Welcome to the August 2026 Power BI Feature Summary! This month includes updates across reporting, modeling, data connectivity, mobile, embedded analytics, and developer experiences, with a mix of generally available enhancements and new preview capabilities. Let’s take a look at what’s new.
Table of Contents
Download Power BI Desktop
Events and Announcements
September 15 | What a Winning Power BI Dataviz Looks Like
Community Conference Tickets are Getting Low
General
Deprecation of Old File Picker experience in Power BI Desktop
Copilot and AI
Updates to required semantic model permissions for Fabric Apps
Copilot Summary and Copilot Narrative can now read visuals hidden behind bookmarks
Reporting
Modern visual defaults and customize themes formatting panes (Generally Available)
Date picker for Slicer visual (Generally Available)
Center value for donut chart (Generally Available)
Comments support for reports in org apps
Matrix: Expand and collapse for column headers (Generally Available)
Matrix: Set the default freeze state for row headers in the format pane
OneLake file URLS for report visuals and maps (Generally Available)
Outer padding for bar, column, line, ribbon, and waterfall charts in formatting pane (Generally Available)
Azure map reference layer shape-matching improvements (Generally Available)
Azure map loads filtered selection and autozoom (Generally Available)
Slicer visual dropdown border color, open icon, and hierarchy expand and collapse icon colors in formatting pane (Generally Available)
Modeling
More control over Semantic Model refresh in Power BI Service
Convert Direct Take Tables to Import Storage Mode in Web Modeling (Preview)
Direct Lake Calculated Columns (Preview)
Data connectivity
Accessibility, Dark Mode, and Usability Upgrades
Mobile
Rotate view in the mobile report footer
Export data to Excel in the Power BI mobile app
Embedded Analytics
Enhancements to Power BI Embedding in SharePoint Online
Developers + API’s
Faster PBIP development with instant reloads and VS Code integration
Third party custom visuals
PowerGantt Chart by Nova Silva
Slicer Panel by Powerviz
Drill Down Map PRO by ZoomCharts
Closing
Download Power BI Desktop
Events and Announcements
September 15 | What a Winning Power BI Dataviz Looks Like
Meet the finalists headed to Barcelona to compete for the title of Power BI Dataviz World Champion. Explore the visuals that got them there, hear their tips for creating standout dataviz, and join their virtual cheer squad before they face the ultimate challenge: 20 minutes to create a championship-winning visual live on stage. Reserve your spot.
Community Conference Tickets are Getting Low
The European Microsoft Fabric and SQL Community Conference take place September 28 to October 1 in Barcelona, Spain, bringing together Microsoft experts and community leaders for exclusive content, live demos, and key announcements, along with more than 130 sessions spanning Fabric, Azure AI, Databases, Power BI, and Microsoft Purview. And of course, the live Dataviz World Championships finale!
The most recent event in Atlanta sold out. Don’t miss out and register for the Barcelona event with code FABCMTY200 to save €200.
General
Deprecation of Old File Picker experience in Power BI Desktop
In April we deprecated the old file picker experience in Power BI Desktop. Starting in October, users still utilize versions of Power BI desktop from March 2026 or earlier will no
longer be able to save and share Power BI files to One Drive and SharePoint. Please ensure you update Power BI desktop to keep using this functionality.
Note: No action is required from users as part of this deprecation; this is simply an informational announcement.
Copilot and AI
Updates to required semantic model permissions for Fabric Apps
Currently, users need Build permission on the underlying semantic model to view and interact with a Fabric App created with the data app template. In early September, consumers will need only Read permission on the semantic model, along with access to the Fabric app. This change supports least-privilege of access by no longer requiring the broader Build permission for app consumption. App authors will still require Build permissions on the semantic model.
Learn more about creating a Fabric app connected to a semantic model.
Copilot Summary and Copilot Narrative can now read visuals hidden behind bookmarks
Authors commonly use report bookmarks as tabs to organize content by showing and hiding visuals on a page. In these designs, certain visuals are hidden by default and revealed only when a display-only report bookmark is triggered. Copilot previously skipped these visuals entirely, so its Summary responses reflected only part of the report.
