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PL-300

Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst (PL-300): free practice test

Start with 10 free questions to see what needs more practice. Finish to see your score, weakest units and every option explained.

700 on the Microsoft scaled score; not a percentage correct This is your practice accuracy. It cannot be converted to the exam’s scaled score or used to determine whether you pass.

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Practice test questions with answers and explanations

Try the questions in the test above first, then open each one here to see the correct answer and why every other option is wrong.

01Finance has published a certified semantic model to a Power BI workspace. You need to build a new report in Power BI Desktop that reuses the model's measures and relationships without copying its data, and you do not need to add any other sources. How should you connect?

Practice question Unit: Prepare the data

  1. AUse Get data > Analysis Services and import the model's tables

    Importing the tables copies the data into a new model and leaves the published measures and relationships behind, which the requirement rules out.

  2. BConnect to the model's original SQL database in Import mode

    Importing from the source SQL database builds a separate model and duplicates the data instead of reusing the certified model and its DAX.

  3. CDownload the model's .pbix file from the workspace and build the report in it

    A downloaded .pbix is a separate copy of the model and its data; publishing it creates a second model rather than a report on the certified one.

  4. DUse Power BI semantic models to create a live connection ✓ Correct answer

    Get data > Power BI semantic models creates a live connection: the report stores no data and uses the published model's measures, relationships and security as they are. A local (composite) model is only needed when you add other sources.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Connect to semantic models in the Power BI service from Power BI Desktop. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/desktop-report-lifecycle-datasets

02A DirectQuery model over SQL Server must stay in DirectQuery. In Power Query you add a step that uses a custom M function to clean names, and you receive a message that the step is not supported in DirectQuery mode. What is the best way to keep the transformation?

Practice question Unit: Prepare the data

  1. ASwitch the report to a live connection to the same SQL Server database

    Live connections are for published semantic models and Analysis Services, not a relational SQL Server source, and they run no Power Query steps.

  2. BRebuild the cleaning as a DAX calculated table based on the DirectQuery table

    Calculated tables cannot be built on DirectQuery tables as a substitute for source cleaning; even where allowed they would import a copy instead of keeping the logic at the source.

  3. CTurn on Allow unrestricted measure operations in DirectQuery mode

    That option relaxes restrictions on DAX measures; it does not let Power Query run M steps that cannot be translated into a source query.

  4. DImplement the cleaning in a SQL view at the source and connect to the view ✓ Correct answer

    In DirectQuery every Power Query step must translate into a source query. Moving the cleaning into a SQL view keeps it at the source, so the model stays in DirectQuery.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, DirectQuery in Power BI. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/desktop-directquery-about

03You want to investigate why 0.4% of rows fail conversion in an Amount column without changing the main query. What is the recommended approach?

Practice question Unit: Prepare the data

  1. AReference the query and apply Keep errors in the new query ✓ Correct answer

    Referencing the query and applying Keep errors isolates the failing rows for inspection while the main query, and the model it loads, stay unchanged.

  2. BAdd Remove errors as the last step of the main query

    Remove errors edits the main query and silently discards the very rows you need to investigate.

  3. CSet the column type to Any in the main query and filter the errors there

    This changes the main query and loads an untyped Amount column into the model, hiding the conversion problem instead of explaining it.

  4. DTurn on Column quality and Column distribution for the Amount column

    Profiling shows the error percentage and value spread (by default on the first 1,000 rows) but does not give you the failing rows and their source values to inspect.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Dealing with errors in Power Query. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/dealing-with-errors

04A report needs a Product slicer that shows only products that have sales for the selected customer. The model is a standard star schema with single-direction relationships. Which approach is recommended instead of making the Sales–Product relationship bi-directional?

Practice question Unit: Model the data

  1. AAdd a visual-level filter to the slicer where a Sales measure is not blank ✓ Correct answer

    A visual-level filter such as [Sales Amount] is not blank evaluates the measure in the current customer context, so the slicer lists only products with sales, with no bi-directional relationship.

  2. BSet only the Sales–Customer relationship to filter in both directions

    The slicer needs filters to reach Product from Sales; changing the Sales–Customer direction does not do that and still adds bi-directional ambiguity.

  3. CCreate a calculated table of the products sold to each customer and use it as the slicer

    A calculated table is computed at refresh, adds model size and does not react to the customer slicer the way a measure filter does.

  4. DSet the customer slicer to Filter the Product slicer in Edit interactions

    Edit interactions decides whether one visual filters another, but the filter still travels along the model relationships, which do not run from Sales to Product.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Bi-directional relationship guidance. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/relationships-bidirectional-filtering

05Sales contains some ProductKey values that don't exist in Product, and Product filters Sales through a regular one-to-many relationship. In a matrix of [Sales Amount] by Product[Category], what happens to the sales of the unmatched keys?

Practice question Unit: Model the data

  1. AThey are dropped from every row and from the total

    The rows are not dropped; the engine keeps them through the blank virtual row, and the total is computed without a category filter.

