List of DAX functions that do not work in Direct Query

[mp390988]

Hi,

Does anyone know of list of recent DAX functions that do not work in Direct Query mode?

Does it only take one of your tables in the model to be Direct Query and lets say rest are left as Import for the DAX to stop working?

Thanks

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @mp390988,

Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.

It looks like you are looking for all the recent DAX functions that do not work in Direct Query mode. As @Shravan133 already responded to your query, please go through his response and check if it answers your query.

I would also take a moment to thank @Shravan133, for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference.

If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know.  

Best Regards,
Hammad.
Community Support Team

If this post helps then please mark it as a solution, so that other members find it more quickly.

Thank you.

[v-mdharahman]

Hi @mp390988,

As we haven’t heard back from you, so just following up to our previous message. I'd like to confirm if you've successfully resolved this issue or if you need further help.

If yes, you are welcome to share your workaround and mark it as a solution so that other users can benefit as well. If you find a reply particularly helpful to you, you can also mark it as a solution.

If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are more than happy to continue to help you.
Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.

[Shravan133]

Conceptual questions like this can be answered by chatgpt or google 🙂

✅ Answers to Your Questions

1. Is there a list of recent DAX functions that do not work in DirectQuery mode?

Microsoft does not maintain a complete public list of non-supported DAX functions in DirectQuery mode as of 2025, but here’s a list of functions and constructs that are known to be restricted or partially supported in DirectQuery (and often fail silently or return wrong results):

❌ DAX functions/features with known limitations in DirectQuery:

Category	Examples	Notes
Iterator functions	SUMX, AVERAGEX, FILTER inside calculated columns	Allowed in measures, but usage is restricted or sub-optimal in calculated columns or calculated tables
Time intelligence	SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR, PARALLELPERIOD, DATESYTD, DATESMTD, DATEADD, etc.	Only work if a proper Date table is marked and fully imported.
Calculated tables	Any ADDCOLUMNS, GENERATE, CROSSJOIN, etc.	Not supported when dependent on DirectQuery tables
Relationship functions	USERELATIONSHIP, TREATAS	Work in many cases, but sometimes break with composite models
Ranking functions	RANKX	Can fail or give poor performance in DirectQuery-only context
Advanced math / stats	MEDIANX, PERCENTILEX.INC, GEOMEANX, etc.	Often unsupported or returns errors
Custom aggregations	VAR, complex nested IF/SWITCH logic	Might get rewritten poorly or result in "Can't display visual"
IN operator	'Table'[Col] IN { "A", "B" }	This is not supported in DirectQuery to most sources (especially SQL Server)
Virtual tables in measures	SELECTCOLUMNS, UNION, EXCEPT	Can result in query folding failures or unsupported queries

🔍 The problem is that even when DAX "works", the generated SQL may be too complex or invalid — leading to errors or blank visuals.

2. If one table is in DirectQuery mode, does that affect the whole model’s DAX support?

Yes — to a significant extent.

In composite models (Import + DirectQuery):

• If your measure or visual uses even one column from a DirectQuery table, the entire DAX query runs in DirectQuery mode.
• This limits what DAX functions can be used — even if most of your tables are Import.
• Also, some features like Auto Date/Time, or certain calculated columns cannot reference DirectQuery tables at all.

Think of DirectQuery tables as "contaminating" any expression they touch — Power BI can't mix-and-match processing engines easily.

🔧 Recommendations

• Offload logic to the source if possible: Use SQL views or pre-aggregated tables for expensive DAX.
• Import lookup/dimension tables when using DirectQuery for fact tables.
• Use Hybrid Tables if using Premium or Fabric for recent + historical data split.