Copilot Summary can now read and consider these bookmark-revealable visuals in its responses. This covers only visuals that are hidden by default and made visible by a display-only report bookmark triggered through a bookmark button or bookmark navigator. Authors can also select these hidden visuals when configuring the Copilot Narrative visual. Visuals are read in place with no changes to the bookmark state, and RLS and OLS permissions stay fully enforced.
To learn more, refer to Summarize a report with Copilot and Create a narrative visual with Copilot for Power BI.
Reporting
Modern visual defaults and customize themes formatting panes (Generally Available)
New reports created in Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service start with the Fluent 2 base theme, giving you a polished, consistent look without formatting each visual. Use the Theme pane to set the base theme, adjust colors to your brand or pick from one of the available color palettes, change text styles, set specific visual properties, page settings, and the filter pane look and feel across your entire report, and import or export custom theme, in both Desktop or web.
Figure: Customizing a report’s base theme and color palette in the Power BI Theme pane.
In this release, we also removed all font overrides from the base theme, so the Text section in the Theme pane now works as intended. Change a font in one place to update titles, callouts, labels, and general text across every visual in your report, including new visuals added later.
For a deeper look at what’s included, see the Deep dive into Modern Visual Defaults and Customizing Theme Improvements and Deep dive into modern visual defaults and formatting your entire report blog posts. Learn more about the base themes and the Theme pane in the Visual defaults in Power BI reports documentation.
Date picker for Slicer visual (Generally Available)
Date pickers combine relative selections that roll forward as time passes with a calendar and slider for manual date range or single date selection. You can anchor relative options to today, the first date, or the last date in your column.
Figure: Enabling single-date selection for the Date picker slicer in the Selection controls settings.
New in this release, the Single date setting under Visual > Slicer settings > Selection controls restrict the slicer to one date at a time—the calendar and slider allow only a single date, and the relative options are limited to selections that return a single date. And you can now clear selections from a header icon in addition to slicer header.
For more information, see the Slicer visual in Power BI documentation.
Center value for donut chart (Generally Available)
Donut charts can now show value in the center, no overlaid card required. Enable the center value and the donut displays it right in the middle.
You control the details in the formatting pane: value format, display units, and font. Add an optional label above or below the value, place an image above or below it, or change the background filling or image of the center. Need something other than the total? Add a custom measure to the center value in the formatting pane.
Figure: A donut center can show a plain total or a custom value, label, image, or background to match your report.
The center value stays in sync with your data: filtering, cross-highlighting, drill-down, and selecting a slice all update it automatically. And because it lives inside the visual, it stays aligned across resizing, mobile, and dashboards, and works with screen readers.
To add a center value, select your donut chart, open the formatting pane, and turn on Center value.
To learn more, refer to Add a center value to a donut chart.
Comments support for reports in org apps
Users can now collaborate on reports in org apps using comments. Comment on report pages and visuals, start discussions with colleagues, and use ‘@mentions’ to notify others and bring them into the conversation. Comments also capture the current report context, helping others understand exactly what you’re seeing when providing feedback or discussing insights.
Figure: Comments pane open on a report in an org app comment box highlighted.
To learn more about, see comments in Power BI reports.
Matrix: Expand and collapse for column headers (Generally Available)
You can now expand and collapse column headers in the matrix visual, just like you already can for row headers. When your matrix has more than one field in the Columns field well, +/- icons appear on the column headers so you can combine groups or reveal more detail directly in the visual. You can also customize the color and size of the +/- icons under Column headers > +/- icons in the format pane.
Figure: Customizing the color and size of expand and collapse icons for matrix column and row headers.
To learn more, see Expand and collapse row and column headers.
Matrix: Set the default freeze state for row headers in the format pane
Report authors can now set the default freeze state for matrix row headers directly in the format pane. Turn the Row headers toggle on or off under Layout > Freeze to control whether row headers stay visible or scroll away when consumers scroll horizontally. This default is saved with the report and applies to everyone who views it.
Figure: Setting the default freeze state for matrix row headers in the Visual formatting pane.
This new setting is especially useful for mobile layouts. On phones, portrait orientation limits horizontal space, so you might want to unfreeze the row headers on your mobile layout to give data values more room, while keeping them frozen on the desktop layout, which typically uses landscape orientation.
