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Dashboard controls

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:59:56 +0000

Dashboard controls

In the Dashboard controls section of the sidebar, you can add variables, annotation queries, dashboard links, and controls to filter and group data, without leaving the dashboard.

Filter and group by

Note
Filter and group by is currently in public preview. Grafana Labs offers limited support, and breaking changes might occur prior to the feature being made generally available.

This feature renames the Filters variable (formerly ad hoc filter) to Filter and Group by and extends it by adding grouping for Prometheus and Loki data sources. However, in the dashboard schema, it is still referred to as "kind": "AdhocVariable".

To use this feature, enable the dashboardUnifiedDrilldownControls feature toggle in your Grafana configuration file.

For information on the generally available filters experience, refer to the Variables documentation. While that documentation reflects the generally available experience, the information applies to the filter and group by feature as well.

The filter and group by is one of the most complex and flexible variable options available. Instead of creating a variable for each dimension by which you want to filter, they automatically query your data source for available dimensions and let users add or remove filters and groupings on the dashboard dynamically. This allows you to quickly apply filters dashboard-wide.

The group by function allows you to then group data by keys, letting you split it up. Group by is typically used with aggregation queries, such as sum(your_metric_here), to split aggregated results by the selected dimensions. Then, you can use filters within panels to filter data in or out, drilling down further into the data.

The filter and group by feature lets you add label/value filters that are automatically added to all queries that use the specified data source. Unlike other variables, you don’t use these filters in queries. Instead, you use them to write filters for existing queries.

The following data sources support filters. Data sources with an asterisk also support group by:

Prometheus*
Loki*
InfluxDB
Elasticsearch
OpenSearch.
Special Dashboard data source - Use this to apply filters to data from unsupported data sources.

Add a filter and group by

To add a filter and group by, follow these steps:

Navigate to the dashboard you want to update.
Click Edit.
Click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign). . Click Filter and Group by.
Enter a Name for the filter.
(Optional) In the Label field, enter the display name for the filter drop-down list.

If you don’t enter a display name, then the drop-down list label is the filter name.
(Optional) In the Description field, enter a description of the filter. The description appears as an info icon tooltip next to the filter name on the dashboard.

Descriptions support links. You can use Markdown-style links ([link text](https://example.com)) or paste bare URLs (https://example.com). Only http and https URLs are rendered as clickable links—other protocols are displayed as plain text.
Choose a Display option:
- Above dashboard - The filter drop-down list displays above the dashboard with the filter Name or Label value. This is the default.
- Above dashboard, label hidden - The filter drop-down list displays above the dashboard, but without showing the name of the filter.
- Controls menu - The filter is displayed in the dashboard controls menu instead of above the dashboard. The dashboard controls menu appears as a button in the dashboard toolbar.
- Hidden - No filter drop-down list is displayed on the dashboard.

Under the Filter options section of the page, set the following options:

Option	Description
Data source	Select a target data source in the drop-down list. You can also click Open advanced data source picker to see more options, including adding a data source (Admins only). For more information about data sources, refer to Add a data source.
Default filters	Set a default key/value pair. Optional. In the dashboard filter control, the default value is indicated with an information icon.
Enable group by	This option only appears if you selected a Prometheus or Loki data source. Toggle the switch on to enable data grouping.
Default group by	Set a default key for the dashboard. Optional. In the dashboard filter control, the default value is indicated with an information icon.
Use static key dimensions	To provide the filter dimensions as comma-separated values (CSV), toggle the switch on, and then enter the values in the space provided. Optional.
Allow custom values	Toggle the switch on to allow dashboard users to add custom values to the filter and group by lists. Optional.

Click Save.
Enter an optional description of your dashboard changes, and then click Save.
Click Exit edit.

Now you can filter and group data on the dashboard.

You can remove and reset default filters and groupings, and see your recent ones:

To see every active filter and grouping across the dashboard all at once, click the filter icon in the toolbar to open an overview. The overview lets you see your current filters and group by selections, search for specific keys, and adjust them without scrolling through the dashboard controls:

Add an operator and value for a key to add it as a filter or select the Group by checkbox to set a group by key. You can use a key for both a filter and a group by.

Group and filter from the panel

When the Group by switch is toggled on, you can also set a group by from a panel rather than from the dashboard-level control. Hover the cursor over any panel using the data source of the filter to show the Group by selector:

This can be helpful when you’re working with a panel that’s far away from the dashboard controls. Your selection is applied to the all the panels in the dashboard with the same data source.

You can also further filter a time series panel, which allows you to drill down further into your data. After setting your group by and splitting your data, click on a series in a panel and click Filter on this value or Filter out this value which will filter by the labels found on that series, which are related to the set group by values.

