Qlik to Power BI: Visualization Migration¶

Comparative positioning note

This document is written from the perspective of Microsoft Azure, Cloud Scale Analytics, and CSA Loom. Any description of third-party or competing products, services, pricing, or capabilities is derived from publicly available documentation and sources believed accurate at the time of writing, and is provided for general comparison only. We do not claim expertise in, or authority over, any non-Microsoft product or service; the respective vendor's official documentation is the authoritative source for their offerings, which may change over time. Nothing here is intended to disparage any vendor — where a competing product has genuine advantages, we aim to note them honestly. Verify all third-party details against the vendor's current official documentation before making decisions.

Audience: Report developers, UX designers, BI leads Purpose: Map every Qlik Sense chart type and interaction pattern to its Power BI equivalent Reading time: 15-20 minutes

1. Chart type mapping¶

1.1 Native Qlik charts to Power BI visuals¶

Qlik Sense chart	Power BI equivalent	Fidelity	Notes
Bar chart (vertical/horizontal)	Clustered bar / Clustered column chart	High	Direct mapping; Power BI separates vertical (column) and horizontal (bar)
Stacked bar chart	Stacked bar / Stacked column chart	High	Direct mapping
Line chart	Line chart	High	Direct mapping; Power BI adds forecast, trend lines via Analytics pane
Area chart	Area chart	High	Direct mapping
Combo chart (bar + line)	Line and clustered column chart	High	Direct mapping with dual Y-axis support
Pie chart	Pie chart	High	Direct mapping
Donut chart	Donut chart	High	Direct mapping
Scatter plot	Scatter chart	High	Power BI adds play axis for time animation
KPI object	Card visual / KPI visual	High	KPI visual includes trend indicator; Card is simpler
Gauge chart	Gauge visual	High	Direct mapping with min/max/target
Pivot table	Matrix visual	High	Matrix supports expand/collapse rows, conditional formatting
Straight table (flat table)	Table visual	High	Direct mapping with data bars, sparklines, conditional formatting
Treemap	Treemap	High	Direct mapping
Waterfall chart	Waterfall chart	High	Native in Power BI
Funnel chart	Funnel chart	High	Direct mapping
Histogram	Histogram (custom visual or binning)	Medium	Use "New group" binning on a column, then bar chart
Box plot	Box and Whisker (AppSource custom visual)	Medium	Available as certified custom visual on AppSource
Distribution plot	Histogram or violin (custom visual)	Medium	Custom visual required for violin/density plots
Bullet chart	Bullet chart (AppSource custom visual)	Medium	Available on AppSource
Mekko / Marimekko chart	Marimekko (AppSource) or stacked bar	Medium	AppSource has Marimekko visuals; stacked bar is the native fallback
Network chart (extension)	Force-directed graph (AppSource)	Medium	Multiple network/graph visuals on AppSource
Sankey chart (extension)	Sankey (AppSource)	Medium	Available as certified custom visual on AppSource
Word cloud (extension)	Word Cloud (AppSource)	High	Available on AppSource
Org chart (extension)	Org Chart (AppSource) or Decomposition Tree	Medium	Decomposition Tree provides similar drill-down hierarchy
Calendar heatmap (extension)	Heatmap or Matrix with conditional formatting	Medium	Matrix with background color formatting achieves calendar heatmap
Radar chart (extension)	Radar chart (AppSource)	Medium	Available on AppSource
Multi-KPI (extension)	Multi-row card	High	Multi-row card displays multiple KPIs in a compact layout

1.2 Custom/advanced Qlik visuals¶

Qlik visual	Power BI approach
Nebula.js custom extension	Power BI custom visual SDK (TypeScript, D3.js)
Qlik Sense mashup (HTML page)	Power BI Embedded (JavaScript SDK, React wrapper)
SPC (statistical process control)	SPC chart custom visual on AppSource
Variance waterfall	Variance chart custom visual on AppSource
Timeline / Gantt	Gantt chart custom visual on AppSource
HTML extension (custom rendering)	Power BI HTML content visual or R/Python visual
Video extension	Web URL visual (embed video)
On-demand drill (ODAG link)	Drillthrough page + parameterized DirectQuery

2. Selection model adaptation¶

The Qlik selection model (green/white/gray) is one of the hardest UX patterns to replicate in Power BI. This section provides practical alternatives.

