Advanced Hierarchy Filtering in Power BI 

When working with complex datasets in Power BI, hierarchy filters are essential for creating intuitive, drillable experiences. They allow users to navigate from high-level summaries down to granular details, such as moving from region to country to city, without switching context. This kind of structured filtering not only enhances report usability but also supports more meaningful data exploration and faster decision-making. 

In this blog post, we’ll walk through how to set up and optimize hierarchy filters in Power BI and demonstrate how tools like Inforiver Super Filter extend these capabilities with added flexibility, dynamic logic, and enhanced formatting options. 

Table of Contents 

1. Flexible View Types: Checkbox, Radio, and List 

2. Multi-level search for faster navigation 

3. Measure details displayed at each hierarchy level 

4. Variance display using dynamic measure values 

5. Conditional formatting for deeper insights 

6. Built-in sorting and ranking capabilities 

7. Intelligent parent-child single selection behaviour 

8. Seamless combination of hierarchy and measure filters 

9. Rich formatting options to enhance user experience 

Getting Started with Hierarchy Filtering in Super Filter 

To enable hierarchy-based filtering: 

1. Add columns to the “Category” data field in the visual. 

2. Disable “Facet Mode” in the settings to activate Hierarchy Mode. 

Figure 1: Disabling Facet Filter to enable Hierarchy Filter 

3. Add a Measure to the "Others" data field if you want to use it for displaying additional details or dynamic filtering. 

Figure 2: Measure Data added to the Other data fields 

Once configured, Super Filter turns into a powerful hierarchy navigator and analyzer with the ability to drill down, format, filter by values, and much more. For more information of Hierarchy Filter Please refer to the Official Documentation. 

Why Super Filter Is the Best Choice for Hierarchical Filtering: 

1. Flexible View Types: Checkbox, Radio, and List 

Super Filter supports multiple visual styles for hierarchy filtering—checkboxes for multi-select, radio buttons for single-select, and compact lists for clean designs—configurable per use case. 

• Use Case: If a report designer wants users to select only one Region at a time in a clean and compact layout. 

• How Super Filter Helps: Super Filter provides multiple view types, such as radio buttons for single select, checkboxes for multi-select, and list views for space-efficient filtering—adapting easily to design needs. 

Figure 3: Checkbox, Radio and List view types in hierarchy filter 

2. Multi-level Search 

The search bar in Super Filter supports multilevel search, meaning it searches across all hierarchy levels such as Region, Country, and City. When a user types a value, it displays matching items regardless of their level. This makes it easy to locate and filter specific values without manually expanding each level. 

• Use Case: If a user wants to quickly find "Texas" in a deeply nested hierarchy like Region > Country > State. 

• How Super Filter Helps: With multilevel search enabled, Super Filter lets users type any value and immediately surfaces all matching items, regardless of hierarchy level—eliminating manual expansion. 

GIF 1: Multilevel search in hierarchy filter using the search bar in toolbar 

3. Show Measure Details for Each Item 

When you place a measure into the 'Others' section, it appears as a detail next to each hierarchy item, showing KPIs like Sales, Profit, or Quantity. This provides additional information to the users to make the selections. 

• Use Case: If a product analyst wants to review the quantity sold for each product subcategory directly within the filter before making selections. 

• How Super Filter Helps: By placing the Quantity Sold measure into the 'Others' field, Super Filter displays it next to each subcategory, helping users make informed choices without switching visuals. 

 Figure 4: Sales measure shown as details for each leaf level item 

4. Variance using measure values 

When two measures are added to the “Other” field, variance mode can be enabled to calculate and display the difference between the selected measures, along with positive/negative indicators. This functionality is natively available in Super Filter, requiring no extra visuals or DAX. 

• Use Case: If a Regional Head wants to compare actual Revenue vs. Target Revenue for each product to identify performance gaps. 

• How Super Filter Helps: Super Filter calculates and displays variance directly in the slicer using two added measures, along with trend indicators—no extra visuals or DAX needed. 

