Dynamically Enable or Disable Slicers in Power BI

Sometimes in Power BI reports, giving users too much freedom with slicers leads to confusion. Imagine offering two conflicting filtering options side by side, like a fixed period slicer next to a custom date range timeline. What if a user selects both? The results could be meaningless or contradictory. This article will walk you through how to dynamically disable or grey out a slicer based on the user’s selection in another slicer creating a cleaner, more intuitive experience.
May 8 / datatraining
Use Case 1: Disabling a Date Range Slicer Based on Fixed Period Selection

Imagine you have two slicers:
  • One allows the user to select from fixed periods: Last 3, 6, or 12 months
  • The other is a timeline to pick a custom date range
When a fixed period is selected, the timeline slicer should be disabled.

Step 1: Create a Disabling Measure

Create a new measure:
Timeline Slicer Disable =
IF(
    ISFILTERED('Custom Periods'),
    1,
    0
)

Step 2: Apply the Measure as a Visual-Level Filter

1. Select the timeline slicer
2. In the Visual-level filters pane, drag in the new measure
3. Set the filter condition to “is equal to 0”
Now the timeline is only active when no fixed period is selected.

Step 3: Make the header text dynamic

Add a second measure:
CF Text Timeline =
IF(
    [Timeline Slicer Disable] = 1,
    "Deselect period first",
    "Date Range"
)
Apply it as a dynamic title using conditional formatting.

Step 4: Add Dynamic Color to the Header

Create a third measure for color:
CF Color Timeline =
IF(
    [Timeline Slicer Disable] = 1,
    "#B0B0B0", // light gray
    "#094780" // dark blue
)
Use conditional formatting to apply it to the header font color.

Use Case 2: Disabling a Promotion Slicer Based on Store Selection

Let’s apply the same logic to two text slicers:
  • One for selecting a store
  • One for selecting a promotion
If a store like “Catalog Store” is selected (which doesn’t run promotions), the promotions slicer should be disabled.

Step 1: Create the Disable Measure

Promotion Slicer Disable =
IF(
    SELECTEDVALUE('dimStore'[Store]) = "Catalog Store",
    1,
    0
)

Step 2: Apply as Filter to the Promotion Slicer

1. Drag the measure into the slicer’s visual-level filters
2. Set condition: is equal to 0

Step 3: Dynamic Text and Color Formatting

Add a title text measure:
CF Text Promotion Slicer =
IF(
    [Promotion Slicer Disable] = 1,
    "Promotion (not relevant)",
    "Promotion"
)

Add a color measure:
CF Color Promotion Slicer =
IF(
    [Promotion Slicer Disable] = 1,
    "#B0B0B0",
    "#094780"
)
This creates a visually clear, intuitive interaction that disables irrelevant filters.

Final Thoughts
With just a few DAX measures and conditional formatting settings, you can dynamically control slicer behavior in Power BI, making your reports much more user-friendly.

This method works for:
  • Date pickers and text slicers
  • Scenarios with dependent filters
  • Improving report clarity and usability

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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