2.1 Selection state comparison¶

Qlik selection state	Meaning	Power BI equivalent
Green (selected)	User has selected this value	Slicer shows selected item highlighted
White (possible)	Value exists in associated data	Other visuals show filtered data (cross-filtering)
Gray (excluded)	Value has no associated data	No direct equivalent -- excluded values are hidden
Dark gray (alternative)	Not selected but could be	No direct equivalent

2.2 Recreating the selection experience¶

Strategy 1: Slicer panels

Create a slicer panel on the left or top of the report with slicers for each dimension. Use slicer sync to propagate selections across pages.

Strategy 2: Cross-filtering and cross-highlighting

Power BI's default interaction behavior is cross-highlighting: clicking a bar in a chart highlights related data in other visuals. Configure via "Edit Interactions" to switch between filter and highlight modes.

Strategy 3: Filter pane

The Power BI filter pane shows all active filters at visual, page, and report levels. This replaces the Qlik selection bar for showing "what is currently filtered."

Strategy 4: Reset button

Add a "Clear All Filters" bookmark button to reset the report to its default state, similar to Qlik's "Clear All" selection button.

// To create a reset button:
// 1. Set all slicers to default state
// 2. Create a bookmark "Default State" capturing this state
// 3. Add a Button visual, set Action = Bookmark, choose "Default State"

Strategy 5: Selection display visual

For users who miss the Qlik current-selections bar, create a card or text visual with a DAX measure that shows active filter context:

Active Filters Text =
VAR SelectedRegion = IF(ISFILTERED(Geography[Region]),
    "Region: " & SELECTEDVALUE(Geography[Region], "Multiple"),
    "")
VAR SelectedYear = IF(ISFILTERED(Calendar[Year]),
    "Year: " & SELECTEDVALUE(Calendar[Year], "Multiple"),
    "")
RETURN
COMBINEVALUES(" | ", SelectedRegion, SelectedYear)

3. Container and conditional visibility¶

Qlik containers¶

Qlik containers allow multiple objects to occupy the same space, with tabs or conditions controlling which is visible. Common patterns:

Tabbed containers (show different charts in the same area)
Conditional show (show/hide based on selections)

Power BI equivalents¶

Bookmarks + buttons (tabbed container replacement):

Create visual A and visual B in the same position on the canvas
Create Bookmark "Show A" with visual A visible, visual B hidden
Create Bookmark "Show B" with visual A hidden, visual B visible
Add Button visuals labeled "View A" and "View B" that navigate to the respective bookmarks
Uncheck "Data" in each bookmark to preserve filter state when toggling

Conditional formatting (conditional show replacement):

Use the "Title" or entire visual's visibility based on a measure:

Select the visual
In Format pane, go to General > Properties
Set visibility to "Based on a field" and reference a DAX measure that returns TRUE/FALSE

4. Alternate states to bookmarks¶

Qlik alternate states¶

Qlik alternate states allow a single sheet to show the same visualization with two different selection states side-by-side (for example, comparing Region A vs Region B).

Power BI comparison patterns¶

Pattern 1: What-If parameter + duplicate measure

// Create a What-If parameter "Comparison Region" with region values
// Then create a comparison measure:
Comparison Sales =
CALCULATE(
    SUM(Sales[Amount]),
    Geography[Region] = SELECTEDVALUE('Comparison Region'[Comparison Region])
)

Pattern 2: Field parameters (2023+)

Field parameters allow users to dynamically switch which measure or dimension a visual displays, providing some of the flexibility of alternate states.

Pattern 3: Bookmarks for snapshot comparison

Create two bookmarks with different slicer states and use a toggle button to switch between them.