To enable this functionality, you need to add one or more overrides for the panel. In the following example, the override:

Adds a regular expression, so that all fields are filterable
Enables the Ad-hoc filterable switch

However, you can create overrides to address specific fields. You can also do this programmatically by returning the data frame with the appropriate filterable property on the desired fields.

With the override in place, you can click a series on a time series panel and filter it in or out. The new filter is shown in the dashboard filter control and the it’s applied to the whole dashboard.

Add variables

To add a variable, follow these steps:

Navigate to the dashboard you want to update.
Click Edit.
Click + Add variable at the top of the dashboard or click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign) and select Variable.
Choose a variable type from the list.
Enter a Name for the variable.
(Optional) In the Label field, enter the display name for the variable drop-down list.

If you don’t enter a display name, then the drop-down list label is the variable name.
(Optional) In the Description field, enter a description of the variable. The description appears as an info icon tooltip next to the variable name on the dashboard.

Descriptions support links. You can use Markdown-style links ([link text](https://example.com)) or paste bare URLs (https://example.com). Only http and https URLs are rendered as clickable links — other protocols are displayed as plain text.
Choose a Display option:
- Above dashboard - The variable drop-down list displays above the dashboard with the variable Name or Label value. This is the default.
- Above dashboard, label hidden - The variable drop-down list displays above the dashboard, but without showing the name of the variable.
- Controls menu - The variable is displayed in the dashboard controls menu instead of above the dashboard. The dashboard controls menu appears as a button in the dashboard toolbar.
- Hidden - No variable drop-down list is displayed on the dashboard.
Complete the variable configuration. For more detailed configuration information, click the one of the following links to complete the steps for adding your selected variable type:

Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

For more detailed information on variables, refer to the full Variables documentation.

Add annotation queries

To add an annotation query, follow these steps:

Navigate to the dashboard you want to update.
Click Edit.
Click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign).
Click Annotation query.
Enter a name for the annotation query.

This name is given to the toggle that allows you to enable/disable showing annotation events from this query.
If you don’t want to use the annotation query right away, clear the Enabled checkbox.
Select a color for the event markers.
Select one of the following options in the Show annotation controls in drop-down list to control where annotations are displayed:
- Above dashboard - The annotation toggle is displayed above the dashboard. This is the default.
- Controls menu - The annotation toggle is displayed in the dashboard controls menu instead of above the dashboard. The dashboard controls menu appears as a button in the dashboard toolbar.
- Hidden - The annotation toggle is not displayed on the dashboard.
In the Show in drop-down, choose one of the following options:
- All panels - The annotations are displayed on all panels that support annotations.
- Selected panels - The annotations are displayed on all the panels you select.
- All panels except - The annotations are displayed on all panels except the ones you select.
Annotation filtering
To add a query, do one of the following:
- Click Open query editor to open Annotation Query dialog box and write or construct a query. The annotation query options are different for each data source. For information about annotations in a specific data source, refer to the specific data source topic.
- Click Use saved query to open a the Saved queries drawer and select a saved query.

Note
Saved queries is currently in public preview in Grafana Enterprise and Grafana Cloud only.

(Optional) Click Test annotation query to ensure that the query is working properly.
Click Close when you’ve completed the query setup.
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

For more detailed information about annotations, refer to the full Annotations documentation.

Add links

For more detailed information on dashboard links, refer to the full Dashboard links documentation.

Add links to dashboards

To add a link to another dashboard at the top of your current dashboard, follow these steps:

Navigate to the dashboard you want to update.
Click Edit.
Click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign).
Click Link.

The default link type is Dashboards.

In the With tags drop-down list, enter tags to limit the linked dashboards to only the ones with the tags you enter.

If you don’t add any tags, Grafana includes links to all other dashboards.
Set link options:
- Show as dropdown – If you are linking to lots of dashboards, then you probably want to select this option and add an optional title to the dropdown. Otherwise, Grafana displays the dashboard links side by side across the top of your dashboard.
- Include current time range – Select this option to include the dashboard time range in the link. When the user clicks the link, the linked dashboard opens with the indicated time range already set. Example: https://play.grafana.org/d/000000010/annotations?orgId=1&from=now-3h&to=now
- Include current template variable values – Select this option to include template variables currently used as query parameters in the link. When the user clicks the link, any matching templates in the linked dashboard are set to the values from the link. For more information, see Dashboard URL variables.
- Open link in new tab – Select this option if you want the dashboard link to open in a new tab or window.
- Show in controls menu – Select this option to display the link in the dashboard controls menu instead of at the top of the dashboard. The dashboard controls menu appears as a button in the dashboard toolbar.
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

Add a URL link to a dashboard

Add a link to a URL at the top of your current dashboard. You can link to any available URL, including dashboards, panels, or external sites. You can even control the time range to ensure the user is zoomed in on the right data in Grafana.

