Dashboards on Grafana Labs

Annotations

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:32:03 +0000

Annotations

Annotations provide a way to mark points on the graph with rich events. When you hover over an annotation you can get event description and event tags. The text field can include links to other systems with more detail.

Native annotations

Grafana v4.6+ comes with a native annotation store and the ability to add annotation events directly from the graph panel or via the HTTP API.

Adding annotations

By holding down Ctrl/Cmd+Click. Adding tags to the annotation will make it searchable from other dashboards.

Adding regions events

You can also hold down Ctrl/Cmd and select region to create a region annotation.

Built in query

After you added an annotation they will still be visible. This is due to the built in annotation query that exists on all dashboards. This annotation query will fetch all annotation events that originate from the current dashboard and show them on the panel where they were created. This includes alert state history annotations. You can stop annotations from being fetched and drawn by opening the Annotations settings (via Dashboard cogs menu) and modifying the query named Annotations & Alerts (Built-in).

When you copy a dashboard using the Save As feature it will get a new dashboard id so annotations created on source dashboard will no longer be visible on the copy. You can still show them if you add a new Annotation Query and filter by tags. But this only works if the annotations on the source dashboard had tags to filter by.

Query by tag

You can create new annotation queries that fetch annotations from the native annotation store via the -- Grafana -- data source and by setting Filter by to Tags. Specify at least one tag. For example create an annotation query name outages and specify a tag named outage. This query will show all annotations you create (from any dashboard or via API) that have the outage tag. By default, if you add multiple tags in the annotation query, Grafana will only show annotations that have all the tags you supplied. You can invert the behavior by enabling Match any which means that Grafana will show annotations that contains at least one of the tags you supplied.

In Grafana v5.3+ it’s possible to use template variables in the tag query. So if you have a dashboard showing stats for different services and a template variable that dictates which services to show, you can now use the same template variable in your annotation query to only show annotations for those services.

Querying other data sources

Annotation events are fetched via annotation queries. To add a new annotation query to a dashboard open the dashboard settings menu, then select Annotations. This will open the dashboard annotations settings view. To create a new annotation query hit the New button.

Specify a name for the annotation query. This name is given to the toggle (checkbox) that will allow you to enable/disable showing annotation events from this query. For example you might have two annotation queries named Deploys and Outages. The toggle will allow you to decide what annotations to show.

Annotation query details

The annotation query options are different for each data source.

Dashboard Folders

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:32:03 +0000

Dashboard Folders

Folders are a way to organize and group dashboards - very useful if you have a lot of dashboards or multiple teams using the same Grafana instance.

How To Create A Folder

Create a folder by using the Create Folder link in the side menu (under the create menu (+ icon))
Use the create Folder button on the Manage Dashboards page.
When saving a dashboard, you can either choose a folder for the dashboard to be saved in or create a new folder

On the Create Folder page, fill in a unique name for the folder and press Create.

Manage Dashboards

There is a new Manage Dashboards page where you can carry out a variety of tasks:

create a folder
create a dashboard
move dashboards into folders
delete multiple dashboards
navigate to a folder page (where you can set permissions for a folder and/or its dashboards)

Dashboard Folder Page

You reach the dashboard folder page by clicking on the cog icon that appears when you hover over a folder in the dashboard list in the search result or on the Manage dashboards page.

The Dashboard Folder Page is similar to the Manage Dashboards page and is where you can carry out the following tasks:

Allows you to move or delete dashboards in a folder.
Rename a folder (under the Settings tab).
Set permissions for the folder (inherited by dashboards in the folder).

Permissions

Permissions can be assigned to a folder and inherited by the containing dashboards. An Access Control List (ACL) is used where Organization Role, Team and Individual User can be assigned permissions. Read the Dashboard and Folder Permissions docs for more detail on the permission system.

Dashboard Version History

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:32:03 +0000

Dashboard Version History

Whenever you save a version of your dashboard, a copy of that version is saved so that previous versions of your dashboard are never lost. A list of these versions is available by entering the dashboard settings and then selecting “Versions” in the left side menu.

The dashboard version history feature lets you compare and restore to previously saved dashboard versions.

Comparing two dashboard versions

To compare two dashboard versions, select the two versions from the list that you wish to compare. Once selected, the “Compare versions” button will become clickable. Click the button to view the diff between the two versions.

