By default, slicer visuals only filter the other visuals on the same report page. However, via the Sync Slicers pane, report designers can synchronize a slicer visual to also filter all other report pages or only specific report pages. This feature eliminates the need to include the same slicer on multiple report pages and thus simplifies the user experience. For example, a common report may utilize three slicers (for example, Year, Product Category, Sales Country) and include four report pages. With slicer synchronization configured, the report user would only need to select values from these slicers on a single report page and the visuals from all four report pages would be updated to reflect these selections.

The Sync slicers pane can be accessed from the View tab of the ribbon in Report View per the following image:

Once selected per the preceding image, the Sync slicers pane will appear to the right of the report page. A slicer visual from the current report page can then be selected to configure its synchronization with other pages. 

In the following image, the Sales Territory Group slicer on the AdWorks Sales report page has been selected but has not yet been synchronized with other report pages:

To quickly synchronize the slicer to all other report pages, simply click the Add to all link above the Sync and Visible icons. In this example, the Add to all command would apply checkmarks under the Sync icon for all four report pages. The Sales Territory Group slicer would now filter all four report pages but would only be visible on the AdWorks Sales page per the single checkmark under the Visible icon.

Alternatively, the Sync slicers pane can be used to customize the synchronization and visibility properties of the slicer per report page. For example, the Sales Territory Group slicer could be set to only filter (synchronize) three of the four report pages by selecting or unselecting the checkmarks for these pages. Additionally, checkmarks can be added to the Visible property to display the slicer on other pages. With this approach, the user would still only need to make a slicer selection once via synchronization but could view the slicer on other report pages to understand the current slicer selection(s) impacting the given report page.

For reports with several report pages and common slicers, a single report page could be dedicated to slicer selections and not contain any other visuals. Report designers could configure synchronization for each slicer on this page and instruct users to only use this page for applying their filter selections for all pages on the report. Moreover, a back button could be added to report pages allowing the user to easily navigate back to the dedicated slicer report page. An example of using a back button image is included in the Drillthrough Report Pages section of Chapter 6, Applying Custom Visuals, Animation, and Analytics.