Changes in measure number format not immediately visible in visuals

[bdarbo78]

I recently started to notice that whenever I make a change to the number format of a measure - adding thousands separator for instance - that change is not immediately visible on the canvas, i.e. the change does not trigger the refresh of the visual. When one changes a slicer selection, then the change becomes visible, but when reverting to the previous selection, the visual seems to reuse a cache, and it displays the values with the older format. 
Is there a setting to force visuals to refresh whenever a change is made to a measure it uses ?

[v-hashadapu · Accepted solution]

Hi @bdarbo78 , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

Power BI uses visual caching to improve performance, which means that non-data changes like updating a measure's number format do not trigger visuals to refresh automatically. As a result, your visuals may continue showing outdated formatting until a manual action causes a redraw.

There is no current setting or feature that forces visuals to refresh on format changes. The most efficient workaround is using the "Refresh visuals" button in the View tab of Power BI Desktop. This redraws all visuals on the page in one click and immediately applies any formatting updates, eliminating the need to use the Performance Analyzer or repeatedly toggle slicers.

For extra convenience, you can also create a navigation button that reloads the current page, which similarly forces a refresh with fewer clicks. While this is still manual, it's more streamlined than existing workarounds.

If you want Microsoft to consider an automatic refresh option, you can submit a request on the Power BI Ideas portal.

If this helped solve the issue, please consider marking it 'Accept as Solution' so others with similar queries may find it more easily. If not, please share the details, always happy to help.
Thank you.

[bdarbo78]

Thks for pointing me in the right direction. Much helpful.
For the sake of precision, the "Refresh visuals" button in the Optimize tab of Power BI Desktop Version: 2.142.928.0 64-bit (April 2025).

[rohit1991]

Hi @bdarbo78 ,
What you're experiencing is a known behavior in Power BI and is related to visual caching. When you change something like the number format of a measure (e.g., adding a thousands separator), the visual doesn’t automatically detect it as a trigger to refresh. Power BI optimizes performance by caching visuals and only refreshing them when data or filters change. That’s why you only see the updated format after interacting with a slicer or filter, and sometimes it even reverts back due to cache reuse.

Unfortunately, there’s no direct setting to force visuals to refresh purely based on a format change. The recommended workaround is to refresh the visual manually by either toggling a slicer or using the "Refresh visuals" option (if available), or even closing and reopening the report. Alternatively, navigating to a different page and returning can also force a redraw. While this behavior can be inconvenient, it’s part of Power BI’s design to improve rendering performance, especially for large datasets.

[bdarbo78]

Unfortunately, that does not solve the issue. The only sure way I have found is to turn on the performance analyser, then refresh the visuals and clear. But it's a lot of clicks to be repeated each time. No go.

[Tutu_in_YYC]

I am not experiencing this issue, mine change immediately. If you think cache is the issue, trying clearing it in settings. Also check if you are using the latest version of power bi desktop.