Upon clicking the button, you’ll be brought to the diff view. By default, you’ll see a textual summary of the changes, like in the image below.

If you want to view the diff of the raw JSON that represents your dashboard, you can do that as well by clicking the “View JSON Diff” button at the bottom.

If you want to restore to the version you are diffing against, you can do so by clicking the “Restore to version <x>” button in the top right.

Restoring to a previously saved dashboard version

If you need to restore to a previously saved dashboard version, you can do so by either clicking the “Restore” button on the right of a row in the dashboard version list, or by clicking the “Restore to version <x>” button appearing in the diff view. Clicking the button will bring up the following popup prompting you to confirm the restoration.

After restoring to a previous version, a new version will be created containing the same exact data as the previous version, only with a different version number. This is indicated in the “Notes column” for the row in the new dashboard version. This is done simply to ensure your previous dashboard versions are not affected by the change.

Playlist

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:32:03 +0000

Playlist

A playlist is a list of dashboards that are displayed in a sequence. You might use a playlist to build situational awareness or to present your metrics to your team or visitors.

Grafana automatically scales dashboards to any resolution, which makes them perfect for big screens.

You can access the Playlist feature from Grafana’s side menu, in the Dashboards submenu.

Create a playlist

You create a playlist to present dashboards in a sequence, with a set order and time interval between dashboards.

To access the Playlist feature, hover your cursor over Grafana’s side menu.
Click Playlists.
Click New playlist.
In the Name text box, enter a name for your playlist.
In the Interval text box, enter a time interval.

The time interval is the amount of time for Grafana to stay on a particular dashboard before advancing to the next one on the playlist.

Next to the dashboard(s) you want to add to your playlist, click Add to playlist.
Click Create.

Edit a playlist

You can edit playlists while creating them or after saving them.

To access the Playlist feature, hover your cursor over Grafana’s side menu.
Click Playlists.
Click on the Playlist that you want to edit.

Edit the Name of a playlist

Double-click within the Name text box.
Enter a name.
Click Save to save your changes.

Edit the Interval of a playlist

Double-click within the Interval text box.
Enter a time interval.
Click Save to save your changes.

Add a dashboard to a playlist

Next to the dashboard you want to add, click Add to playlist.
Click Save to save your changes.

Search for a dashboard to add

Click the Search dashboards by name text box.
Search for the playlist by name or regular expression.
If needed, filter your results by starred status or tags. By default, your starred dashboards will appear as options to add to the Playlist.
Click Save to save your changes.

Rearrange dashboard order

Next to the dashboard you want to move, click the up or down arrow.
Click Save to save your changes.

Remove a dashboard

Click Remove[x] to remove a dashboard from the playlist.
Click Save to save your changes.

Delete a playlist

Click Playlists.
Next to the Playlist you want to delete, click Remove[x].

Save a playlist

You can save a playlist to add it to your Playlists page, where you can start it. Be sure that all the dashboards you want to appear in your playlist are added when creating or editing the playlist before saving it.

To access the Playlist feature, hover your cursor over Grafana’s side menu.
Click Playlists.
Click on the playlist.
Edit the playlist.
- Ensure that your playlist has a Name, Interval, and at least one Dashboard added to it.
Click Save.

Start a playlist

You can start a playlist in five different view modes, which determine how the menus and navigation bar are displayed on the dashboards.

By default, each dashboard is displayed for the amount of time entered in the Interval field, which can be set while creating or editing a playlist. Once a playlist is started, it can be controlled using the navbar at the top of your screen.

From the Dashboards submenu, click Playlists.
Next to the playlist you want to start, click Start playlist.
In the dropdown, select the mode you want the playlist to display in.
- Normal mode:
  - The side menu remains visible.
  - The navbar, row and panel controls appear at the top of the screen.
- TV mode:
  - The side menu is hidden/removed.
  - The navbar, row and panel controls appear at the top of the screen.
  - Enabled automatically after one minute of user inactivity.
  - You can enable it manually using the d v sequence shortcut, or by appending the parameter ?inactive to the dashboard URL.
  - You can disable it with any mouse movement or keyboard action.
- TV mode (with auto fit panels):
  - The side menu is hidden/removed.
  - The navbar, row and panel controls appear at the top of the screen.
  - Dashboard panels automatically adjust to optimize space on screen.
- Kiosk mode:
  - The side menu, navbar, row and panel controls are completely hidden/removed from view.
  - You can enable it manually using the d v sequence shortcut after the playlist has started.
  - You can disable it manually with the same shortcut.
- Kiosk mode (with auto fit panels):
  - The side menu, navbar, row and panel controls are completely hidden/removed from view.
  - Dashboard panels automatically adjust to optimize space on screen.