Figure: Setting the default freeze state for matrix row headers in a mobile layout.
The right-click Freeze row headers and Unfreeze row headers options are still available and, as before, remain transient — they apply only to the current viewing session, so consumers can flip the state temporarily without changing the report author’s default. To learn more, see Freeze row headers.
OneLake file URLS for report visuals and maps (Generally Available)
You can now use links to image files stored in OneLake as an image source anywhere where Power BI accepts an image URL. This works in the image visual, table and matrix cells, the card visual, button and list slicers, as well as for custom icons in the Icons cell element when you use the Field value format style. OneLake file links work even though they require authentication—Power BI signs in on your behalf when the report loads, so you don’t have to make images anonymously accessible to use them in your report.
Copy the file URL from OneLake and paste it into any image URL field or into a column or measure set as Image URL.
Example: https://onelake.dfs.fabric.microsoft.com/{workspace-id}/{item-id}/Files/{path-to-image
Figure: Using a OneLake file URL as the image source for an image visual in Power BI.
Reference layer maps and shape map files can also be linked from OneLake file URLs. Keep your files in OneLake and use them in your Power BI reports today!
For more information, see the Display images in a table, matrix, or slicer and Image visual in Power BI documentation.
Outer padding for bar, column, line, ribbon, and waterfall charts in formatting pane (Generally Available)
Column, bar, clustered, line, ribbon, and waterfall charts now include an Outer padding setting under Layout, giving you control over the space between the edges of the plot area and the first and last categories. This is helpful when you want your chart to fill the visual—especially in scenarios where you’ve turned off the category axis and are relying on a legend, like a clustered column chart used as a comparison view. Then, you can simply resize the visual to get the look you want on your report page. Reducing outer padding on line charts with categories also lets you show more data before a scrollbar appears.
Figure: Adjusting outer padding and spacing between categories to control how charts fill the plot area.
To use it, select the visual and, in the Format pane, expand Columns, Bars, or Lines > Layout, then set Outer padding to 0%. To fully fill the plot area, also set Space between categories to 0%.
For more information, see the Customize x-axis and y-axis properties documentation.
Azure map reference layer shape-matching improvements (Generally Available)
Shape matching in Azure Maps reference layers now delivers significantly better performance. When you match your Power BI data to shapes in a reference layer—for example, joining sales data to a set of custom territories or regions in a GeoJSON file—reports now render faster, and interactions like filtering, cross-highlighting, and zoom respond more smoothly. No configuration change is required; existing reports automatically benefit from the improvements.
Figure: Improved Azure Maps reference layer performance, with faster rendering shown in the Performance analyzer.
For more information, see the Add a reference layer to the Azure Maps Power BI visual documentation.
Azure map loads filtered selection and autozoom (Generally Available)
The Azure Map visual has a 30,000 data point rendering limit, and previously, points beyond that limit didn’t display—even when you filtered the report to focus on a smaller area whose data hadn’t originally loaded. Now, when you filter to a smaller selection, the visual reloads to include the newly relevant data points that weren’t part of the original 30,000. This means you can start with a broad view of your data and drill into any subset—by region, category, time period, or through cross-filtering—and be confident the map shows the complete picture for what you’ve filtered to, not just what fit in the initial load.
Figure: Filtering the report to Washington reloads the relevant ZIP code shapes and automatically zooms the Azure Maps visual to the selected area.
The Azure Map visual also now automatically zooms to fit the currently filtered area. When you or a report viewer applies filters, use slicers, or cross-filter from another visual, the map reframes to the extent of the visible data instead of staying at the original viewport. This keeps the map focused on the data being analyzed and removes the need to manually pan and zoom after every filter change.
For more information on Azure Map, see the Azure Maps visual for Power BI documentation.
Slicer visual dropdown border color, open icon, and hierarchy expand and collapse icon colors in formatting pane (Generally Available)
Based on your feedback, we’ve added more slicer formatting options beyond the selection icon, giving you greater control over the slicer’s appearance. When you add more than one field to the slicer to have a hierarchy in vertical list or dropdown style, make sure the icon color matches your report. And dropdown style, offering a compact slicer to your report has more formatting options.
