How to Create Rounded Bars in Power BI

How do you create rounded bars in Power BI? You create rounded bars in Power BI by adjusting the shape and corner radius settings in the bar or column chart’s formatting pane, giving your visuals a modern, polished look that enhances dashboard aesthetics and improves visual engagement.

For enterprise executives, using rounded bars in Power BI reflects attention to design quality and user experience, making dashboards more intuitive, approachable, and aligned with professional branding standards.

Step 1: Add a Bar or Column Chart to Your Report

Start in Power BI Desktop:

1. Go to the Visualizations pane
2. Choose a Clustered Bar Chart or Clustered Column Chart
3. Drag your desired fields into the Axis and Values areas (e.g., Category and Sales)

Ensure your chart is displaying correctly before applying style changes.

Design Tip: Use bar charts for categorical comparisons and column charts for time-based trends.

Step 2: Open the Format Visual Pane

With the chart selected:

1. Click the Format (paint roller) icon in the Visualizations pane
2. Expand the Bars section

Depending on the chart type, this section may also appear as Columns or Data bars.

Step 3: Enable Rounded Corners

To round the edges of your bars or columns:

1. Locate the Rounded corners option (available in newer versions of Power BI)
2. Toggle it to On
3. Adjust the Radius value to control the degree of rounding

You can fine-tune:

• Top and bottom corners (for vertical bars)
• Left and right corners (for horizontal bars)

Visual Tip: A radius of 5–15 typically looks clean and professional without overdoing the effect.

Step 4: Use Shapes for Rounded Backgrounds (Workaround Option)

If the Rounded corners setting is not available (older versions or limited chart types), use a workaround:

Method:

1. Create a Stacked Bar Chart with transparent background
2. Overlay shapes or images (with rounded corners) behind the bars
3. Use careful alignment and formatting for a layered effect

Or, use Deneb or Charticulator custom visuals for full control over bar shapes.

Advanced Tip: Importing visuals via Deneb (Vega-lite) gives you pixel-perfect control over design elements including bar rounding.

Step 5: Match Rounded Bars to Your Branding

Customize the visual to align with your enterprise branding:

• Set bar colors using your brand palette
• Adjust border colors or shadows for subtle depth
• Use tooltips or labels to display key metrics clearly

Make sure the design remains readable and consistent across different screen sizes and report pages.

Branding Insight: Rounded visuals paired with on-brand colors create an elevated, cohesive dashboard experience.

Step 6: Test Responsiveness and Readability

Before publishing your report:

• Test how rounded bars behave on mobile view
• Ensure no overlapping labels or truncation occurs
• Validate that visual clarity is maintained when filtering or resizing

Final Check: Aesthetic improvements should never come at the cost of readability or accessibility.

Final Thoughts

Creating rounded bars in Power BI is a simple but effective way to modernize your data visuals. Whether you’re designing executive dashboards or customer-facing reports, rounded bars can make your visuals more engaging, polished, and aligned with design best practices.