Power BI DAX Cheat Sheet (50+ Most Used DAX Formulas with Examples – 2026)

Introduction

DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is the heart of Power BI.
Most users struggle not because DAX is hard but because they don’t know which formulas are used in real projects.

This DAX Cheat Sheet gives you:

50+ most-used DAX functions

Simple explanations

Practical examples

Interview + project-ready formulas

Basic Aggregation Functions

SUM

Total Sales = SUM(Sales[Amount])

AVERAGE

Average Sales = AVERAGE(Sales[Amount])

MIN / MAX

Min Sales = MIN(Sales[Amount])
Max Sales = MAX(Sales[Amount])

COUNT / DISTINCTCOUNT

Total Orders = COUNT(Sales[OrderID])
Unique Customers = DISTINCTCOUNT(Sales[CustomerID])

CALCULATE – Most Important DAX Function

CALCULATE

Changes filter context.

Sales North =
CALCULATE([Total Sales], Region[Zone] = "North")

CALCULATE with Multiple Filters

High Value Sales =
CALCULATE([Total Sales],
Sales[Amount] > 10000,
Region[Zone] = "West")

Filter Functions

FILTER

High Sales =
CALCULATE([Total Sales],
FILTER(Sales, Sales[Amount] > 5000))

ALL

Removes filters.

Sales All Regions =
CALCULATE([Total Sales], ALL(Region))

ALLSELECTED

Keeps slicer filters.

Sales Selected =
CALCULATE([Total Sales], ALLSELECTED(Region))

Time Intelligence Functions

TOTALYTD

Sales YTD =
TOTALYTD([Total Sales], Date[Date])

SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR

Sales LY =
CALCULATE([Total Sales], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(Date[Date]))

YoY Growth

YoY Growth =
DIVIDE([Total Sales] - [Sales LY], [Sales LY])

TOTALMTD / TOTALQTD

Sales MTD = TOTALMTD([Total Sales], Date[Date])
Sales QTD = TOTALQTD([Total Sales], Date[Date])

Logical Functions

IF

Sales Status =
IF([Total Sales] > 100000, "Good", "Needs Improvement")

SWITCH

Performance =
SWITCH(TRUE(),
[Total Sales] > 200000, "Excellent",
[Total Sales] > 100000, "Good",
"Low")

Mathematical Functions

DIVIDE (Recommended)

Profit Margin =
DIVIDE([Total Profit], [Total Sales])

ROUND

Rounded Sales = ROUND([Total Sales], 2)

Text Functions

CONCATENATE

Full Name = CONCATENATE(Customer[FirstName], Customer[LastName])

FORMAT

Formatted Sales = FORMAT([Total Sales], "₹#,##0")

Relationship Functions

RELATED

Region Name = RELATED(Region[RegionName])

USERELATIONSHIP

Sales by Ship Date =
CALCULATE([Total Sales],
USERELATIONSHIP(Sales[ShipDate], Date[Date]))

Ranking Functions

RANKX

Product Rank =
RANKX(ALL(Product), [Total Sales], , DESC)

Table & Iterator Functions

SUMX

Total Cost =
SUMX(Sales, Sales[Quantity] * Sales[Cost])

AVERAGEX

Avg Order Value =
AVERAGEX(Sales, Sales[Amount])

Variables (Best Practice)

VAR

Profit =
VAR SalesValue = [Total Sales]
VAR CostValue = [Total Cost]
RETURN SalesValue - CostValue

✔ Faster
✔ Cleaner
✔ Easy to debug

Date & Time Functions

TODAY / NOW

Today Date = TODAY()
Current Time = NOW()

Security (RLS)

USERPRINCIPALNAME

User Filter =
Sales[Email] = USERPRINCIPALNAME()

Common Interview DAX Patterns

Percentage of Total

Sales % =
DIVIDE([Total Sales],
CALCULATE([Total Sales], ALL(Product)))

Running Total

Running Sales =
CALCULATE([Total Sales],
FILTER(ALL(Date),
Date[Date] <= MAX(Date[Date])))

Performance Tips (VERY IMPORTANT)

✔ Prefer Measures over Calculated Columns
✔ Avoid FILTER on large tables
✔ Use VAR
✔ Reduce nested CALCULATE
✔ Use proper data model (Star Schema)

How to Use This DAX Cheat Sheet

• Bookmark this page

• Practice 5–6 formulas daily

• Apply them in real projects

• Revise before interviews

Conclusion

You don’t need to memorize all DAX functions.
Mastering core 20–30 formulas from this cheat sheet will make you confident in:

Projects

Interviews

Real business dashboards

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