Figure: Customizing the slicer dropdown border, open icon, and accent bar in the Visual formatting pane.
The new top-level Dropdown section in the Visual formatting pane lets you customize the dropdown box in both its open and closed states, including border color (with conditional formatting), rounded corners, and the open icon color (with conditional formatting) and transparency. A new Accent bar option adds a color bar to the dropdown box with settings for color (with conditional formatting), position, transparency, and width.
For hierarchy slicers, the top-level Hierarchy section lets you color the expand and collapse icons (with conditional formatting) and choose which icon to use.
For more information, see the Slicer visual in Power BI documentation.
Modeling
More control over Semantic Model refresh in Power BI Service
We’ve added new refresh options in Power BI Service to give you greater control over how semantic models are refreshed.
Previously, selecting Refresh always performed a schema sync followed by a data refresh. While this works well in most scenarios, there are times when you may want to refresh data without updating the model schema or vice versa. For example, in Direct Lake semantic models, a Lakehouse table might have changed by adding new columns, but you may want to load the latest data without bringing those schema changes into the model.
Figure: New model refresh options in Power BI Service Model view.
The Refresh button now includes three options:
Refresh schema and data: Updates the schema and then refreshes data.
Sync schema only: Applies schema changes from the data source, such as new columns or data type changes.
Refresh data only: Loads the latest data while preserving the current semantic model schema.
In addition, refresh operations can now be performed at the table level. This allows you to refresh a specific table instead of the entire semantic model and choose whether to refresh its schema, data, or both.
Figure: New table refresh options in Power BI Service Model explorer.
These enhancements provide more flexibility and control over semantic model maintenance, helping you refresh exactly what you need while minimizing unnecessary changes and processing.
Refer to the Data refresh in Power BI documentation for more information.
Convert Direct Take Tables to Import Storage Mode in Web Modeling (Preview)
Direct Lake on OneLake supports composite models by allowing for mixing Direct Lake tables with Import and DirectQuery tables. You can now convert individual Direct Lake tables to Import storage mode directly in Power BI web modeling, giving you a seamless way to build a Direct Lake composite (mixed mode) semantic model.
Open a Direct Lake on OneLake semantic model in web modeling, select one or multiple tables, and change the Storage mode from Direct Lake to Import in the Properties pane. The modeling flow guides you through configuring a connection and refreshing the table into Import mode. Because Direct Lake and Import tables support regular relationships, performance remains unchanged.
Figure: Change the Storage mode property from Direct Lake to Import to convert a single table. A warning dialog will be surfaced before continuing.
This feature will be rolling out over the next few weeks. Refer to the Direct Lake in web modeling documentation for more information.
Direct Lake Calculated Columns (Preview)
You can define calculated columns directly in your semantic model using DAX in web modeling and Power BI Desktop, without changing the table storage mode or modifying data upstream.
Key behaviors
Only the User Context expression context is supported.
User-context-aware DAX functions such as USERCULTURE() are supported.
Columns do not materialize and are evaluated at query time.
Security context is respected (RLS and OLS).
Columns cannot be used in relationships because they do not materialize.
Expressions that do not reference user-aware functions or secured columns behave like any other DAX calculated column.
Figure: Creating a concatenated location field.
Figure: Month names displayed using USERCULTURE().
“Customer Location” returns the same value for every user unless the security context differs. “Month Name” adapts to the language of the person viewing the report.
Figure: Month names are localized based on the user’s culture using USERCULTURE().
No preview switch is required – open a Direct Lake on OneLake semantic model in the web or edit in Desktop, add a calculated column, and start authoring in DAX. To learn more, see the Create calculated columns in Power BI Desktop documentation.
Data connectivity
Accessibility, Dark Mode, and Usability Upgrades
Theming improvements for better accessibility
In this release, we’ve invested in a range of theming improvements that address color contrast and readability across both the light and dark themes. Users who rely on higher-contrast visuals will notice cleaner, more legible interface elements throughout the Power Query UI.
Highlights:
Improved color contrast across interface elements in both light and dark themes.
