One UX improvement I’d really like to see in Power BI Desktop is better visibility when loading large datasets from Power Query.
Currently, when Power Query finishes processing and the data starts loading into the model, the experience can feel like a black box. We often have no clear indication of:
- How much data has been loaded
• How many rows have been processed
• What percentage of the load is complete
• How much time is remaining
• Which table is currently being loaded
For small datasets, this may not matter much. But when working with large datasets, a long-running refresh with limited progress information makes it difficult to know whether the process is actively working or stuck.
A simple progress indicator such as:
Customers → 85% loaded
Sales → 12.5M / 20M rows
Overall Progress → 72%
Estimated Time Remaining → 4 min
would make the experience significantly better.
Microsoft Fabric and Power BI are becoming increasingly focused on enterprise-scale data. Shouldn't the Desktop experience provide better transparency during large data loads as well?
Would love to hear the community's thoughts. Is this something you have faced too?
