Forum Discussion
Desktop keeps freezing when saving or applying changes
Is anyone else experiencing this issue? It is not every time I save or make changes but it is multiple times/day. It will freeze on the screen where the status circle is spinning. Eventually it will state that PowerBI is taking too long, do I want to wait or close?
I have restarted multiple times & installed the latest version of Desktop 2.140.1577.0 64-bit (February 2025).
When I check the trace files there is no reference to exceptions, errors, crashes, etc
9 Replies
Large PBIX files or complex DAX measures/calculations can cause delays.
If your file is over 500MB, consider optimizing your model by:
- Removing unnecessary columns & tables.
- Reducing cardinality in high-cardinality columns.
- Disabling auto date/time in Power BI options.
If your dataset is connecting to:
- SQL Server, Azure Analysis Services, or SharePoint, test saving after disconnecting from the source.
- DirectQuery models, ensure that queries are not timing out.
- Live connections, try switching to Import mode to test.
Some preview features might cause instability, try disabling them under Options > Preview Features.
Press Windows + R, type
perfmon.Navigate to Performance Monitor > Add Counters.Add Power BI Counters and monitor performance during save.Thank you - I'll check the preview feature & try the performance counters.
However, I forgot to mention that this is an incredibly basic report that I just started building. There are no complex data sets and only 2 or 3 custom columns with no measures. I don't even have any visuals in it yet besides 2 tables.
This also occurred in a previous file that was a bit more complex but still not anything that would be close to 500 mb
I am having the exact same problem with a similarly small pbix file. I have tried restarting my computer, re-installing Power BI, reducing the number of programs open on my computer...all the usual tricks...nothing works. My computer made a bunch of automatic updates recently and it started after that.
It's so weird! I did a reinstall and that helped decrease the frequency but it is still occurring at least 1x day
Same here, and my model is only 88MB. I had a different model doing the same. Periodically freeze and all I can do is kill the app and start over. Others on the team are having the same issues too so I am not alone in our company either. One of our developers rolled back to an earlier version and seems to be better for him. Hopefully this issue can get more visibility and Microsoft can roll out a fix.
Every time Power BI crashes, it says that it is sending data to Microsoft. I send them multiple instances of this data every day and I'm just one person, so one hopes that they have enough to fix the problem!
Hi jmdaily83
If Power BI Desktop is frozen, you may check that:
- Whether there are multiple processes running in the backend at the same time
- Whether the data size is too large, the transformations and calculations are complex that you can try to perform them in Power BI Desktop, see: Optimization guide for Power BI
Thanks
Same here. Fortunately my changes are being saved anyway although it freezes up. Extremely annoying.