Qlik storytelling¶

Qlik's storytelling feature lets users create guided narratives by arranging snapshots of visualizations with annotations into a sequential story format.

Power BI equivalents¶

Qlik storytelling feature	Power BI equivalent
Story (multi-slide narrative)	Report with page navigator bar
Snapshot of visualization	Pin visual to dashboard or use PowerPoint integration
Annotations on snapshots	Text boxes on report pages
Slide transitions	Page navigation buttons
Presentation mode	Full-screen mode / PowerPoint with live Power BI visuals
Narration text	Smart Narratives visual (AI-generated text)

Recommended approach: Use PowerPoint with live Power BI visuals for presentation scenarios. Visuals update in real-time during the presentation -- no snapshots needed.

6. Responsive design and mobile¶

Qlik responsive layouts¶

Qlik Sense uses a responsive grid layout that adapts to screen size automatically. Visualizations resize within the grid.

Power BI mobile layout¶

Power BI has a dedicated mobile layout editor:

In Power BI Desktop, select View > Mobile Layout
Drag visuals from the desktop layout onto the phone canvas
Resize and arrange for optimal mobile viewing
Publish -- mobile users automatically see the mobile layout

Power BI Mobile app features not available in Qlik:

Offline access to reports (configured per report)
QR code scanning to open specific reports
Annotate and share screenshots from mobile
Push notifications for data alerts

7. Formatting and theming¶

Qlik themes¶

Qlik uses JSON-based themes that control colors, fonts, and visual styling across an app.

Power BI themes¶

Power BI also uses JSON-based themes with broader customization:

{
    "name": "Corporate Theme",
    "dataColors": ["#0078D4", "#50E6FF", "#FFB900", "#E74856", "#00CC6A"],
    "background": "#FFFFFF",
    "foreground": "#252423",
    "tableAccent": "#0078D4",
    "textClasses": {
        "callout": { "fontSize": 36, "fontFace": "Segoe UI" },
        "title": { "fontSize": 16, "fontFace": "Segoe UI Semibold" },
        "header": { "fontSize": 12, "fontFace": "Segoe UI" },
        "label": { "fontSize": 10, "fontFace": "Segoe UI" }
    }
}

Apply themes in Power BI Desktop via View > Themes > Browse for Themes.

Conditional formatting¶

Power BI's conditional formatting is more granular than Qlik's:

Formatting type	Qlik support	Power BI support
Background color by value	Yes (expression-based)	Yes (rules, gradient, field value)
Font color by value	Yes (expression-based)	Yes (rules, gradient, field value)
Data bars in table	Limited	Yes (built-in data bar formatting)
Icons in table (KPI symbols)	Via extensions	Yes (built-in icon sets)
Sparklines in table	Via extensions	Yes (native sparklines since 2022)
Web URL (clickable links)	Yes (URL action)	Yes (web URL data category)
Image in table	Via HTML extension	Yes (image URL data category)

8. Visualization migration checklist¶

Cross-references¶

Topic	Document
Expression conversion	Expression Migration
Feature mapping (visualization)	Feature Mapping
Tutorial: full app migration	Tutorial: App to PBIX
Best practices for report design	Best Practices

Maintainers: CSA-in-a-Box core team Last updated: 2026-04-30

Qlik to Power BI: Visualization Migration¶

1. Chart type mapping¶

1.1 Native Qlik charts to Power BI visuals¶

1.2 Custom/advanced Qlik visuals¶

2. Selection model adaptation¶

2.1 Selection state comparison¶

2.2 Recreating the selection experience¶

3. Container and conditional visibility¶

Qlik containers¶

Power BI equivalents¶

4. Alternate states to bookmarks¶

Qlik alternate states¶

Power BI comparison patterns¶

5. Storytelling to report navigation¶

Qlik storytelling¶

Power BI equivalents¶

6. Responsive design and mobile¶

Qlik responsive layouts¶

Power BI mobile layout¶

7. Formatting and theming¶

Qlik themes¶

Power BI themes¶

Conditional formatting¶

8. Visualization migration checklist¶

Cross-references¶