by adding and formatting visuals, including KPI cards, matrices, maps, and charts, using drag-and-drop, conditional formatting, and layout techniques.

Master small multiples, or trellising, to split a visual into side-by-side mini charts by dimension, such as profit by country over time, with synchronized axes and configurable grid layouts.

Learn to edit report interactions in Power BI, choosing filter or highlight effects to control how visuals respond to a date slicer, with practical examples across charts.

Explore Power BI drill-through filters to jump between report pages, preserving country-level filter context from a map to a decomposition tree showing revenue by country with category and age breakdowns.

Explore how to create and use bookmarks in Power BI to pre filtered reports, navigate between filtered views, and reset to defaults with interactive buttons for storytelling and planning sessions.

Explore tooltips to enrich Power BI visuals by displaying revenue, profit, and profit margin when you hover over data points, and learn how to customize and create page-specific tooltips.

Import custom visuals into Power BI from local files or online sources after signing in. Use visuals from the app source marketplace to extend default charts and enhance data visualizations.

Learn to create R and Python visuals in Power BI, outlining installation steps, limits like 150,000 rows, 2 MB, 72 dpi, five-minute timeouts, and metadata constraints for Python visuals.

Discover accessibility features in Power BI, including colorblind safe themes and the option to import custom themes. Adjust layer and tab order to control visual stacking and navigation through reports.

Publish your report to the Power BI service, pin visuals or entire report pages to dashboards, and explore live page pins and mobile-first dashboard layouts.

Explore the dashboard interface in Power BI, including the top toolbar, file and edit options, sharing, subscriptions, comments, and the natural language Q&A that generates visuals from data.

Design mobile dashboards by using the mobile layout to pin and resize visuals from your dashboard, then swap to web layout to compare and optimize for mobile viewing.

Discover paginated reports in Power BI, designed for pixel-perfect printing and PDF deliverables, and learn to build, publish, and export them using Paginated Report Builder and premium capacity.

Connect to a Power BI dataset in Excel and create a pivot table in three steps: select the source, pick a dataset, and drag fields to rows, columns, and values.

Analyze data in Power BI by enhancing reports for insights and advanced analysis using basic chart types, filtering, q&a synonyms, and AI visuals to explore cost vs revenue and outliers.

Compare chart types for data analysis, including scatter charts for relationships and outliers, line charts for time trends with multiple series, and clustered column charts for category comparisons.

Learn chart analytics in Power BI: constant lines and median for scatter charts; trend lines and forecasts for line charts; min, max, average, and percentile for column charts; anomaly detection.

Enhance the Power BI Q&A visual with the Q&A tooling by adding synonyms and teaching Q&A, and ensure the data model has relationships, correct types, and normalization.

Power BI offers visual level, page level, report level, and drill through filters. The demo adds a top n filter by revenue to matrix and explains basic and advanced options.

Learn to add and format slicers in Power BI to filter reports by date, subcategory, or continent, switch between list, dropdown, or button styles, and optimize layout for easy exploration.

Analyze quantity sold with the Power BI key influencer visual. Identify top influencers in the left pane and review the right pane's column chart with an average line.

Explore total revenue using the decomposition tree visual in Power BI, breaking it down by country, product category, and age group for root-cause analysis and ad hoc data exploration.

Learn clustering in Power BI, an unsupervised machine learning technique that groups similar data points using the EM algorithm, enabling segmentation and anomaly detection for data-driven decisions.

Group text data and bin numerical data in Power BI, creating, refining, and managing groups and bins with calculated columns for practical demos on orders and quantity sold.