How to Set up Data Refresh in Power BI (Automatic & Manual)

To have accurate results, you must have updated data.

When refreshing data:

• Power BI queries the data sources
• Checks the current visualizations
• Update any that relies on the updated dataset

Of course, there are more under the hood — storage modes, dataset types, and even refresh types.

In this article, we’ll look into the two most common types of refreshing data.

First off, manually refreshing data is the simplest and easiest way.

But it’s not too bad. Why? Because it’s just a button away.

Both in Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service, ‘Refresh’ buttons are almost everywhere. All you need to do is press it. 😃

Let’s start with the one found in the dashboard view when using Power BI Service.

On the menu above the dashboard canvas, press the ellipsis icon (…) and there’s your ‘Refresh’ option:

The one in the report viewing mode can also be found the same way.

Click the ellipsis icon (…) on the menu above the report canvas and select ‘Refresh’:

It’s even easier when you’re on the report editor.

There’s a nice ‘Refresh’ button found on the upper-right corner of the menu above the report canvas:

You can also refresh the dataset from the left sidebar.

Just expand the pane and hover your mouse over the dataset.

Click the flipped ellipsis icon (…) and select ‘Refresh now’:

On the Power BI Service’s workspace view, you can easily refresh a dataset by clicking the refresh icon:

It’s also easy on Power BI Desktop.

There’s a nice ‘Refresh’ on the ribbon you can easily find.

Cool! 😄

Automatic Page Refresh, or APR, is the newest refresh type pushed to Power BI as part of the October 2019 update.

For now, this feature is only available for DirectQuery data sources.

But before you can use this feature in the desktop version, you have to enable it first.

To start, click ‘File’ on the tab list:

Next, hover your mouse over ‘Options and settings’ and select ‘Options’:

Go to the ‘Preview features’.

Check ‘Automatic Page Refresh’ and click ‘OK’:

To use this feature, all you have to do is select a report page where you would like to enable APR.

Then, under ‘Formatting’ on the visualizations pane, find ‘Page refresh’ and click the slider to ‘On’.

That’s it! Simply choose the refresh duration and you’re good! 👍

The new automatic page refresh feature comes with a few limitations and considerations:

• Only DirectQuery data sources (no support for import, LiveConnect, and Push storage modes)
• Supports composite models with at least one DirectQuery data source
• No duration restriction in Power BI Desktop (as frequent as per second)
• Certain restrictions apply to reports published in Power BI Service from the desktop

Knowing how to refresh data in Power BI is important especially where your data set is being changed and updated regularly. Refreshing your data maintains the accuracy of your reports.