Sorting, Top N and paging

Order a visual the way you need it, keep only the leading values with Top N, and move through a long result with pages or Load more. These are the controls on a single visual; the row rules behind them are on Row limits and paging, and the reader-facing basics of sorting and drilling are on Sort, drill and compare data.

Sort a visual

1. Open the visual's menu and pick a field under Sort by. The first pick orders the visual ascending, and picking the same field again reverses the direction; the list stays open while you flip it, and an arrow beside the row marks the direction in use.

• Rows are labelled with the field's name and its summarisation, such as Revenue (sum), and a custom name replaces the field's own name. With Compare on, a measure gets one row per side, such as Revenue (sum) · First. See Compare mode.
• The list holds the fields the visual can sort by, taken from its wells. A field the visual cannot resolve is left out rather than offered and refused; to sort by something the visual does not draw, put the field in Tooltips, which is part of the list on purpose.
• The entry under the list clears the order: Clear sort while you edit, Reset to default while you read. It stays disabled until there is an order to clear.
• While you edit, a pick writes the visual's saved order, so it saves with the report and everyone opens it that way. While you read, a pick is yours: it stays in this browser and never changes what others see, and the report footer's Reset, whose tooltip reads Reset to the author's saved view, clears every personal view change at once. See Read a report.
• KPI and Cards visuals, Slicer group, Key tree and custom visuals offer no sort order. A Table or Matrix orders from its own grid instead: pick a column header. See Table visual and Matrix visual.
• While a visual fills the canvas, its controls show as a bar where a Sort button opens the same list.
• A sort is a different result: the visual runs again, and a visual that pages returns to its first page.

Keep the leading values with Top N

A Top N rule keeps only the top or bottom items of one field. With a single visual selected, it lives in the Filters side panel while you edit: Rank by picks the field to keep, Order by adds fields set to Highest first or Lowest first, and Show keeps 5, 10, 20 or a Custom number.

• The count stays inside the visual's maximum: 1,000 in general, 500 for a pie or donut, and 250 for a funnel.
• While a rule is active, the tile shows a badge such as Top 10, whose tooltip spells out the full rule; Clear in the Top N section removes it.
• It is not offered on KPI and Cards visuals, on a slicer or slicer group, or on a tile on the filter canvas.
• Ranking runs before the visual draws: the tile holds its own run until the ranking settles, so it never draws the full result first and then redraws under the rule. A ranking that cannot run resolves to no narrowing rather than an error, so the visual still draws and the rule stays set.
• The rule is part of the report, so every reader gets it. How ranking works, what it can order by and its edge cases are on Top N.

Move through a long result

• The pager under a visual appears once its result outgrows the type's default page size or already spans more than one page; a small result shows no pager.
• When the page you are on no longer exists, for example after you raise the page size so the result holds fewer pages, the visual pulls you back to a page with rows instead of loading an empty one.
• A Matrix with Rows or Columns filled, and a Bar, Combo or Line with a Legend field, load in windows instead of pages: Load more adds the next window of rows (a Matrix words it Load more records), and the tile stops at its window cap, about a million rows.
• A window can bring back a few more rows than it asked for, because rows tied at its edge travel together; a single load is either a page or a window, never both.
• A legend-split chart that has loaded more than 2,000 rows shows a warning marker among its controls. Its tooltip reads Showing {n} rows. A legend field splits each row into its own series, so this visual loads in server windows instead of pages - add a filter to narrow it. Filter the legend field to load less. See Row limits and paging.

Questions, answered

Why does the Sort by list show names like Revenue (sum)?

The list labels each field the way you read it: the field's name with its summarisation in brackets when it is a measure, so Revenue (sum) orders the visual by the summed revenue. A custom name replaces the field's own name, and with Compare on a measure gets one row per side, such as Revenue (sum) · First.

How can I sort by a field the visual does not draw?

Put it in Tooltips. That well is part of the sort list on purpose, so a field you keep only for ordering can sit there and still order the visual. A field the visual cannot resolve is left out of the list rather than offered and refused.

Why does the entry under the sort list say Clear sort while I edit and Reset to default while I read?

Because they undo different things. While you edit, the pick is the visual's saved order, so Clear sort removes what the report saves. While you read, the pick is yours, so Reset to default drops it and the visual returns to the author's order. Either entry stays disabled until there is an order to clear.

What happens to my sort when a sorted column's summarisation changes?

The sort follows the change: re-summarising a sorted measure, for example from Sum to Average, moves the order onto the new summarisation instead of dropping it. If the sorted field leaves the visual altogether, the sort is set aside so the tile keeps running. See Row limits and paging.

Where do I set a Top N rule?

Edit the report, select one visual, and open Filters in the side panel: the Top N section holds Rank by, Order by and Show. The setup steps and the ranking rules are on Top N.

Why does a visual with Top N wait before it draws?

The rule first resolves which values to keep, and the tile holds its own run until the ranking settles. Without that, it would draw the full result first and redraw under the rule, showing values the rule is about to drop. See Top N.

What happens when a Top N ranking cannot run?

The visual still draws: a ranking that cannot run resolves to no narrowing instead of an error, and the rule stays set and applies again when the ranking runs.

Can a reader change a Top N rule?

No. A Top N rule is part of the report, like a filter: while you read, you see the narrowed result and the tile's badge, such as Top 10, and changing or clearing it needs edit mode. See Top N.

Why did Load more stop while rows remain?

A tile accumulates windows up to its cap, about a million rows, and stops there; the footer then tells you the row limit is reached and points to Export, which carries the full result, not only the loaded rows. See Export reports and data.

Why did the pager move me back a page?

The page you were on no longer exists, for example after you raised the page size so the result holds fewer pages. The visual pulls you back to a page with rows rather than loading an empty one.