PL-300: Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst practice exam

Total Questions: 60
Time Recommendation: 120 minutes

Note: We have sectioned the questions to help you prepare, but the real exam will have questions from the sections appearing randomly.
The answers are at the end, and we recommend only looking at the answers after you have attempted the questions.

Exam Structure & Weighting (60 Questions)

Domain	%	Questions
Prepare the data	~27%	16
Model the data	~27%	16
Visualize and analyze the data	~27%	16
Manage and secure Power BI	~19%	12
Total	100%	60

SECTION 1: Prepare the Data (Questions 1–16)

1. (Single choice)
You connect to a CSV file containing sales data. The file is updated daily with additional rows. What should you do to ensure Power BI always imports only new records?

A. Use Import mode
B. Enable Incremental Refresh
C. Use DirectQuery
D. Create a calculated table

2. (Scenario – Multi-select)
You are cleaning customer data in Power Query. You need to:

Remove rows where CustomerID is null
Replace empty strings in Country with “Unknown”

Which two steps should you use? (Select two)

A. Filter rows
B. Replace values
C. Conditional column
D. Remove errors

3. (Fill in the blank)
The Power Query feature used to profile data by showing column distribution, quality, and profile is called __________.

4. (Single choice)
You want to reduce model size by removing unused columns before loading data. Where should this be done?

A. In DAX
B. In Power BI Service
C. In Power Query Editor
D. In the Data view

5. (Scenario – Single choice)
A dataset contains numeric values stored as text. What is the best approach to fix this?

A. Convert data type in the report view
B. Create a calculated column
C. Change data type in Power Query
D. Use FORMAT() in DAX

6. (Multi-select)
Which transformations are considered query folding–friendly? (Select two)

A. Filtering rows
B. Adding an Index column
C. Merging queries
D. Custom M function logic

7. (Single choice)
What does query folding primarily help with?

A. Improving report aesthetics
B. Reducing dataset size
C. Pushing transformations to the source system
D. Enabling DirectQuery

8. (Scenario – Single choice)
You want to append monthly Excel files from a folder automatically. What connector should you use?

A. Excel Workbook
B. SharePoint Folder
C. Folder
D. Web

9. (Matching)
Match the Power Query feature to its purpose:

Feature	Purpose
A. Merge Queries	1. Stack tables vertically
B. Append Queries	2. Combine tables horizontally
C. Group By	3. Aggregate rows

10. (Single choice)
Which data source supports DirectQuery?

A. Excel
B. CSV
C. SQL Server
D. JSON

11. (Scenario – Multi-select)
You want to reduce refresh time. Which actions help? (Select two)

A. Remove unused columns
B. Increase report page count
C. Apply filters early
D. Use calculated columns

12. (Single choice)
What does enabling “Enable load” = Off do?

A. Deletes the query
B. Prevents data refresh
C. Prevents data from loading into the model
D. Disables query folding

13. (Single choice)
Which transformation breaks query folding most often?

A. Filtering
B. Sorting
C. Custom column with M code
D. Renaming columns

14. (Fill in the blank)
The language used by Power Query is called __________.

15. (Scenario – Single choice)
You need to standardize country names across multiple sources. What is the best approach?

A. DAX LOOKUPVALUE
B. Power Query Replace Values
C. Calculated table
D. Visual-level filter

16. (Single choice)
What is the main benefit of disabling Auto Date/Time?

A. Faster report rendering
B. Better compression and simpler models
C. Enables time intelligence
D. Required for DirectQuery

SECTION 2: Model the Data (Questions 17–32)

17. (Single choice)
What is the recommended cardinality between a fact table and a dimension table?

A. Many-to-many
B. One-to-one
C. One-to-many
D. Many-to-one

18. (Scenario – Single choice)
You have Sales and Customers tables. Each sale belongs to one customer. How should the relationship be defined?

A. Many-to-many
B. One-to-many from Customers to Sales
C. One-to-one
D. Inactive

19. (Multi-select)
Which actions improve model performance? (Select two)

A. Reduce column cardinality
B. Use bi-directional filters everywhere
C. Star schema design
D. Hide fact table columns

20. (Fill in the blank)
A __________ table contains descriptive attributes used for slicing and filtering.

21. (Scenario – Single choice)
When should you use a calculated column instead of a measure?

A. When performing aggregations
B. When results must be stored per row
C. When using slicers
D. When reducing model size

22. (Single choice)
Which DAX function safely handles divide-by-zero errors?

