Free DAX Cheat Sheet
29 of the most-used Power BI DAX functions — aggregation, filter, time intelligence, logical, and relationships — each with a plain-English description and a real example. Search to filter instantly.
| Function | Category | What it does | Example |
|---|
DAX aggregation and filter functions
SUM, AVERAGE, and COUNTROWS answer "what's the total" questions directly. CALCULATE is the one function worth understanding deeply — it's how almost every non-trivial DAX measure changes its filter context, from a simple "only this year" condition to the time intelligence patterns below.
DAX time intelligence functions
YTD, prior year, and date-range comparisons all lean on a real, continuous date column. TOTALYTD, SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR, and DATESINPERIOD are the three worth learning first — most other time intelligence patterns are a variation on one of them. Want these built for your real column names instead of typing them by hand? The time intelligence generator does exactly that.
A worked example
Search "related" to find RELATED and RELATEDTABLE — the two functions that pull a value across a relationship, from a dimension table into a fact table or back the other way.
Questions
Is this free?
Yes, completely free, no account or signup needed.
Is this every DAX function?
No — DAX has well over 200 functions. This covers the roughly 29 you'll reach for in day-to-day report building, not the full reference.
I need a specific formula written for my data, not just a reference — is there a tool for that?
Yes — the DAX Formula Generator writes a real measure from a plain-English description using your real table and column names.
Can I paste in an existing formula and have it explained?
Yes — the DAX Explainer does exactly that.
Want the whole dashboard built, not just one formula?
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