Create a Perfect Date Picker Slicer in Power BI

Looking to upgrade your report interactivity with a beautiful yet functional date picker slicer? In this guide, you'll learn how to design a Power BI day-level slicer without any custom visuals or complicated hacks, using only native features.
May 21 / datatraining
Whether your users need to focus on a single day or a short date range, this design is ideal. Let’s walk through every step to build it yourself.

Step 1: Add a Button Slicer

Start with a basic button slicer from the visual pane.
Then:

  • Drag in the Date field from your calendar table.
  • By default, it will display all dates.

Step 2: Filter to a Rolling 7-Day Window

To focus on a small window around today:

  • Create a DAX measure that returns 1 for dates within ±3 days from today.
  • Use that measure as a visual-level filter on the slicer:
    - is equal to 1
You should now see only 7 buttons, one for each day.

Step 3: Format Layout and Alignment
In the slicer settings:
  • Turn off the title
  • Set Layout → Orientation to Single Row
  • Set Max Buttons to Show to 7
  • Resize the slicer horizontally so all buttons fit
Step 4: Add Labels with Custom Measures
We’ll split the date into two parts:
  • Top (Label): Day of the month
  • Bottom (Value): Abbreviated month name

Create a custom "Day of Month" label using a measure like:
Apply this measure to the Label in Callout Values.
Then, format the value to use MMM (for abbreviated month).
Adjust font size, boldness, alignment, and spacing until it looks right.
Step 5: Improve Selection Styling

When a date is selected:
  • Default is a black fill, which is too harsh.
  • Go to Buttons → Fill → Selected State
  • Choose a light gray or add transparency
  • Remove borders for cleaner look

Also:
  • Align labels to Top
  • Center them horizontally in the button
Step 6: Add Custom Frame Using Background Images

For polished design:
  • 1. In PowerPoint, design button shapes (e.g. rounded rectangles with shadows)
  • 2. Export them as PNG or SVG
  • 3. Use these as button background images for:
          - Default state
          - Hover state
          - Selected state

  • Fit settings for image
  • Remove default button fill or set it transparent
  • Round the shape corners to match the image
Step 7: Final Touches

  • Adjust selected state colors for callout value and label
  • Fine-tune spacing, alignment, font weight
  • Set Slicer Settings → Selection to Single Select
  • Add title and subtitle (e.g., "Select Date" / "Actual Date")
Bonus: How to Create the Button Shapes

No fancy tools needed - just PowerPoint:
  • Draw rectangle shapes
  • Right-click → Save as Picture

Use .SVG or .PNG format for best results.
Conclusion

With just native Power BI tools, you can create a clean, modern, and user-friendly date picker slicer. It’s ideal for dashboards where daily context matters - like operational reporting, log analysis, or time-specific KPIs.

No need for custom visuals. No need for hacks.
Just smart formatting and creative use of native features.

Hope you like it!

Give it a try and see how it works for you! I’d love to hear what you think or see how you use this trick in your own reports.

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