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FILTER, ALL and ALLEXCEPT

Control and remove filter context with FILTER, ALL, ALLEXCEPT and ALLSELECTED

These three functions are used inside CALCULATE to precisely control which filters are active when a measure is evaluated. Mastering them means you can build any conditional metric — % of total, comparison to a fixed benchmark, metrics that ignore specific slicers. FILTER() — creates a table of rows that satisfy a condition ALL() — returns a table with all filters removed ALLEXCEPT() — removes all filters except specified columns ALLSELECTED() — returns values currently visible (respects outer filters but ignores inner)

Examples

FILTER — row-level filtering inside measures
FILTER returns a filtered table — used inside CALCULATE:

High Value Customers =
  CALCULATE(
    DISTINCTCOUNT(Sales[CustomerID]),
    FILTER(Sales, Sales[Amount] > 50000)
  )
→ Counts unique customers who had ANY order > ₹50,000

Orders from Delhi, Electronics =
  CALCULATE(
    COUNTROWS(Sales),
    FILTER(
      Sales,
      Sales[Region] = "Delhi" &&
      Sales[Category] = "Electronics"
    )
  )

WHEN TO USE FILTER vs direct CALCULATE filter:
  Simple: CALCULATE(SUM(...), Sales[Region] = "Delhi")
  Complex (row-level logic):
    CALCULATE(SUM(...), FILTER(Sales, Sales[Profit] / Sales[Revenue] > 0.2))
ALL, ALLEXCEPT, ALLSELECTED
ALL — removes ALL filters from a table or column:
  Total (Ignores All Filters) =
    CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), ALL(Sales))

  Total for Region Group (ignores Product filter only) =
    CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), ALL(Sales[Product]))

ALLEXCEPT — remove filters EXCEPT specified columns:
  YTD Total (keeps Year, removes everything else) =
    CALCULATE(
      SUM(Sales[Amount]),
      ALLEXCEPT(Date, Date[Year])
    )

ALLSELECTED — respects what user has selected in slicers,
              ignores page/report-level filters:
  % of Slicer Selection =
    DIVIDE(
      SUM(Sales[Amount]),
      CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), ALLSELECTED(Sales[Region]))
    )
  → If slicer shows Delhi + Noida only,
    denominator = Delhi + Noida total (not grand total)

Key Points

  • ✓ALL() is the most common way to calculate "% of total" in Power BI
  • ✓FILTER() takes a table and a condition — returns only matching rows
  • ✓ALLEXCEPT() is useful for "keep this dimension's filter, remove all others"
  • ✓ALLSELECTED() calculates against what is currently visible to the user
  • ✓These functions are always used inside CALCULATE — never on their own in a measure

Practice Question

You want to calculate "Sales as % of Grand Total" that ignores all slicers. Which formula is correct?

Related Topics

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