To add a URL link to your dashboard, follow these steps:

Navigate to the dashboard you want to update.
Click Edit.
Click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign).
Click Link.
In the Type drop-down list, select Link.
In the URL field, enter the URL to which you want to link.

Depending on the target, you might want to include field values. Example: https://github.com/grafana/grafana/issues/new?title=Dashboard%3A%20HTTP%20Requests
In the Tooltip field, enter the tooltip you want the link to display when the user hovers their mouse over it.
In the Icon drop-down, choose the icon you want displayed with the link.
Set link options; by default, these options are enabled for URL links:
- Include current time range – Select this option to include the dashboard time range in the link. When the user clicks the link, the linked dashboard opens with the indicated time range already set. Example: https://play.grafana.org/d/000000010/annotations?orgId=1&from=now-3h&to=now
- Include current template variable values – Select this option to include template variables currently used as query parameters in the link. When the user clicks the link, any matching templates in the linked dashboard are set to the values from the link.
- Open link in new tab – Select this option if you want the dashboard link to open in a new tab or window.
- Show in controls menu – Select this option to display the link in the dashboard controls menu instead of at the top of the dashboard. The dashboard controls menu appears as a button in the dashboard header.
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

Manage dashboard controls

After you add dashboard controls, you can manage them from the dashboard options. In this view, the sidebar includes collapsible sections for variables (including filter and group by), annotations, and links, including hidden controls that aren’t otherwise visible on the dashboard:

To manage dashboard controls, follow these steps:

Click the Dashboard options icon in the sidebar.
In the sidebar, expand the appropriate collapsible section.
Do one or more of the following:
- Edit: Click Select on the control to open it in the sidebar so you can make updates.
- Reorder: Drag and drop controls to reorder them.
- Change display: Drag and drop controls between sub-sections Above dashboard, Controls menu, and Hidden to update the control display option. Note that links can’t be hidden.
Tip
To get back to controls management from configuration, click the Dashboard options icon.
Make any other changes as needed.
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

Dashboard groupings

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:59:56 +0000

Dashboard panel groupings

To help create meaningful sections in your dashboard, you can group panels into rows or tabs. Rows and tabs let you break up big dashboards or make one dashboard out of several smaller ones.

You can think of the dashboard as a series of nested containers: the dashboard is the largest container and it contains panels, rows, or tabs. Rows and tabs are the next largest containers, and they contain panels or other rows and tabs.

You can nest:

Rows in a row
Rows in a tab
Tabs in a row

You can nest up to three levels deep, which means a dashboard can have a maximum of five configuration levels:

Dashboard
Grouping 1 - Row or tab
Grouping 2 - Row or tab
Grouping 3 - Row or tab
Panels

The following screenshot demonstrates how groupings work:

You can only have one type of grouping at the first level. In this case, that’s two rows: Row with tabs and Another row, collapsed.
Inside of those first-level groupings however, you have the freedom to add different dashboard elements. There are tabs nested in Row with tabs, but you could nest rows, tabs, or panels inside Another row, collapsed.
Also, you can have different panel layouts in within a row or tab. In this dashboard, one tab contains two rows that have two different layouts.

In addition to the option to add groupings from the sidebar, when you hover your cursor over relevant parts of the dashboard, + Add panel, + New row, + New tab, Group panels, and ungroup buttons are visible.

The following sections describe:

Grouping configuration options

The following table describes the options you can set for a row or tab:

Option	Description
Title	Title of the row or tab.
Fill screen	Toggle the switch on to make the row fill the screen. Rows only.
Hide row header	Toggle the switch on to hide row headers in view mode. In edit mode, the row header is visible, but crossed out with the hidden icon next to it. Rows only.
Variables	Add variables that apply to only the panels in the grouping. For more information, refer to Grouping-level variables. For information configuring variables, refer to Add variables.
Layout	Select the layout. If the grouping contains another grouping, choose from Rows or Tabs. If the grouping contains panels, choose from Custom or Auto grid. For more information, refer to Panel layouts or Grouping layouts.
Repeat options > Repeat by variable	Configure the dashboard to dynamically add panels, rows, or tabs based on the value of a variable.
Show / hide rules > Panel/Row/Tab visibility	Control whether or not panels, rows, or tabs are displayed based on variable values, a time range, or query results (panels only).

Grouping layouts

When you have panels grouped into rows or tabs, the Layout options available depend on which dashboard element is selected and the nesting level of that element.

You can nest up to three levels deep, which means a dashboard can have a maximum of five configuration levels, with the following layout options:

Dashboard: Layout options allow you to choose between rows and tabs or custom and auto layouts.
Grouping 1 (outer): Layout options allow you to choose between rows and tabs.
Grouping 2 (middle): Layout options allow you to choose between rows and tabs.
Grouping 3 (inner): Layout options allow you to choose between custom and auto grid (refer to Panel layouts).
Panels: No layout options

You can switch between rows and tabs or update the panel layout by clicking the parent container and changing the layout selection.

