Creating professional Power BI reports from scratch every time can be time-consuming, especially when the same layouts, colors, and formatting are used across multiple reports. Power BI templates solve this problem by letting you save a report's design and structure so it can be reused whenever needed. This helps maintain consistency, reduces development time, and makes collaboration easier across teams.
In this lesson, you'll learn what Power BI templates are, how they differ from regular Power BI reports, why they are useful, and how to create reports using both pre-designed and custom layouts. You'll also explore modern template options available in the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem and discover practical ways to build reusable report designs.
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What Is a Power BI Template?
A Power BI template is a ready-made report design that you can save and reuse for future reports. Instead of designing a new report layout every time, you build it once and then reuse it whenever you need a similar report.
Creating a template usually involves designing a report layout, adding placeholder visuals, setting up data connections, and applying a theme. Once saved, this becomes the starting point for future reports, so you don't have to rebuild the same structure from scratch each time.
In Power BI, templates are saved as .pbit files. A .pbit file stores the report's design, structure, data model definitions, Power Query transformations, DAX measures, and report settings but not the actual data itself. This keeps the file size small and makes it safe to share, since no sensitive data is included.
If the template includes Power Query parameters, Power BI prompts users to enter values such as a server name, database name, or file path when they open the template. This allows the same template to be reused with different data sources without changing the report design.
Power BI templates continue to work whether you're using Power BI Desktop on its own or as part of the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem. Templates are created in Power BI Desktop and can be published to Power BI workspaces in Microsoft Fabric after they are connected to data.
Why Use Power BI Templates?
•Consistency: Every report built from the same template follows the same layout, colors, and formatting, giving your reports a uniform, professional look.
•Time Savings: You skip repetitive design work. The structure is already there, so you only need to add data and adjust visuals.
•Better Collaboration: Templates can be shared across a team so everyone works from the same design standard, which keeps output consistent no matter who builds the report.
•Higher Productivity: You don't have to manually recreate the same visuals and settings each time. You can generate new reports faster by simply plugging in new data.
In short, templates save time, keep your reports looking consistent, and make it easier for teams to collaborate on report design.
Understanding Power BI Layouts
The layout of a report—how visuals, titles, slicers, and other report elements are arranged on the page—has a significant impact on how easily users can understand and analyze the data. A clean, well-planned layout improves readability, highlights key insights, and helps users navigate the report more effectively.
There are two common ways to create a layout for your Power BI report: using a pre-designed template or creating a custom layout in PowerPoint. Both approaches are covered below.
Approach 1: Using Pre-Designed Layouts
If you don't want to design a layout from scratch, you can use ready-made layout templates built specifically for Power BI. PowerBI.tips offers a free theme generator for colors and fonts, and genuinely free, blank .pbit layout files can be found through a few other community sources described below.
1.For free themes (colors and fonts only, not a full layout), visit https://themes.powerbi.tips/themes/gallery. Browse the available themes, preview the design, and select one that matches your reporting style. You can then download or copy the theme and apply it to your Power BI report.
Browse the PowerBI.tips Theme Gallery to preview and download professionally designed report themes.
You can also build your own report layout using the Wireframes section in PowerBI.tips. Select a blank wireframe or create one from scratch, then add placeholder areas for visuals, slicers, and KPI cards. Once the layout is ready, download or copy it and use it as the foundation for your Power BI report.
Create your own report layout using the Wireframes feature in PowerBI.tips before designing your Power BI report.
2. For a full pre-built report, you can browse Microsoft AppSource (Microsoft Marketplace) (https://marketplace.microsoft.com/) and search "Power BI templates" Note that most of these are connector-specific reports (for example, ready-made reports for Google Analytics, LinkedIn Ads, or Salesforce) that come with sample data and a fixed layout for that data source, rather than a blank, general-purpose layout you style yourself.
Search results for Power BI templates in Microsoft Marketplace. Most results are pre-built Template Apps and Power BI solutions for specific business scenarios.
3.For reusable report templates and starter projects, search GitHub using terms such as "Power BI report template", ".pbit template", or "Power BI starter report". Many community members share free sample reports and reusable starter files. You can also explore templates and report designs from companies such as Havens Consulting for additional inspiration and advanced report layouts.
Search GitHub for Power BI report templates to explore community-created templates, sample reports, and starter projects.
4.You can also browse the Fabric Community's Data Stories Gallery (Home - Microsoft Fabric Community) for design inspiration it showcases finished, published reports rather than downloadable .pbit files, so use it to see what's possible, then recreate the style yourself.
5.Open a Power BI template (.pbit) in Power BI Desktop. Depending on your version, you can open the template directly or use the appropriate option from the File menu.
Import a Power BI template (.pbit) into Power BI Desktop by selecting File > Import > Power BI template
6.The layout will open as a new, untitled report. At this point it only has placeholder shapes and titles no data yet.
Browse to the location of the Power BI template (.pbit), select the desired template file, and click Open.
7.Connect your data source (Home > Get Data) and start dragging fields into the placeholder visuals to build your report using the imported layout.
After importing the template, Power BI prompts you to connect to your data source. Select the required data source, provide the connection details, and authenticate if necessary.
Note: Depending on your version of Power BI Desktop, the option for opening a .pbit template may appear slightly differently in the File menu. You can also open a template directly by double-clicking the .pbit file. AppSource templates and the Fabric Community Data Stories Gallery are not blank starting-point layouts—they are intended for inspiration or connector-specific solutions rather than as direct replacements for reusable .pbit templates.
Approach 2: Creating a Custom Layout in PowerPoint
1. Open PowerPoint and insert a new blank slide to use as your canvas.
2.Go to Insert > Shapes and choose the shapes you want to use to mark out sections of your report (for example, rectangles for chart areas, a smaller box for a logo, etc.).
4. Optionally, add visual effects such as shadows or glows through Shape Format > Shape Effects to give the layout more depth.
6.Open Power BI Desktop and create or open a blank report. In the Format pane, expand Canvas settings, select Canvas background, and upload your PNG image.
Note: Custom PowerPoint layouts are a technique that Power BI users have used for years to create pixel-perfect report designs, and they continue to work well today. For more advanced branding requirements, many organizations also use Power BI theme (.json) files to apply consistent colors, fonts, and formatting across reports. However, the PowerPoint background approach remains a simple and widely used method for creating custom report layouts.
Key Terms for Beginners
- Template (.pbit): A reusable Power BI file that stores the report layout, data model, queries, measures, and settings, but does not include the actual data.
- Report (.pbix): A Power BI file that contains both the report design and the imported or connected data.
- Canvas: The blank workspace in Power BI Desktop where you create and arrange visuals to build your report.
- Theme: A collection of colours, fonts, and formatting settings that gives your report a consistent appearance.
- Slicer: An interactive visual that allows users to filter the data displayed in a report, such as by date, region, or product category.
Conclusion
Useful Information
| Tags | Power BI |
| Useful links | https://powerbi.tips/tools/layouts https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/5444/power-bi-layouts-and-themes/ |
| MS Learn Modules |
Create and use report templates in Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Microsoft Learn |
| Test Your Knowledge | Quiz |
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