Conditional Highlighting works in Desktop but not after publishing to Power BI Service

[Vaibhav_99]

I’m facing an issue where conditional highlighting/formatting works correctly in Power BI Desktop, but stops working after publishing to Power BI Service.
The same visuals, measures, and data behave as expected locally, but in the Service the highlighting does not render at all.
I’ve verified that there are no errors, same dataset, same report version, and refresh completes successfully.

Has anyone faced a similar issue?
Are there known limitations or settings in Power BI Service that affect conditional formatting/highlighting compared to Desktop?

[v-priyankata · Accepted solution]

Hi @Vaibhav_99 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community.

@krishnakanth240 @johnbasha33 Thanks for the inputs.
Suggestions from users are very helpful. I have reproduced the issue and it works for me. I have attached the file for you to review and try. If you are still experiencing problems, please share the sample data along with the pbix file so we can look into it further.

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

Thanks.

[v-priyankata]

Hi @Vaibhav_99 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community.

I hope the information provided was helpful. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to the community.

[v-priyankata]

Hi @Vaibhav_99 

Hope everything’s going smoothly on your end. I wanted to check if the issue got sorted. if you have any other issues please reach community.

[Vaibhav_99]

it was working fine before . today only it start not highlighting
ignore column name ie same name latitude

Highlight Point =

VAR Precision = 4

VAR Epsilon = POWER ( 10, -Precision )

VAR SelLat =

    VALUE ( SELECTEDVALUE ( dimLatitude[txtLatitude] ) )

VAR SelLon =

    VALUE ( SELECTEDVALUE ( dimLongitude[txtLatitude] ) )

VAR RowLat =

    AVERAGE ( fact_order[Latitude] )

VAR RowLon =

    AVERAGE ( fact_order[Longitude] )

-- proximity score (smaller = closer)

VAR Proximity =

    ABS ( SelLat - RowLat ) + ABS ( SelLon - RowLon )

VAR MinProximity =

    CALCULATE (

        MINX (

            ALL ( fact_order ),

            ABS ( SelLat - fact_order[Latitude] )

                + ABS ( SelLon - fact_order[Longitude] )

        )

    )

RETURN

IF (

    NOT ISBLANK ( SelLat )

        && NOT ISBLANK ( SelLon )

        && ABS ( SelLat - RowLat ) < Epsilon

        && ABS ( SelLon - RowLon ) < Epsilon

        && Proximity = MinProximity,

    1,

    0

)
@johnbasha33 

[johnbasha33]

Hi @Vaibhav_99 

Most likely it stopped because your measure now returns BLANK() / error due to VALUE() failing (locale/format change, extra spaces, comma decimals) or because RowLat/RowLon are averaged and no longer match exactly.

Do these quick fixes:

1) Don’t use VALUE() on slicer text — use a numeric column or safe conversion

Replace your SelLat/SelLon with this (safe):

VAR SelLat = SELECTEDVALUE ( dimLatitude[LatitudeNum] )

VAR SelLon = SELECTEDVALUE ( dimLongitude[LongitudeNum] )

If you don’t have numeric columns, create them in Power Query or DAX. (Avoid text lat/long.)

2) Your “exact match” check is too strict

You’re doing:

ABS ( SelLat - RowLat ) < Epsilon

But RowLat = AVERAGE(fact_order[Latitude]) can change with filters and can be slightly different. Use the row value, not average:

VAR RowLat = SELECTEDVALUE ( fact_order[Latitude] )

VAR RowLon = SELECTEDVALUE ( fact_order[Longitude] )

3) Azure Maps bubble layer often needs a categorical field

Instead of rules on a measure, create a field:

HighlightLabel = IF ( [Highlight Point] = 1, "Highlight", "Normal" )

Then color by HighlightLabel (legend/category), not rules.

Fast test

Put [Highlight Point] in a table with Latitude/Longitude and slicer selections.
If it never shows 1, the issue is conversion or the AVERAGE/precision check.

If you tell me what dimLatitude[txtLatitude] looks like (e.g., 28.6539 vs 28,6539), I’ll give the exact conversion fix.

Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!