Figure 5: Variance highlighted using icon-based on the measure values added. 

5. Conditional Formatting for Enhanced Insights 

Conditional formatting lets you visually distinguish items in the hierarchy based on measure logic, such as applying colors or styles to highlight specific conditions. These rules can be saved as presets, making it easy to filter and focus on items that meet defined business criteria without manually scanning the list. 

• Use Case: If a finance team wants to quickly identify underperforming products with Profit Margin < 10% in their hierarchy. 

• How Super Filter Helps: Super Filter uses conditional formatting to automatically highlight such items (e.g., in red), drawing immediate attention to problem areas based on predefined business logic. 

Figure 6: Sales > 100k is highlighted by a green background color using conditional formatting. 

6. Sorting & Ranking 

Super Filter also offers dynamic Top-N or Bottom-N filtering directly within the visual, allowing users to rank items based on a selected measure. It also enables sorting either alphabetically or by measure values across hierarchy levels. This eliminates the need for DAX-based workarounds and enhances user interactivity. 

• Use Case: If a business user wants to see only the Top 10 Customers by Revenue or sort customers by sales performance within a region. 

• How Super Filter Helps: Super Filter allows users to either apply Top-N ranking or perform sorting within the hierarchy—by measure values or alphabetically from format pane of the visual. These options work independently, enabling focused analysis and exploration without the need for DAX or additional visuals. 

Figure 7a: Hierarchy filter Sorted in descending order based on Sales measure. 

Figure 7b: Hierarchy Filter ranked by Top 3 based on Sales measure 

7. Smarter Parent-Child Single Selection 

Normally, selecting a parent node selects all children—but with Leaf Node Single Select, only the first child gets picked, giving more precise control. 

• Use Case: If a user selects "Accessories" but only wants the first child region ("Bike Racks") to be auto-selected instead of all underlying countries. 

• How Super Filter Helps: The Leaf Node Single Select feature ensures that only the first child of a parent node is selected, offering more precise control and avoiding over-selection. 

GIF 2: Leaf node single select customisation in Hierarchy Filter 

8.Combine Hierarchy and Measure Filters  

Inforiver Super Filter allows you to layer a numeric measure filter alongside a category-based hierarchy. This lets users interactively filter hierarchical items based on a selected value range of a DAX Measure (e.g., Sales, Profit). 

• Use Case: If a sales manager wants to analyze only the products having PY Sales > $50,000 in the report. 

• How Super Filter Helps: Super Filter allows the manager to filter through a product hierarchy (e.g., Product Category → Subcategory) using a dynamic sales measure slider, enabling both category-based and numeric filtering in a single, streamlined visual. 

Here is a GIF showcasing Dynamic Measure-based filtering for a Country -> Category -> Products hierarchy: 

GIF 3: Dynamic filtering using measure slider based on sales measure 

9. Rich Formatting Options for Better UX 

From expand/collapse icons to font styling, indentation, alternate row coloring, and utility icons—Super Filter offers full visual customization of the hierarchy tree. 

• Use Case: If a report designer wants to improve visual clarity by bolding parent nodes and alternating row colors for better readability. 

• How Super Filter Helps: Super Filter provides rich formatting options like font styling, row coloring, icons, and indentation, resulting in visually consistent, brand-aligned, and user-friendly reports. 

Conclusion 

The Inforiver Super Filter is more than just a custom slicer—it's a complete solution for advanced hierarchical filtering in Power BI. With features like conditional formatting, ranking, logic-based defaults, and dynamic measure filtering, it transforms how users interact with reports. 

Hierarchical filters are just one part of creating streamlined, user-friendly Power BI reports. For teams looking to manage complex filtering needs—across dates, hierarchies, custom logic, and more, Inforiver Super Filter brings it all together in a single, flexible visual. 

Explore the full feature set and see how Super Filter can enhance your Power BI experience—try it free on AppSource.