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Mobile Layout in Power BI

Design a mobile-optimised portrait view of your report for phone users

Power BI reports are built for desktop by default — wide, landscape layouts. But many business users check reports on their phones. Power BI lets you create a separate mobile layout (portrait, phone-sized) for each report page, where you rearrange visuals specifically for a small screen. The mobile layout is optional but valued in professional reports — it shows you think about the end user, not just the desktop view.

Example

Create a mobile layout
STEP 1 — Switch to Mobile layout:
  View tab → Mobile layout
  (A phone-shaped canvas appears)

STEP 2 — Add visuals:
  A panel shows all visuals from the desktop layout
  Drag visuals onto the phone canvas
  Resize to fit the narrow portrait width

STEP 3 — Arrange for mobile:
  Key metrics (cards) at top
  Most important chart below
  Slicers at bottom (or use the phone's filter pane)

  Less is more — show 3-4 visuals max on mobile

STEP 4 — Test:
  Power BI Mobile app (iOS/Android) → open the report
  → Automatically shows mobile layout on phones
  → Desktop browser always shows desktop layout

TIPS:
  Keep font sizes larger (minimum 14pt) for readability
  Use tap-friendly slicer buttons, not small dropdowns
  Cards and KPIs work best on mobile
  Complex matrices are hard to use on phone — simplify

Key Points

  • ✓Mobile layout is per-page — each page has its own mobile arrangement
  • ✓Visuals on the mobile canvas are the same visuals — not copies
  • ✓Power BI Mobile app auto-switches to mobile layout on phones, desktop layout on tablets
  • ✓Slicers work on mobile — users can tap to filter
  • ✓If no mobile layout is set, Power BI Mobile shows the desktop layout scaled down

Practice Question

Where in Power BI Desktop do you access the Mobile layout editor?

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