  2. BRefresh fails with a referential integrity error until they are fixed

    Import models do not enforce referential integrity at refresh; mismatched keys load and surface as a blank member.

  3. CThey are included in the total but are not shown in any category row

    They are not hidden: the blank virtual row appears in the matrix as a (Blank) category that carries those sales, and the total includes them.

  4. DThey appear in a blank Category row and are included in the total ✓ Correct answer

    For a regular relationship, unmatched many-side keys map to a blank virtual row on the one side (the unknown member), shown as a (Blank) category and included in the total.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Model relationships in Power BI Desktop. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/desktop-relationships-understand

06An analyst wants to show the relationship between marketing spend and revenue for 200 stores, with bubble size for store area and animation by month. Which visual and feature combination is correct?

Practice question Unit: Visualize and analyze the data

  1. ALine and clustered column chart with a small multiples field

    A combo chart compares measures over a category axis; it cannot plot each store by spend against revenue, and small multiples split panels rather than animate.

  2. BTreemap with store area as the size field

    A treemap shows part-to-whole with rectangle size; it has no x/y axes for a correlation between two measures.

  3. CScatter chart, with store area in Size and month in Small multiples

    Small multiples draw one static panel per month; animating the bubbles over time is what the Play axis does.

  4. DScatter chart, with store area in Size and month on the Play axis ✓ Correct answer

    A scatter chart plots each store by two measures (X and Y), the Size well turns points into bubbles, and the Play axis animates them month by month.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Scatter, bubble, and dot plot charts. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-visualization-scatter

07Font color for each product in a table must come from a hex code stored in the Product[BrandColor] column. Which conditional formatting style uses that column directly?

Practice question Unit: Visualize and analyze the data

  1. AGradient based on BrandColor

    Gradient formatting interpolates colors between numeric minimum and maximum values; it cannot read a hex text code.

  2. BField value based on the BrandColor column ✓ Correct answer

    Field value formatting applies the color returned by a column or measure, such as "#1F77B4", so BrandColor drives each row's font color directly.

  3. CWeb URL formatting based on BrandColor

    Web URL formatting turns a column's values into links; it does not set font color.

  4. DA report theme JSON with one color per brand

    A theme sets the report's default palette and styles; it cannot color individual table rows from a column's values.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Apply conditional formatting in tables and matrixes. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-conditional-table-formatting

08A matrix shows Sales by Month. You add the visual calculation below. What does it return for each month?

Practice question Unit: Visualize and analyze the data

Change = [Sales] - PREVIOUS([Sales])

  1. AThe difference from the same month in the previous year, using the Date table

    PREVIOUS moves along the rows of the visual, not along the Date table, so it is not a same-month-last-year comparison.

  2. BEach month's Sales minus the prior month's Sales ✓ Correct answer

    PREVIOUS returns the value from the prior row on the visual's axis, so Change is each month's Sales minus the previous month's Sales.

  3. CThe month's Sales minus the first month's Sales

    Comparing every month with the first row would use FIRST, not PREVIOUS.

  4. DAn error, because visual calculations cannot reference measures

    Visual calculations can reference measures and fields placed on the visual; [Sales] is valid here.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Using visual calculations. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/desktop-visual-calculations-overview

09Your organization separates development and production content and wants to promote reports from Dev to Test to Prod with minimal manual work. What should you use?

Practice question Unit: Manage and secure Power BI

  1. AA deployment pipeline with three stages ✓ Correct answer

    A deployment pipeline assigns a workspace to each stage, deploys content from Dev to Test to Prod, and applies deployment rules such as stage-specific data sources.

  2. BThree apps published from the same workspace

    App audiences control who sees which content in one published app; they are not separate lifecycle stages with their own copy of the content.

  3. CManual download and republish of the PBIX between three workspaces

    Downloading and republishing works, but it is manual, error-prone and does not apply stage settings automatically.

  4. DOne workspace with separate Dev, Test and Prod folders

    Folders only organize items inside one workspace; they share access and data sources and give no deployment between stages.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Overview of Fabric deployment pipelines. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/cicd/deployment-pipelines/intro-to-deployment-pipelines

10One app must show the Executive report only to executives and the Operations report only to operations staff. What should you configure?

Practice question Unit: Manage and secure Power BI

  1. ATwo app audiences, each with its own content visibility ✓ Correct answer

    App audiences let one app show different content to different groups: each audience gets its own set of visible reports.

  2. BRow-level security on both reports' models with an Executive role

    RLS filters the rows a user sees inside a model; it does not decide which reports appear in an app.

  3. CTwo workspaces, each with a separate app and its own copy of the model

    Two workspaces and apps would work but duplicate content, and the requirement is a single app.

  4. DA different sensitivity label on each report

    Sensitivity labels classify content and protect exported files; they do not control which app items a viewer can see.

Reference: Microsoft Learn, Publish an app in Power BI. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-create-distribute-apps

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