Create a Dashboard in SharePoint to Simplify Reporting

It’s tough to stay productive when project updates, documents, and metrics are scattered all over SharePoint. To tackle this, the easiest way is to create a dashboard in SharePoint. With a SharePoint dashboard, you can see tasks, KPIs, and reports in one place instead of switching between different sites or lists. 

Let’s take a quick overview of the same:

• What is a SharePoint Dashboard?
• Why Create a Dashboard in SharePoint?
• How to Create Dashboard in SharePoint?
  • #1. Build a Dashboard via Modern Pages
  • #2. Create a Dashboard via Power BI
  • #3. Excel Dashboards Embedded in SharePoint
  • #4. Integrate Viva Connections Dashboard
• How I Customise a SharePoint Dashboard
• When You Need to Migrate Dashboards
• Author’s Verdict
• People Also Ask

What is a SharePoint Dashboard?

A SharePoint dashboard is a customizable page that displays essential business information in one place. It can include:

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Task or project statuses
• Document library analytics
• Charts and graphs from Excel or Power BI
• Announcements and notifications

To manage data and reduce manual workload, this is necessary to build a dashboard in SharePoint. Next, we’ll learn the benefits of creating it. 

Why Create a Dashboard in SharePoint?

Creating a dashboard in SharePoint is powerful because it:

• Save time by surfacing real-time updates
• Reduce the need for repetitive reporting
• Adapt easily to different scenarios, such as project management, sales, HR, or IT
• Can integrate with Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Power BI, and Planner

How to Create Dashboard in SharePoint?

In 2025, Microsoft improved SharePoint’s dashboard capabilities, especially with modern pages, Viva Connections, and Power BI integration. So, the methods are also different, i.e.

#1. Build a Dashboard via Modern Pages

If you are using SharePoint Online, then modern pages will help with straightforward dashboards:

1. Open the SharePoint site and select New > Page.
2. Choose a blank layout for team dashboards.
3. Add modern web parts, such as:
   • List web part
   • Quick Chart web part
   • Document Library web part
   • News web part
   • Highlighted Content web part
4. Arrange the layout with one, two, or three-column sections.
5. Publish and, if needed, set the dashboard as the site homepage.

See, this procedure is quick, and you can complete this without needing any technical expertise. Still, for a customised dashboard, try the next solution. 

#2. Create a Dashboard via Power BI

When the requirement is advanced reporting, I recommend Power BI integration to build a dashboard in SharePoint smoothly:

1. Build or publish a dashboard in Power BI Service.
2. Copy the embed link for SharePoint.
3. Add a Power BI web part on a modern page.
4. Paste the link and configure the permission.

As a SharePoint admin, I have to create or remove dashboards from multiple sites fast, and Power BI helps me in this. So, I recommend, if you’re familiar with technicalities, opt for this, and make your creation procedure smooth. 

#3. Excel Dashboards Embedded in SharePoint

MS Excel is the most familiar service, and this time we use this to build a dashboard. Here’s how:

1. Create charts or pivot tables in Excel.
2. Import Excel to the SharePoint document library.
3. Use the File Viewer web part to embed the Excel dashboard into a page.

This is the easiest one, as you have to upload Excel files to the document library to create a dashboard in SharePoint. Additionally, in an organisation, Excel is a widely used service, so there is no chance of data loss or error with this. 

#4. Integrate Viva Connections Dashboard to Build a Dashboard in SharePoint

Microsoft recently enhanced SharePoint dashboards with Viva Connections, which provides a mobile-ready dashboard. For the same:

1. Choose or create a communication site.
2. In the SharePoint Admin Center, go to Settings > Global Navigation.
3. Link it to your home site.
4. In the home site, select New > Dashboard.
5. Add Adaptive Cards for tasks, news, or quick links.
6. In the Teams Admin Center, add the Viva Connections app.
7. Pin it to the Teams sidebar (optional).
8. Publish and make it available to your team.

How I Customise a SharePoint Dashboard

Once you create a dashboard in SharePoint, don’t leave it as-is. Customising it makes the difference between a page and a dashboard. Since dashboards in SharePoint are built on modern pages with different web parts, it’s important to understand the basics of SharePoint Site vs Page vs Web Parts before you start customising.

Here are some basic customise steps, when you build a dashboard in SharePoint completely (you can change or enhance according to your needs):

• Pick the right page layout.
• Add key web parts: Quick Chart, Lists, Libraries, News, and Highlighted Content.
• Use audience targeting to show role-specific info.
• Embed Power BI or Excel for advanced reporting.
• Apply company branding, such as logo, theme, colours, etc.
• Test responsiveness on desktop and mobile.

#Viva Connections Dashboard Customisation Checklist

Viva connections dashboard is slightly different from the normal ones, and it offers more customisation options. So, the steps to create a dashboard in SharePoint are different, as well as their checklist:

• Define your home site as the base for the dashboard
• Add Adaptive Cards, like tasks, news, quick links, HR requests, approvals, etc
• Arrange cards in a grid or list layout for clarity
• Use audience targeting
• Apply branding for a consistent look
• Pin the Viva Connections app in Teams for easy access

So, these are some common points to enhance your SharePoint dashboard to look professional. I also make sure my dashboards follow SharePoint Document Management best practices so that files and related content stay well-structured.

But what if you build a dashboard in SharePoint, and customise it properly, and your company want to migrate data to another tenant or site for any reason? Then what would you do?

When You Need to Migrate Dashboards After a Merger or Rebranding

In my personal experience, companies often go through mergers, acquisitions, or large-scale rebranding. When that happens, SharePoint dashboards usually need to be moved to a new site or even a new tenant. 

Rebuilding everything from scratch is time-consuming and risks losing hierarchy, metadata, and permissions. So, don’t worry, relax! To tackle this situation, I found a solution, i.e. SysTools SharePoint Migrator.

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With it, you can:

• Migrate dashboards, lists, libraries, and pages to another site or tenant
• Preserve hierarchy, metadata, and version history
• Move permissions and settings intact
• Ensure a smooth transition without downtime and data loss

I personally recommend this to give it a chance for the expected site-to-site or SharePoint Tenant to Tenant migration results. 

Author’s Verdict

Creating a dashboard in SharePoint provides a single place to organise data, reports, and resources. You can create a dashboard in SharePoint using modern pages, web parts, Power BI, or Viva Connections. 

Build a dashboard in SharePoint is easy, but maintaining or customising it becomes time-consuming. So, follow the mentioned checklist wisely, and every time. Remember to backup SharePoint Online to local storage to add an extra layer of security to your SharePoint data. 

People Also Ask

Q. What’s the difference between a SharePoint dashboard and a Power BI dashboard?

Here’s the quick difference between SharePoint and Power BI dashboards:

• A SharePoint dashboard is a customizable site page that aggregates content and updates. 
• A Power BI dashboard focuses on advanced data analytics and visualisation. 

However, you can embed a SharePoint dashboard with Power BI, if needed. 

Q. Can I use Excel to build a dashboard in SharePoint?
Yes, Excel files with charts and pivot tables can be uploaded and embedded using the File Viewer web part.

Q. Can I create a dashboard in SharePoint without coding?
Yes, you can create a dashboard using modern pages and web parts in SharePoint without any coding knowledge.

Q. Can I migrate a SharePoint dashboard to another site or tenant?
Yes, but you’ll need a migration tool like SysTools Migrator to move dashboards, lists, and libraries while keeping hierarchy, metadata, and permissions intact.