A. DIV
B. IFERROR
C. DIVIDE
D. CALCULATE

23. (Scenario – Single choice)
You need a dynamic calculation that responds to filters. What should you use?

A. Calculated column
B. Calculated table
C. Measure
D. Static column

24. (Matching)
Match the DAX concept to its description:

Concept	Description
A. Row context	1. Filters applied by visuals
B. Filter context	2. Iteration over rows
C. Context transition	3. Row → filter conversion

25. (Single choice)
What does CALCULATE primarily do?

A. Creates relationships
B. Changes filter context
C. Adds rows to tables
D. Improves compression

26. (Multi-select)
Which are valid time intelligence functions? (Select two)

A. TOTALYTD
B. SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR
C. SUMX
D. VALUES

27. (Scenario – Single choice)
You need Year-over-Year growth. What prerequisite must be met?

A. Auto Date/Time enabled
B. Continuous date column
C. Marked Date table
D. Calculated column

28. (Single choice)
What does marking a table as a Date table do?

A. Improves visuals
B. Enables time intelligence accuracy
C. Reduces refresh time
D. Enables RLS

29. (Multi-select)
Which DAX functions are iterators? (Select two)

A. SUMX
B. AVERAGEX
C. SUM
D. COUNT

30. (Scenario – Single choice)
You need to model a many-to-many relationship. What is the recommended solution?

A. Bi-directional filters
B. Bridge table
C. Calculated column
D. Duplicate keys

31. (Single choice)
What is the main drawback of bi-directional relationships?

A. Slower refresh
B. Increased ambiguity and performance cost
C. Larger dataset size
D. Disabled measures

32. (Fill in the blank)
The recommended schema design in Power BI is the __________ schema.

SECTION 3: Visualize and Analyze the Data (Questions 33–48)

33. (Single choice)
Which visual best shows trends over time?

A. Bar chart
B. Table
C. Line chart
D. Card

34. (Scenario – Single choice)
You want users to explore details by clicking on a value in a chart. What feature should you use?

A. Drillthrough
B. Tooltip
C. Drill-down
D. Bookmark

35. (Multi-select)
Which visuals support drill-down? (Select two)

A. Matrix
B. Card
C. Bar chart
D. KPI

36. (Fill in the blank)
A page that shows detailed information for a selected data point is called a __________ page.

37. (Single choice)
Which feature allows navigation between predefined report states?

A. Filters
B. Slicers
C. Bookmarks
D. Tooltips

38. (Scenario – Single choice)
You want to highlight values above a threshold. What should you use?

A. Conditional formatting
B. Custom visual
C. Calculated column
D. Page filter

39. (Multi-select)
Which elements can be used as slicers? (Select two)

A. Numeric columns
B. Measures
C. Date columns
D. Calculated tables

40. (Single choice)
What does a tooltip page provide?

A. Navigation
B. Additional context on hover
C. Data refresh
D. Security

41. (Scenario – Single choice)
You want visuals on one page to affect another page. What should you use?

A. Drill-down
B. Sync slicers
C. RLS
D. Visual interactions

42. (Single choice)
Which feature allows exporting summarized data only?

A. Export underlying data
B. Export summarized data
C. Analyze in Excel
D. Paginated reports

43. (Multi-select)
Which actions improve report performance? (Select two)

A. Limit visuals per page
B. Use high-cardinality slicers
C. Use measures instead of columns
D. Disable interactions

44. (Single choice)
What is the purpose of a KPI visual?

A. Show raw data
B. Compare actuals to targets
C. Display trends
D. Filter visuals

45. (Scenario – Single choice)
You need a visual that supports hierarchical navigation. What should you choose?

A. Card
B. Line chart
C. Matrix
D. Gauge

46. (Fill in the blank)
The feature that allows users to ask natural language questions is called __________.

47. (Single choice)
What determines visual interaction behavior?

A. Data model
B. Report theme
C. Edit interactions settings
D. Dataset permissions

48. (Single choice)
Which visual is best for comparing proportions?

A. Table
B. Pie chart
C. Scatter plot
D. Line chart

SECTION 4: Manage and Secure Power BI (Questions 49–60)

49. (Single choice)
What does Row-Level Security (RLS) control?

A. Visual visibility
B. Data access by user
C. Dataset refresh
D. Workspace roles

50. (Scenario – Single choice)
You need different users to see different regions’ data. What should you implement?

