Drilling down lets you explore data at increasing levels of detail. Start with a summary view—such as total emissions by year—then click to see what's behind the numbers, like a breakdown by region or supplier. This is a powerful way to investigate patterns and find the root causes of what you're seeing in your charts.

Who can drill down

Your ability to drill down depends on your permission level for the workbook:

Permission level	Can drill down?
Can edit	Yes – drill down on any column
Can explore	Yes – drill down on any column
Can view	Yes – using drill down controls

All users can drill down using drill down controls that workbook creators have added to the page. Users with edit or explore access can also click directly on chart values to drill into any available column.

Drill Down Controls

Using drill down controls

Drill down controls are interactive elements that guide you through a predefined path in the data. They appear on the workbook page and show the available levels you can explore.

To use a drill down control, click a category name in the drill path. The connected charts update to show data at that level. Continue clicking to drill deeper, or click an earlier level to drill back up.

Creating drill down controls

If you're building workbooks for others, you can create a drill down control that guides viewers through a specific path. A drill down control:

Works for all users, including those with view-only permission
Provides a visible interface on the page showing the drill path
Can be connected to multiple charts at once
Ensures everyone follows the same exploration path

This is particularly useful when you've identified a meaningful hierarchy in your data—such as Business Unit (Brand) → Country → Facility—and want to make it easy for viewers to navigate through those levels.

Adding a drill down control

Click Controls in the floating UI menu.
In the Control elements section, select Drill down (it's at the bottom!).
The new drill down control appears on the page.
In the Editor panel, under Settings > Value source, select the table or chart containing the columns you want to use in your drill path.
Next to Drill categories, click +Add drill category.
Select the first column in your hierarchy (for example, Region).
Repeat steps 5–6 to add additional levels to your drill path (for example, Country, then Site).

The control now displays your drill path, showing each level as a clickable category.

Connecting the control to charts

A drill down control needs targets—the charts that update when someone uses the control.

Select the drill down control on your page.
In the Editor panel, click the Targets tab.
Click +Add target.
Select a chart from the list.
Use the dropdown menus to map each drill category to the corresponding column in your chart.
Repeat steps 3–5 to add additional charts as targets.

When viewers click through the drill path, all connected charts update together.

Creating a control from an existing drill path

If you've already drilled into a chart and want to save that path as a control:

Right-click a value in the chart to open the context menu.
Select Drill up > Create drill control.

The control is added to the page with your current drill path already configured. You can then add additional targets or modify the drill categories as needed.

Drill Downs with Full Explore

Drilling down on any column

Users with edit or explore permission can drill down directly from any chart, without needing a predefined drill down control. This lets you explore your data freely, following whatever path makes sense for your analysis.

How to drill down

Click a value on your chart to open the context menu.
Click the Drill down icon (↓).
In the Drill down modal, select the column you want to drill into. For example, if you're viewing emissions by year and want to see a regional breakdown, select the region column.
The chart updates to show the new data slice. A filter is automatically applied to show only the value you clicked on.

Example: If you click on 2023 in a chart showing emissions by year, then drill into Region, the chart changes to show emissions by region for 2023 only. The year filter appears above your chart, and the chart's axis now displays regions instead of years.

Understanding the drilled view

When you drill down, two things happen:

A filter is applied restricting the data to the value you clicked (for example, only 2023 data)
The chart reorganises to display the column you selected (for example, showing regions on the axis instead of years)

You can continue drilling further by clicking another value and selecting a new column. Each drill adds another filter, letting you progressively narrow your focus.

If you maximise the chart, you can see how the underlying data structure changes. Instead of being grouped by the original column, the data is now grouped by the column you drilled into.