Power BI Automatic Refresh Failure

Hi shibinkv​ - Please follow the below troubleshoot steps: 

Troubleshooting steps:                                                                                                                         1.Open the PBIX in Power BI Desktop → Transform Data.                                                              2.Identify the query/Applied Step referencing MultiLineFlag.                                                         3.Check the SharePoint source and verify whether the column still exists and whether its schema/name has changed.                                                                                                                    4.If using multiple SharePoint files, check whether any file has a different schema or is missing the column.                                                                                                                                                    5.Correct the source or Power Query step accordingly. If the column is optional, handle the missing field explicitly rather than removing the logic blindly.                                                                      6.Refresh successfully in Desktop, publish the dataset, and trigger a manual refresh in Power BI Service.                                                                                                                                                    7.If Desktop refreshes successfully but Service still fails, investigate the Power BI Service/SharePoint connection or refresh environment.                                                                                                      Since the error specifically points to MultiLineFlag, I would focus on the Power Query/SharePoint schema first, rather than DAX or the report model.

Hope this helps. 

Hi shibinkv​ 

Download the pbix file and inspect each applied step for anything that explicitly references that specific column - usually a rename, a removal, a transform, a filter step or  a change of data type step. It might have been renamed or deleted. Also, M is case-sensitive so MultiLineFlag might have become multiLineFlag or something else..

Hi shibinkv​

Root cause signal: The generic "internal service error" is a red herring the real error is Expression.Error: The column 'MultiLineFlag' of the table wasn't found. That's a schema mismatch: a column the query expects no longer exists (or was renamed/removed) at the SharePoint source. Transient service errors don't name a specific column; this one does, so it's structural, not a blip.

Debug steps (fastest to confirm first):

1. Isolate the failing table via SSMS. Connect to the workspace XMLA endpoint and refresh tables one at a time (Process → Process Full per table). The one that throws MultiLineFlag is your culprit — this pinpoints scope without guessing.

2. Repro locally in the .pbix (if you have it). Open the file, hit Refresh, and step into Power Query. Local refresh surfaces the exact query step that breaks and lets you inspect the source preview directly — far more detail than the service gives.

3.Verify the column at source. In the SharePoint list, confirm MultiLineFlag still exists and the name matches exactly (spaces, casing, and internal vs. display name all matter). SharePoint column renames change the internal name the M query binds to — the usual cause of "column wasn't found" appearing overnight with "no changes."

4.Check permissions / credentials. In the semantic model's Settings → Data source credentials, confirm the SharePoint connection is still authorized (tokens expire, and a re-permissioned list can silently drop columns the account can no longer see). Re-authenticate if the connection shows an error.

Most likely fix: Someone edited the SharePoint list renamed, deleted, or changed the type of MultiLineFlag. Either restore the column name at source, or update the Power Query step referencing it (and remove any hardcoded Table.SelectColumns / navigation step pinned to the old name), then republish.

If you found this helpful, please consider giving it a kudo and marking it as the accepted solution — it goes a long way in helping others facing the same issue.

For more Power BI tips and discussions, let’s connect on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natarajan-manivasagan

Cheers!
Natarajan

Hi shibinkv,

Before you go hunting through applied steps, check whether that column still exists in the SharePoint list. If it does, nothing was renamed, and most of what you've been pointed at so far doesn't apply.

Two things in your own posts point away from a source change. The error names MultiLineFlag with no space and you call the field Multiline Flag. Those are the internal name and the display name of one column, and the SharePoint connector deals in both. And you said several reports broke for you and a colleague at the same time with nothing changed on either side. Somebody renaming a column breaks the reports that use it, not everyone's at once.

Aguila posted the same signature on the Service board on 14 August. Same error code 10224, same column wasn't found naming an internal field name, same split where Desktop refreshes and the Service doesn't. They isolated it to query folding against the SharePoint connector, and it goes away with Table.StopFolding on the source step. Worth reading their thread before you rewrite anything.

On the Service still failing after you removed the field. The Service runs the published semantic model, not the file on your machine, so a change in Desktop does nothing there until you republish. And if you removed the field from a visual rather than from the query, the query still pulls the column either way.

Does MultiLineFlag still exist in the list?