---
schema_version: "1"
id: f1b3faa4597ec4947eedfa4f391d3890e6a21c9e77b887429283b50e055bcecc
title: Answer Ad Hoc Questions with CRM Analytics Lenses
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/analytics/264-0-0/bi_query_answer_ad_hoc_questions_with_wave_lenses.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.bi_query_answer_ad_hoc_questions_with_wave_lenses.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 7655b02350c0504ba47f68ecff14ebe6581c05206eb97d60ce1d4afada1a2762
description: Dashboards are great for answering common questions, but sometimes you don’t have a question in mind. You want to poke around your data and ask questions as you notice things. To explore your data, open a dataset and create ad hoc queries. To revisit the query later, save it as a lens. The lens includes the query and the visualization—how the results appear. Like dashboards, lenses can be shared.
products:
  - CRM Analytics
  - Cross Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Answer Ad Hoc Questions with CRM Analytics Lenses

Dashboards are great for answering common questions, but sometimes you don’t have a question in mind. You want to poke around your data and ask questions as you notice things. To explore your data, open a dataset and create ad hoc queries. To revisit the query later, save it as a lens. The lens includes the query and the visualization—how the results appear. Like dashboards, lenses can be shared.

When you open a dataset, the lens shows the number of dataset rows as a bar chart, by default.

![The explorer represents the number of dataset rows as a bar chart.](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_query_lens_activities_example.png)

To change the query, add measures, groupings, and filters to the Measures, Group by, and Filter by boxes. To represent the results as a different chart type, click ![Chart Mode button](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_chart_mode_button.png). To represent the results as a table or to create calculated fields based on existing fields, click ![Table Mode button](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_table_mode_button.png). If you’re more advanced and want a more robust way to create SAQL queries, click ![SAQL Mode button](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_saql_mode_button.png) to manually enter the query.

![The explorer](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_explorer_saql_mode.png)

To add a query to a dashboard, click ![Clip to Designer button](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_icon_clip_lens.png) to clip it.

#### See Also

- [Explore and Visualize Your Data in CRM Analytics](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.bi_explorer.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "When sifting through an overwhelming amount of business data, sometimes you know exactly what you’re looking for. Other times you don’t, but you recognize it when you see it. Salesforce CRM Analytics gives you a fast, fluid way to discover the compelling stories within your data and to create the right visuals to tell your story.")