Control a playlist

You can control a playlist in Normal or TV mode after it’s started, using the navigation bar at the top of your screen.

Button	Result
Next (double-right arrow)	Advances to the next dashboard.
Back (left arrow)	Returns to the previous dashboard.
Stop (square)	Ends the playlist, and exits to the current dashboard.
Cycle view mode (monitor icon)	Rotates the display of the dashboards in different view modes.
Time range	Displays data within a time range. It can be set to display the last 5 minutes up to 5 years ago, or a custom time range, using the down arrow.
Refresh (circle arrow)	Reloads the dashboard, to display the current data. It can be set to reload automatically every 5 seconds to 1 day, using the drop down arrow.

Shortcut: Press the Esc key to stop the playlist from your keyboard.

You can share a playlist by copying the link address on the view mode you prefer, and pasting the URL to your destination.

From the Dashboards submenu, click Playlists.
Next to the playlist you want to share, click Start playlist.
In the dropdown, right click the view mode you prefer.
Click Copy Link Address to copy the URL to your clipboard.

Example: The URL for the first playlist on the Grafana Play site in Kiosk mode will look like this: https://play.grafana.org/playlists/play/1?kiosk.
Paste the URL to your destination.

Search

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:32:03 +0000

Dashboard Search

Dashboards can be searched by the dashboard name, filtered by one (or many) tags or filtered by starred status. The dashboard search is accessed through the dashboard picker, available in the dashboard top nav area. The dashboard search can also be opened by using the shortcut F.

Search Bar: The search bar allows you to enter any string and search both database and file based dashboards in real-time.
Starred: Here you find all your starred dashboards.
Recent: Here you find the latest created dashboards.
Folders: The tags filter allows you to filter the list by dashboard tags.
Root: The root contains all dashboards that are not placed in a folder.
Tags: The tags filter allows you to filter the list by dashboard tags.

When using only a keyboard, you can use your keyboard arrow keys to navigate the results, hit enter to open the selected dashboard.

Find by dashboard name

Begin typing any part of the desired dashboard names in the search bar. Search will return results for any partial string match in real-time, as you type.

Dashboard search is:

Real-time
Not case sensitive
Functional across stored and file based dashboards.

Filter by Tag(s)

Tags are a great way to organize your dashboards, especially as the number of dashboards grow. Tags can be added and managed in the dashboard Settings.

To filter the dashboard list by tag, click on any tag appearing in the right column. The list may be further filtered by clicking on additional tags:

Alternately, to see a list of all available tags, click the tags dropdown menu. All tags will be shown, and when a tag is selected, the dashboard search will be instantly filtered:

When using only a keyboard: tab to focus on the tags link, ▼ down arrow key to find a tag and select with the Enter key.

Note: When multiple tags are selected, Grafana will show dashboards that include all.

Time range controls

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:32:03 +0000

Time range controls

Grafana provides several ways to manage the time ranges of the data being visualized, both at the dashboard level and the panel level.

This page describes supported time units and relative ranges, the common time controls, dashboard-wide time settings, and panel-specific time settings.

Time units and relative ranges

The following time units are supported: s (seconds), m (minutes), h (hours), d (days), w (weeks), M (months), and y (years).

The minus operator allows you to step back in time, relative to now. If you wish to display the full period of the unit (day, week, month, etc…), append /<time unit> to the end.

The plus operator allows you to step forward in time relative to now. You might use this feature to look at predicted data in the future, for example.

Here are some examples:

Example relative range	From:	To:
Last 5 minutes	`now-5m`	`now`
The day so far	`now/d`	`now`
This week	`now/w`	`now/w`
Week to date	`now/w`	`now`
Previous Month	`now-1M/M`	`now-1M/M`

Common time range controls

The dashboard and panel time controls have a common user interface (UI).

The options are defined below.