More consistent theming that keeps controls, text, and icons clearly distinguishable.
A stronger foundation for accessibility that benefits all users, regardless of theme preference.
Figure: Better contrast for connectors and white background for icons.
Better contrast for connector icons in Dark Mode
Connector icons are how you quickly recognize your data sources, but in Dark Mode, icons with transparent backgrounds could blend into the surrounding UI and become hard to identify. We’ve fixed that. Now, when a connector icon has a transparent background, it automatically receives a white background in Dark Mode.
The result: connector icons stand out clearly and stay easy to identify across the new Power Query UI, making it faster to find and select the right data source briefly.
To learn more, refer to the Get data in Power BI Desktop documentation.
Mobile
Rotate view in the mobile report footer
The Rotate view button is now available in the Power BI Mobile report footer, letting you switch layouts with one tap for larger visuals and a wider view—even when your phone is locked in portrait orientation.
This is especially helpful for reports that don’t have a mobile-optimized layout, which open in portrait by default. Just tap Rotate view to get a wider, more readable view, then tap again to switch back.
This feature is rolling out soon to Power BI Mobile for iOS and Android – stay tuned!
Figure: Tapping Rotate view in the report footer to get a larger view of the report.
To learn more about the actions in the report footer, refer to the Explore reports in the Power BI mobile apps documentation. To learn how to build a mobile-optimized layout for your reports, see the mobile layout documentation.
Export data to Excel in the Power BI mobile app
Export data from Power BI report visuals directly from your phone or tablet. With Export data now available in the Power BI mobile app for iOS and Android, you can quickly take the data behind a visual into Excel for further analysis or sharing, without switching to the Power BI service on another device.
To export, open a report visual in focus mode or open the visual’s More options (…) menu, and select Export data. The export starts automatically using the supported Excel format for that visual. The exported data reflects your current filters, slicers, drill state, permissions, and row-level security. When the file is ready, use your device’s sharing options to open, save, or share it.
Figure: Exporting data from a report visual to Excel in the Power BI mobile app, via focus mode or open the visual’s More options (…) menu.
To learn more, see Export data from a Power BI visualization.
Embedded Analytics
Enhancements to Power BI Embedding in SharePoint Online
Embedding Power BI reports and report pages in SharePoint Online is now easier. With our new UI, you now have the option to directly select the workspace you want to embed in SharePoint, rather than copying and pasting the full URL. Simply navigate to SharePoint online, add Power BI content, and the new menu will allow you to browse workspaces and reports you have access to.
Alongside embedding reports and report pages, you can now also embed a visual. Simply select the “Embed a single visual” toggle to select the specific visual you want to embed.
Figure: Embedding a Power BI visual with the new SharePoint Online Experience.
More details about these enhancements can be found in the Power BI and SharePoint Documentation.
Developers + API’s
Faster PBIP development with instant reloads and VS Code integration
A faster PBIP editing experience is here. If you’re working with Power BI Projects (PBIP), you can now edit project files outside Power BI Desktop and reload those changes instantly, without restarting the application. Power BI Desktop automatically detects changes made to your files and prompts you to apply them with a single click.
Figure: Apply external changes prompt in Power BI Desktop.
To make editing even easier, we’ve also added a built-in entry point that opens your project directly in Visual Studio Code.
Figure: Open Visual Studio Code entry point in Power BI Desktop.
Whether you’re making edits in VS Code or using external tools to update your project files, you can now move seamlessly between your tools and Power BI Desktop without breaking your flow. Learn more
Third party custom visuals
Need more visual options for your report? Power BI reports support custom visuals built to fit your exact needs. Browse hundreds of options in AppSource, also available directly from Power BI Desktop, or develop your own and add it to a single report, share it across your organization, or publish it to AppSource for the community. You can even develop a custom visual tailored to your specific requirements with AI coding tools like GitHub Copilot Free.
The following are some updates from the community-based custom visuals you can use in your reports today.
PowerGantt Chart by Nova Silva
The PowerGantt Chart helps teams plan, track, and communicate project timelines directly in Power BI. This month’s update is shaped by your feedback, and we’re grateful to the community of users whose suggestions keep guiding how the visual evolves. We’ve added three enhancements that give you finer control over how schedules and baselines are displayed.
