This blog is part of my series Making Data Tell a Story With SSRS Properties.
Property: NoRowsMessage
The purpose of this property is to display a specific message when no rows are returned from a dataset to be displayed in a table, matrix, or list.
To access the property, select the data region and go to NoRowsMessage.

Example: I have a report that shows sales by territory by year. It has a parameter for the order year. When a user inputs a year that has no orders, it currently displays a blank table. The users have indicated this is confusing and have suggested the report is “broken”.

I go to NoRowsMessage and enter, “Year entered has no data. Enter another year.”

When the report is run, if a user enters a year that has no orders, the message is displayed.

Further Reading:
Set a No Data Message for a Data Region (Report Builder and SSRS)

Jes Borland is a Premier Field Engineer - SQL Server for Microsoft, where she is a trusted technical adviser, deep technical support, and teacher for her customers. Her experience as a DBA, consultant, and 5-time Data Platform MVP allow her to help the business and the IT teams reach their goals. She has worked with SQL Server as a developer, report writer, DBA, and consultant. Her favorite topics are administration, automation, and performance. She frequently presents at user groups, SQL Saturdays, and other community events. She is also an avid runner and chef.