Current time range

The current time range, also called the time picker, shows the time range currently displayed in the dashboard or panel you are viewing.

Hover your cursor over the field to see the exact time stamps in the range and their source (such as the local browser).

Click on the current time range to change the time range. You can change the current time using a relative time range, such as the last 15 minutes, or an absolute time range, such as 2020-05-14 00:00:00 to 2020-05-15 23:59:59.

Relative time range

Select the relative time range from the Relative time ranges list. Some examples of time ranges are:

Last 30 minutes
Last 12 hours
Last 7 days
Last 2 years
Yesterday
Day before yesterday
This day last week
Today so far
This week so far
This month so far

Absolute time range

Set an absolute time range one of two ways:

Type values into the From and To fields. You can type exact time values or relative values, such as now-24h, and then click Apply time range.
Click in the From or To field. Grafana displays a calendar. Click the day or days you want to use as the current time range and then click Apply time range.

This section also displays recently used absolute ranges.

Zoom out (Cmd+Z or Ctrl+Z)

Click the Zoom out icon to view a larger time range in the dashboard or panel visualization.

Zoom in (only applicable to graph visualizations)

Click and drag to select the time range in the visualization that you want to view.

Refresh dashboard

Click the Refresh dashboard icon to immediately run every query on the dashboard and refresh the visualizations.

By default, Grafana does not automatically refresh the dashboard. Queries run on their own schedule according to the panel settings. However, if you want to regularly refresh the dashboard, then click the down arrow next to the Refresh dashboard icon and then select a refresh interval.

Dashboard time settings

Time settings are saved on a per-dashboard basis.

To access the dashboard time settings, click the Dashboard settings (gear) icon at the top of the screen. The settings are in the Time Options section of the General tab.

Timezone - Specify the local time zone of the service or system that you are monitoring. This can be helpful when monitoring a system or service that operates across several time zones.
- Default - The default selected time zone for the user profile, team, or organization is used. If no time zone is specified for the user profile, a team the user is a member of, or the organization, then Grafana uses local browser time.
- Local browser time - The time zone configured for the viewing user browser is used. This is usually the same time zone as set on the computer.
- Standard ISO 8601 time zones, including UTC.
Auto-refresh - Customize the options displayed for relative time and the auto-refresh options. Entries are comma separated and accept any valid time unit.
Now delay now- - Override the now value by entering a time delay. Most commonly, this feature is used to accommodate known delays in data aggregation to avoid null values.
Hide time picker - Select this option if you do not want Grafana to display the time picker.

Panel time overrides and timeshift

In Query options, you can override the relative time range for individual panels, causing them to be different than what is selected in the dashboard time picker in the upper right. This allows you to show metrics from different time periods or days at the same time.

Control the time range using a URL

Time range of a dashboard can be controlled by providing following query parameters in the dashboard URL:

from - defines lower limit of the time range, specified in ms epoch or relative time
to - defines upper limit of the time range, specified in ms epoch or relative time
time and time.window - defines a time range from time-time.window/2 to time+time.window/2. Both params should be specified in ms. For example ?time=1500000000000&time.window=10000 will result in 10s time range from 1499999995000 to 1500000005000

Dashboards on Grafana Labs

Annotations

Annotations

Native annotations

Adding annotations

Adding regions events

Built in query

Query by tag

Querying other data sources

Annotation query details

Dashboard Folders

Dashboard Folders

How To Create A Folder

Manage Dashboards

Dashboard Folder Page

Permissions

Dashboard Version History

Dashboard Version History

Comparing two dashboard versions

Restoring to a previously saved dashboard version

Playlist

Playlist

Create a playlist

Edit a playlist

Edit the Name of a playlist

Edit the Interval of a playlist

Add a dashboard to a playlist

Search for a dashboard to add

Rearrange dashboard order

Remove a dashboard

Delete a playlist

Save a playlist

Start a playlist

Control a playlist

Share a playlist in a view mode

Search

Dashboard Search

Find by dashboard name

Filter by Tag(s)

Time range controls

Time range controls

Time units and relative ranges

Common time range controls

Current time range

Relative time range

Absolute time range

Zoom out (Cmd+Z or Ctrl+Z)

Zoom in (only applicable to graph visualizations)

Refresh dashboard

Dashboard time settings

Panel time overrides and timeshift

Control the time range using a URL