A. App audiences
B. RLS roles
C. Workspace permissions
D. Object-level security

51. (Multi-select)
Which roles can publish content? (Select two)

A. Viewer
B. Contributor
C. Member
D. Admin

52. (Single choice)
Where is RLS created?

A. Power BI Service only
B. Power BI Desktop
C. Azure Portal
D. Excel

53. (Single choice)
What is Object-Level Security (OLS) used for?

A. Hiding rows
B. Hiding columns or tables
C. Encrypting data
D. Managing refresh

54. (Scenario – Single choice)
You want users to consume reports without editing. Which workspace role is best?

A. Admin
B. Member
C. Contributor
D. Viewer

55. (Fill in the blank)
A packaged, read-only distribution of reports is called a Power BI __________.

56. (Single choice)
Which feature controls dataset refresh schedules?

A. Gateway
B. Dataset settings
C. Workspace
D. App

57. (Multi-select)
Which authentication methods are supported by Power BI gateways? (Select two)

A. Windows
B. OAuth
C. Basic
D. Anonymous

58. (Scenario – Single choice)
You want on-premises SQL data to refresh in Power BI Service. What is required?

A. DirectQuery
B. On-premises data gateway
C. Azure SQL
D. Incremental refresh

59. (Single choice)
Who can manage workspace users?

A. Viewer
B. Contributor
C. Member
D. Admin

60. (Single choice)
What is the primary benefit of Power BI apps?

A. Faster refresh
B. Centralized content distribution
C. Improved DAX performance
D. Reduced dataset size

ANSWER KEY WITH EXPLANATIONS

Below are correct answers and explanations, including why incorrect options are not correct.
(Use this section after completing the exam.)

SECTION 1: Prepare the Data (1-16)

B – Incremental Refresh loads only new/changed data
A, B – Filter rows removes nulls; Replace Values handles empty strings
Data profiling
C – Remove columns before loading
C – Best practice is Power Query transformation
A, C – Folding-friendly operations
C – Pushes logic to the source
C – Folder connector handles multiple files
A-2, B-1, C-3
C – SQL Server supports DirectQuery
A, C – Reduce data early
C – Prevents model loading
C – Custom M breaks folding
M
B – Clean once at ingestion
B – Avoids hidden date tables

SECTION 2: Model the Data (17–32)

17. Correct Answer: C — One-to-many

Why correct: In a star schema, dimension tables have unique keys and fact tables contain repeated keys.
Why others are incorrect:
- A/B/D create ambiguity or are rarely appropriate in analytical models.

18. Correct Answer: B — One-to-many from Customers to Sales

Why correct: One customer can have many sales, but each sale belongs to one customer.
Why others are incorrect:
- Many-to-many and one-to-one do not reflect the business reality.
- Inactive relationships are only used when multiple relationships exist.

19. Correct Answers: A, C

Why correct:
- Reducing column cardinality improves compression.
- Star schemas reduce relationship complexity and improve performance.
Why others are incorrect:
- Bi-directional filters add overhead.
- Hiding columns improves usability, not performance.

20. Correct Answer: Dimension

Why correct: Dimension tables describe entities (Customer, Product, Date).
Why incorrect alternatives: Fact tables store transactional metrics, not descriptive attributes.

21. Correct Answer: B — Stored per row

Why correct: Calculated columns are evaluated at refresh time and stored in memory.
Why others are incorrect:
- Aggregations and dynamic behavior belong in measures.

22. Correct Answer: C — DIVIDE

Why correct: DIVIDE safely handles divide-by-zero by returning BLANK or an alternate result.
Why others are incorrect:
- DIV doesn’t exist.
- IFERROR is Excel-only.
- CALCULATE changes filter context.

23. Correct Answer: C — Measure

Why correct: Measures respond dynamically to slicers and filters.
Why others are incorrect: Columns and tables are static after refresh.

24. Correct Matching

A → 2 (Row context) – Iterates row by row
B → 1 (Filter context) – Applied by visuals, slicers
C → 3 (Context transition) – Converts row context into filter context

25. Correct Answer: B — Changes filter context

Why correct: CALCULATE modifies existing filters or applies new ones.
Why others are incorrect: CALCULATE does not create tables or relationships.

26. Correct Answers: A, B

Why correct: TOTALYTD and SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR are built-in time intelligence functions.
Why others are incorrect: SUMX and VALUES are not time-intelligence specific.

27. Correct Answer: C — Marked Date table

Why correct: Time intelligence functions require a properly marked Date table.
Why others are incorrect:
- Auto Date/Time is not recommended.
- Continuity alone is not sufficient.

28. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: Marking a Date table ensures accurate time intelligence calculations.
Why others are incorrect: It does not affect refresh time or security.

29. Correct Answers: A, B

Why correct: SUMX and AVERAGEX iterate over rows.
Why others are incorrect: SUM and COUNT are simple aggregators.

30. Correct Answer: B — Bridge table

Why correct: A bridge table resolves many-to-many relationships cleanly.
Why others are incorrect:
- Bi-directional filters alone can cause ambiguity.
- Duplicated keys violate modeling best practices.

31. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: Bi-directional filters increase ambiguity and performance cost.
Why others are incorrect: Refresh time and dataset size are not the main issues.

32. Correct Answer: Star

Why correct: Star schemas simplify relationships and improve performance.

SECTION 3: Visualize and Analyze the Data (33–48)

33. Correct Answer: C — Line chart

Why correct: Line charts best represent trends over time.
Why others are incorrect: Tables and cards do not show trends effectively.

34. Correct Answer: C — Drill-down

Why correct: Drill-down allows users to navigate hierarchical levels within a visual.
Why others are incorrect:
- Drillthrough navigates pages.
- Tooltips show hover information.

35. Correct Answers: A, C

Why correct: Matrix and bar charts support hierarchies and drill-down.
Why others are incorrect: Cards and KPIs do not support drill-down.

36. Correct Answer: Drillthrough

Why correct: Drillthrough pages display detailed context for selected data points.

37. Correct Answer: C — Bookmarks

Why correct: Bookmarks capture filters, visibility, and interactions.
Why others are incorrect: Slicers and filters do not store states.

38. Correct Answer: A — Conditional formatting

Why correct: Highlights values dynamically based on rules.
Why others are incorrect: Custom visuals are unnecessary for this task.

39. Correct Answers: A, C

Why correct: Columns (including numeric and date) can be slicers.
Why others are incorrect: Measures cannot be slicers.

40. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: Tooltip pages show extra information on hover.
Why others are incorrect: They do not control navigation or security.

41. Correct Answer: B — Sync slicers

Why correct: Sync slicers apply selections across pages.
Why others are incorrect: Visual interactions only work within a page.

42. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: Export summarized data respects aggregation and security.
Why others are incorrect: Underlying data exposes raw rows.

43. Correct Answers: A, C

Why correct: Fewer visuals and measures reduce query load.
Why others are incorrect: High-cardinality slicers degrade performance.

44. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: KPIs compare actuals against a target.
Why others are incorrect: KPIs do not show raw tables or filters.

45. Correct Answer: C — Matrix

Why correct: Matrix supports row and column hierarchies.
Why others are incorrect: Cards and gauges lack hierarchy support.

46. Correct Answer: Q&A

Why correct: Q&A enables natural language queries.

47. Correct Answer: C

Why correct: Edit interactions controls cross-visual behavior.
Why others are incorrect: Themes and permissions do not affect interactions.

48. Correct Answer: B — Pie chart

Why correct: Pie charts show part-to-whole relationships.
Why others are incorrect: Line and scatter plots show trends or correlation.

SECTION 4: Manage and Secure Power BI (49–60)

49. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: RLS restricts data visibility per user.
Why others are incorrect: RLS does not control visuals or refresh.

50. Correct Answer: B — RLS roles

Why correct: RLS filters rows dynamically by user.
Why others are incorrect: Workspace permissions do not filter data.

51. Correct Answers: B, D

Why correct: Contributors and Admins can publish.
Why others are incorrect: Viewers cannot publish content.

52. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: RLS roles are defined in Power BI Desktop.
Why others are incorrect: Service is used for assignment, not creation.

53. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: OLS hides tables or columns.
Why others are incorrect: OLS does not filter rows.

54. Correct Answer: D — Viewer

Why correct: Viewers can consume but not edit content.
Why others are incorrect: Other roles allow editing or publishing.

55. Correct Answer: App

Why correct: Apps are packaged, read-only content distributions.

56. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: Refresh schedules are configured in dataset settings.

57. Correct Answers: A, C

Why correct: Gateways support Windows and Basic authentication.
Why others are incorrect: OAuth and Anonymous are not supported for gateways.

58. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: An on-premises data gateway enables refresh from local sources.

59. Correct Answer: D — Admin

Why correct: Only Admins can manage workspace users fully.

60. Correct Answer: B

Why correct: Apps centralize and standardize content distribution.