Power BI – Creating a Dashboard when not automatically created

What I found was that in some instances when you imported data into Power BI, it would not automatically create the dashboard.

This would also result in your dataset not being indexed (if that is the correct terminology) so that you could then use Q&A in order to enable users to easily search for results using Q&A

As with our example below, in order to replicate what would happen when Power BI does not create a dashboard, we are going to create a new report also. In effect this could be the case when for some reason Power BI does not create a report and or dashboard. And then how to quickly create the dashboard and then ensure that you can then use Q&A to interact with your data.

NOTE: We will be using our Excel file which we imported the data previously: Importing your Excel Workbook from One Drive for Business into Power BI and create a simple report and Dashboard

Creating your Power BI Report and Dashboard

1. Log into your Power BI.
2. Click on Datasets, then click on Explore
   1. 
   2. As you can see with our example above for our Auto Update of Adventure Works DW
3. We then create a very simple report as shown below based on our Adventure Works Data
   1. 
   2. Then click on Save, and as below we saved our report with the following name:
   3. 
4. Now we can see our report under Reports
   1. 
5. Next will be to create the dashboard.
   1. The trick that I have currently found is that in order to create the dashboard which will map to the same
      report is to give it the identical name
   2. So click on the plus sign next to Dashboard to create your new dashboard as shown below
   3. 
   4. So once complete it will look like the following:
      1. 
   5. And the initial screenshot will also be blank, as well as in the Q&A section there will be no text prompting you to “Ask a question about the data on this dashboard“
      1. 
6. Now go back to your report you created in step 3 above.
   1. Now pin an item to your dashboard
   2. 
   3. Now when you go into your dashboard that you created in step 5 above you will see your pinned item or tile.
   4. 
7. Now in order to get the Q&A
   working, from what I have read you have to wait for the Power BI service to index or go through your data in order to create the required synonyms.
   1. NOTE: This can take a few
      minutes or longer to create the required synonyms.
   2. NOTE II: I have sometimes found that closing the Power BI app in your browser and opening it again, results in the Q&A then being there.
8. If you go back into your dashboard after some time you should be greeted with the following as shown below:
   1. 
   2. And now you can ask a question such as “Sales by City”
   3.