[Vaibhav_99]

yeah it is strict because requirement is just like that. only exact match should get highlighted 
it is strict four digit input i am taking in both column that you can see on Screenshot 
e.g., 28.6539
also cant add highlight point in table because i want it dynamic because it keep changing based on the input
@johnbasha33 

[Vaibhav_99]

also cant add highlight point in table because i want it dynamic because it keep changing based on the input @johnbasha33 

[krishnakanth240]

Hi @Vaibhav_99 

Conditional formatting can behave differently in Power BI Service due to visual rendering differences, unsupported expressions or Power BI service caching. Try republishing after clearing formatting, avoid dynamic format strings, and check if the visual uses preview features. Also test by recreating the formatting directly in Power BI Service to rule out a Desktop only bug.

[johnbasha33]

Hi @Vaibhav_99 ,

this is a real, known Power BI quirk, and you’re not crazy 🙂
Conditional formatting can work in Desktop and silently fail in Power BI Service for a few specific reasons.

Below is a practical checklist, ordered by how often this actually causes the issue in the Service.

Data category / data type mismatch (MOST COMMON)

Power BI Service is stricter than Desktop.

What works in Desktop but fails in Service

• Numbers stored as text
• Measures returning text instead of numeric
• FORMAT() used in a measure that’s later used for conditional formatting

What to check

If your conditional formatting is driven by a measure, make sure:

❌ Bad

Price :=

FORMAT( [MedianPrice], "#,##0" )

✅ Good

Price :=

[MedianPrice]

Use formatting in the visual, not FORMAT().

Conditional formatting based on a measure with visual-level filters

In Power BI Service:

• Conditional formatting evaluates after security + filters
• Desktop sometimes evaluates earlier

Common break scenario

• Measure depends on:
• SELECTEDVALUE
• slicers
• visual-level filters
• Works locally, fails in Service

Fix

Wrap logic defensively:

CF Color :=

VAR v = SELECTEDVALUE ( 'Table'[Value], BLANK() )

RETURN

IF ( NOT ISBLANK(v) && v > 0, "#00A65A", "#DD4B39" )

Avoid returning:

• ""
• " "
  Service treats those as invalid.

Map & Azure Maps visual limitations (VERY RELEVANT to your screenshot)

Your screenshot shows an Azure Maps visual.

⚠️ Important:

Azure Maps has partial conditional formatting support in Power BI Service

What works in Desktop but may fail in Service:

• Data-driven colors based on measures
• Conditional layer styling
• Highlight rules based on calculated fields

Why

• Desktop uses local rendering
• Service uses server-side tile rendering
• Some expressions are ignored

Workaround (reliable)

Instead of conditional formatting:

• Create a categorical color column

Price Band =

SWITCH(

    TRUE(),

    [MedianPrice] < 15000, "Low",

    [MedianPrice] < 20000, "Medium",

    "High"

)

Then:

• Use Legend / Category colors
• NOT conditional formatting

This works 100% in Service.

 “Summarization” mismatch between Desktop & Service

Power BI Service sometimes reverts aggregation.

Check

• Go to Model view
• Confirm the column used for formatting:
• Summarization = Don’t summarize
• Data type = Whole / Decimal Number

If Service aggregates unexpectedly → formatting fails.

Cached metadata in Power BI Service (annoying but real)

Sometimes Service just… gets stuck.

Fix sequence (important)

1. Publish report
2. In Service:
• Dataset → Settings
• Turn off “Enable load”
• Save
3. Turn it back on
4. Refresh dataset
5. Clear browser cache (or use Incognito)

This has fixed “ghost” conditional formatting bugs many times.

Unsupported combinations (documented but buried)

Conditional formatting does NOT fully work in Service for:

• Azure Maps (advanced rules)
• Some custom visuals
• Conditional formatting on Tooltips
• Formatting driven by measures returning colors + transparency

Desktop shows it anyway → Service ignores it.

What I’d recommend for your case

Based on your screenshot + symptoms:

Most likely causes (ranked):

1. Azure Maps visual + measure-based coloring
2. Measure returns formatted text
3. Aggregation mismatch in Service

Best long-term fix

➡️ Convert conditional logic into categorical fields
➡️ Use Legend / Data colors
➡️ Avoid measure-driven formatting on maps

Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!