Group panels

To group panels already on a dashboard, follow these steps:

Navigate to the dashboard you want to update.
Click Edit.
Do one of the following:
- Click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign) and select Group into rows or Group into tabs.
- Under a panel or group of panels, hover your mouse to reveal the Group panels button, click it and select Group into row or Group into tab.
All the panels are moved into the grouping, and a dotted blue line surrounds the row or tab. The sidebar opens, displaying the relevant options.

Tip
While grouping is typically used for multiple panels, you can start a grouping with just one panel.
Set the grouping configuration options in the sidebar.
(Optional) Add one or both of the following:
- Other groupings at the same level.
- A nested grouping
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

You can also start a grouping by adding a row or tab from the sidebar and then adding panels to that grouping.

Add more groupings at the same level

To add more groupings at the same level, follow these steps:

Click the dashboard or grouping where you want to more groupings, and click + New row or + New tab (only one option will be available).
Set the configuration options for the new grouping.
Click + Add panel to begin adding panels to the new grouping.
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

Add nested groupings

To add a nested grouping, follow these steps:

Click the grouping where you want to add the nested grouping.
Under a panel or group of panels in the grouping, click Group panels and select Group into row or Group into tab (Group into tab is only available if the parent grouping is a row).

The new grouping is added inside the first grouping, and the panels are moved into the nested grouping. The sidebar opens displaying the relevant configuration options.
Set the configuration options for the nested grouping.
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

You can add more one more level of grouping if needed.

Ungroup panels

You can ungroup some or all of the dashboard groupings without losing your panels.

When you ungroup a row or tab, all the groupings inside it are ungrouped and the panels are moved into the next higher-level grouping. If there are no more groupings left, the panels are moved onto the dashboard.

Ungroups all the rows inside Nested tab with rows leaving the panels in that tab.
Ungroups all the tabs inside Row with tabs, leaving the panels in that row.
Removes all groupings on the dashboard, leaving just the panels on the dashboard.

The Ungroup rows and Ungroup tabs buttons are only visible when you hover your mouse over the relevant part of the dashboard

Caution
If you delete a grouping, rather than ungrouping it, its panels are deleted as well.

To remove groupings, follow these steps:

Navigate to the dashboard you want to update.
Click Edit.
(Optional) Click the Content outline icon to quickly navigate to the grouping you want to remove.
Hover your mouse over the relevant area to show the Ungroup rows or Ungroup tabs button, then click it to ungroup all rows or tabs, including any nested groupings.
If you’ve ungrouped panels that were previously in different panel layouts, you’ll be prompted to select a common layout type for all the panels; click Convert to Auto grid or Convert to Custom.
Click Save.
(Optional) Enter a description of the changes you’ve made.
Click Save.
Click Exit edit.

Drag tabs between rows

In dashboards that include multiple rows with nested tabs, you can drag and drop nested tabs between rows. To do this, the receiving row just needs to have one nested tab already.

Place panels outside of groupings with headerless rows

If you have a row with panels, but you want the panels to appear ungrouped, you can use the Hide row header switch in the row configuration to achieve this.

In view mode, the row header is hidden, so that the panels in that row appear ungrouped. In the following image, the panels are grouped into two rows, but the header of the second row is hidden:

When you hide the header of a row, you can’t collapse the row.

Grouping-level variables

Note
Grouping-level variables is currently in public preview. Grafana Labs offers limited support, and breaking changes might occur prior to the feature being made generally available.

To use this feature, enable the dashboardSectionVariables feature toggle in your Grafana configuration file.

You can add variables to groupings that apply only to the panels in that grouping.

For example, if your dashboard includes both an API gateway and a database, you might want to apply two different $instance variables. Grouping-level variables address this by letting each row or tab have its own independent filters. In the API gateway and database scenario, the API gateway grouping can use one set of instances, while a database grouping uses another set. However, both groupings still share the same time range, and the underlying dashboard remains unchanged.

The following image shows an example using two rows of panels:

Panels in the grouping resolve grouping-level variables first, then fall back to dashboard-level variables.

The panel query editor is context-aware, so the autocomplete only shows the variables available to the panel you’re editing. Also, grouping-level variables carry over when you convert between rows and tabs, change layouts, and work with repeating rows and tabs.

Grouping-level variables are supported for all variable types. However, they aren’t supported for the public preview Filter and group by feature, which replaces the Filters variable when the dashboardUnifiedDrilldownControls feature toggle is enabled. For more information on Filter and group by, refer to the Dashboard controls documentation.