Power BI Report Builder

🔍 Troubleshooting Empty Data in Power BI Report Builder Preview

It sounds like you've already successfully connected your data source and created a dataset, and the data exports correctly — but nothing shows when you run the report in the designer. This is a fairly common issue and usually relates to filters, parameters, or report design settings. Here’s a checklist to help you debug:

✅ Step-by-Step Checklist to Fix Empty Report Data

1. Check Filters in Tablix/Table:
   - Right-click on the Tablix (or table) > Tablix Properties > Filters tab.
   - Make sure there are no filters unintentionally excluding all data.
2. Verify Dataset Filters:
   - Go to your dataset > Dataset Properties > Filters tab.
   - Again, ensure no filter is limiting data to an empty set.
3. Parameter Default Values:
   - Check the report parameters (if any) and ensure default values are set to something that returns data.
   - For example, a date parameter with no default might return empty results.
4. Check Visibility Settings:
   - Right-click on the table rows > Row Visibility.
   - Make sure rows are not hidden based on an expression that evaluates to TRUE.
5. Review Query Results:
   - In Dataset Properties, click Query Designer > Run Query to confirm it returns results.
6. Use “Preview” Tab Properly:
   - Always use the “Preview” tab (not just “Run”) after setting parameters to see live output.
7. Deployment Note:
   - If your report relies on stored procedures or complex SQL logic, test that the Report Builder is executing the query correctly under the current user credentials.

📌 Additional Tips

• Try simplifying the report: remove filters and reduce the dataset to a couple of rows to isolate the issue.
• Export the report to Excel or CSV from the preview to confirm that the report can retrieve data.
• If you’re using Report Builder with a Power BI semantic model (via DirectQuery), be aware that it sometimes behaves differently in design vs preview modes.

Try the above steps and let me know what you discover. If it still doesn’t work, I can walk you through checking the RDL file or DAX query structure.