How to Summarize a Report with Copilot in Power BI

João Barros 07 de July de 2026 4 min read

Copilot in Power BI can read an entire report and write an executive summary in seconds, covering the main trends, performance highlights and the most important changes. It is the fastest way to understand what your data is saying without going visual by visual. It is also handy when you inherit a report from someone else and want a quick read before diving into the details.

Prerequisites

A report already published in the Power BI service (app.powerbi.com).
A workspace on a Fabric capacity (F2 or higher) or Power BI Premium (P1 or higher) with Copilot enabled.
A Power BI Pro or PPU license to access the service.
Copilot enabled by your tenant administrator (the «Users can use Copilot and other features powered by Azure OpenAI» setting).
Permission to open the report you want to summarize.

Step 1: Open the report in reading view

The summarize button only appears in the Power BI service and only in reading view. Go to app.powerbi.com, open your workspace and click the report. If you are in edit mode, switch to Reading view in the top corner. Note: this feature does not exist in Power BI Desktop.

Step 2: Click «Summarize» on the ribbon

On the ribbon at the top of the report, click Summarize. The Copilot pane opens on the right and automatically generates a summary of the whole report — you do not need to type anything. Behind the scenes, Copilot uses the executive summary prompt to produce the text. The first time you open Copilot in a session, it may take a second or two to start.

Step 3: Read the summary and check the citations

The summary is written in real time and usually includes trends, the highest and lowest values and relevant changes. Each statement comes with citations that show where the number came from. If a value looks odd, click the citation to jump straight to the visual that produced it and confirm.

Step 4: Refine it with your own prompts

Below the summary you can continue the conversation and ask for a more focused version. Write specific prompts, for example:

Summarize sales by region in five points, from highest to lowest.
What was the biggest drop compared to the previous quarter, and what causes are visible in the data?

New answers are appended to the conversation, so you do not lose your history. Remember that Copilot only «sees» the data in the report and the semantic model — it does not use outside information.

Step 5: Copy and reuse the summary

Each response has a button to copy the text and thumbs to give feedback, positive or negative. Copy the summary and paste it into an email, a slide or your meeting notes. It is a simple way to share the takeaway with people who will not open the report.

Check the result

You know it worked when the Copilot pane shows a summary with several points that cite real values from your report. If the Summarize button does not appear, check three things: you are in the service and not in Desktop, you are in reading view and not editing, and the workspace is on a capacity with Copilot enabled.

Conclusion

Summarizing a report with Copilot saves time and helps you communicate results to people in a hurry. To improve the quality of the summary, invest in a good semantic model: clear names on measures and columns and useful descriptions make all the difference. Next, try summarizing a single page instead of the whole report. Tip: the better your field names are, the better the summary — which report will you try to summarize first?