What’s New?
Baseline customization – Set the baseline bar size relative to the actual task bar and move milestone icons onto the baseline so planned versus actual delivery is easy to compare.
Squared bar edges – Choose squared edges on item bars for a cleaner, more technical look.
Vertical grouping – Group tasks vertically to organize large project structures by phase, team, or workstream.
Whether you’re managing product launches, construction schedules, or multi-team programs, these refinements make complex timelines easier to read briefly. Project managers, PMOs, and analysts gain sharper baseline comparisons, cleaner layouts, and better navigation across busy projects. Try the PowerGantt Chart for FREE now on your own project data by downloading it from the AppSource.
Questions or remarks? Visit us at: NovaSilva.
Slicer Panel by Powerviz
Powerviz Slicer Panel is an advanced, all-in-one slicer that combines lists, dropdowns, sliders, buttons, date pickers, switches, and text slicers in one panel. With built-in templates, full customization, and import/export, it makes filtering smarter, simpler, and more interactive.
Key Features
Multiple Slicers in One Build: Bring together a wide variety of slicer types, including dropdown, expanded list, date, button, text, slider, and switch slicers, all within a single, unified panel, to filter your entire report from one place.
Display Mode: Switch between Canvas, Pop-up, and Pop-up by Slicer.
Orientation & Position: Arrange slicers and dock the panel top, bottom, left, or right.
Panel Header: Show slicer icon, text, applied count, search, clear, and saved slicers.
Slicer Action Icons: Edit, expand/collapse, sort, clear, rank, duplicate, or delete each slicer.
Add Tabs: Group slicers into tabs for organized filtering.
Saved Slicer: Store filter selections as reusable states.
Conditional Formatting: Style slicer values with rule-based formatting.
Advanced Search: Search across slicers and fields instantly.
Other features included Templates, Import/ Export Themes, Search within Slicer, Ranking, Sorting, and more.
Try Slicer Panel visual for FREE from App Source
Check out all features of the visual
Step-by-step instructions
YouTube Video
Learn more about visuals
Follow Powerviz on LinkedIn
Figure: New slicers. Smarter filtering. One unified panel.Take your Power BI reports to the next level with the advanced Slicer Panel by Powerviz.
Figure: From multiple slicer types to display modes, orientation, and saved slicers, every feature is designed to make your filtering more flexible, interactive, and effortless.
Drill Down Map PRO by ZoomCharts
When visualizing data with geographic coordinates, what better way to do it than literally placing it on a map? That’s why map charts are a growingly popular visualization type in Power BI reports, and the Drill Down Map PRO custom visual by ZoomCharts expands on the capabilities of map charts.
Node Clustering: Multiple nearby nodes can create clusters and even display the values as pie charts. Simply zoom in to drill down.
Base Layer Customization: Choose between AzureMaps or any custom tileserver, use your own images as the base layer, or disable it entirely.
Custom Shape Layers: Enable up to 10 individually customizable shape layers. Use preset shapes or import your own KML/GeoJSON files.
Conditional Formatting: Automatically apply color fill to each area by comparing their values against other shapes or by using each shape’s own reference value.
And More: Paginated tooltips, custom tooltip fields, auras, node images, lasso tool.
Figure: Reveal deeper insights with clustering, pie charts, custom shape layers, and flexible base map options tailored to your reporting needs.
Figure: Customize every aspect of your map with conditional formatting, node images, auras, advanced tooltips, and intuitive selection tools.
Drill Down Map PRO works incredibly well with other visuals by dynamically cross-filtering data, enabling you to build even more insightful and user-friendly Power BI reports.
Get Drill Down Map PRO on AppSource
Closing
That’s a wrap for the August 2026 Power BI Feature Summary. This month’s release includes improvements across reporting, modeling, data connectivity, mobile experiences, embedded analytics, and developer workflows, along with continued investments in Copilot, accessibility, and Direct Lake capabilities. We hope these updates help you build, manage, and share data experiences more effectively. As always, we appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing how you’re using these features in your organization.
Power BI Updates Blog articles
