Disable "Include in report refresh" does not work

Hi powerlight1​,

I think the key distinction here is between refreshing the data and refreshing the schema.

Unchecking Include in report refresh prevents that query from being included in the normal data refresh. Microsoft documents that excluded queries are also excluded from automatic refresh in the Power BI service.

However, Power BI Desktop can still synchronize schema changes when you use a normal Refresh or Close & Apply. That means if the source table has added, renamed, or removed columns, Power BI can still detect those structural changes even though you did not want the old imported rows refreshed.

Microsoft now exposes separate refresh options for exactly this reason:

• Refresh Schema and data
• Sync schema only
• Refresh data only

So if your goal is to keep both the old data and the old table structure unchanged, I would avoid a normal schema refresh on that table.

If you are on a recent Desktop version, try selecting the table and using Refresh data only rather than Refresh Schema and data.

Microsoft's refresh guidance explains that Refresh data only loads fresh data while preserving the current schema in the semantic model.

For your scenario, though, if this table is supposed to remain permanently frozen, I would also consider removing its dependency on the live source entirely. For example, keep the old table as a static import or snapshot and bring the new source version in as a separate query/table.

That is usually safer than keeping a frozen historical table connected to a source whose schema is still changing.

AI-assisted drafting: AI was used to help structure and phrase this response. I reviewed and validated the technical content before posting.