Error on template file using button visual - unable to access the format pane

[MaryanneBSA]

Hi, I have a Power BI template file (.pbit) which contains standard pages with a button visual.  Upon opening the template an untitled .pbix is created as expected with the standard pages and visuals in place.  The unexpected bit is that a button on one page which was working correctly previously, is now showing this error:

Which leads to this upon clicking See details:

The format pane is not accessible for this visual with this message:

Refreshing the file as per this post has not worked - the visual briefly flashes up correctly formatted then immediately goes back to the error.

https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Desktop/After-copying-it-to-a-new-report-how-do-I-revive-a...

The button that is no longer working is set as a Web URL, using a measure as a field value under the conditional formatting settings.  The error appears wheather the measure exists or not.  Another button, with different formatting and set to the standard "Back" action, on another page in the same file is working normally - no error and the format pane can be accessed.  Adding a new button to the page of the pbix file works correctly, but has to be repositioned and configured (usually unecessary and the point of the template).  The same error is seen by multiple users upon opening the template file using multiple versions of Power BI Desktop.

I wanted to check if anyone else has had similar issues/error message, or could offer advice.

I am using Power BI Desktop April 2025 version, but this is also happening for colleagues using the February 2025 version.

[v-prasare]

Hi, We are following up once again regarding your query. Could you please confirm if the issue has been resolved through the support ticket with Microsoft?

If the issue has been resolved, we kindly request you to share the resolution or key insights here to help others in the community. If we don’t hear back, we’ll go ahead and close this thread.

Should you need further assistance in the future, we encourage you to reach out via the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum and create a new thread. We’ll be happy to help.

Thank you for your understanding and participation.

[v-prasare]

Hi @MaryanneBSA,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if you got any update on this? If yes, can you post your resolution and mark it as answer to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

MS Fabric community support

[MaryanneBSA · Accepted solution]

Hi @v-prasare, as posted on the 30/04/2025, this has been confirmed as a bug by our Microsoft contact.  It is still being experienced today (12/05/2025).  We are awaiting a resolution and have implemented a workaround (removing the functionality from our template) in the meantime.

[v-prasare]

Thanks for the confirmation @MaryanneBSA.

[MaryanneBSA]

To update - this has been confirmed as a bug by Microsoft.

We have implemented a workaround of not conditionally setting the URL in our template.

I'll confirm once I hear this has been resolved by Microsoft.  🙂 

[MaryanneBSA]

Thanks for the reply, apologies, I had originally stated that I thought this may be due to corruption but then removed it as I thought I could not recreate the same error as the starter file I used opened without the error.  But in following the full process to create the pbit then open it as a new untitle pbix file, the error does occur consistently.  Skip to the last 2 paragraphs for what I discovered was the difference...

Other things I tried to troubleshoot:

I have cleared the cache and the same happens.  I reinstalled Power BI yesterday, and this is occurring for multiple users, so don't think it's going to change if i did it again today.

I recreated the URL measure exactly as it was in the original, including the same table name and display folder name - but no change - the error is there if the measure exists or not.

I've grouped the button and ungrouped it again.  I've hidden the visual and unhidden it.  No change in any of these states.  (I read this as a solution on another post where the format pane was not visible for a visual.)

I have tried to save the starter file as a pbip, to access the TMDL files to look for issues, but couldn't see anything in the TMDL or JSON files (could be my inexperience with TMDL).

I have recreated the pbit file from the starter file with a brand new button visual and the same error occurs once I open the template.

I have created a brand new file with 3 example buttons, one assigned to back action, one to a Web URL that I typed in, and one assigned a Web URL by a measure conditionally.  In saving this new file as a pbit and then opening it, it was fine.  I suspected the difference might have been the application of a theme file, so applied the same theme file and saved as a pbit, upon opening it was again fine.  Eventually I discovered the difference was in deleting all data tables including the measure from the starter file just before I create the pbit (which I have been doing purposefully for months as we are using import and direct lake modes, so we don't want a local model created).  As soon as the measure is delete the error appears on the visual and even if the measure is added straight back in under the same structure and naming format the visual is broken and cannot have it's format properties accessed/edited.  The only thing that can be done is to delete the visual and recreate - against the priciple of having a template.  Sigh.

So I am now assuming there has been a change applied, as this was working upon realease and for months beforehand.  If I leave a URL measure in place, the resulting file created from using the template is mixed mode, so need to be sure if this will mean all my direct lake table connects will fallback to direct query as I presume they will (not an option for us).

[Akash_Varuna]

Hi @MaryanneBSA As you said, I also think it might be due to corruption in the visual's metadata. Could you try clearing the cache and reinstalling Power BI to ensure it isn’t a local corruption? Also try using a new measure to confirm the issue isn’t related to the existing one.