Forum Discussion
v-dabatc
10 years agoMicrosoft Employee
Function 'FORMAT' is not supported in DirectQuery mode
I'd really like to format the aggregated number I get from my data source. It's a large number that could use a thousands separator to make it more human readable. But after discovering the FOR...
- 10 years ago
There are two potential solutions:
1. If all you want is to have a thousands separator, you can set the formatting on your measure:

2. You can use the Format function in DQ mode if you go to Options -> DirectQuery and click "Allow unrestricted measures in DirectQuery mode". Note that this will enable other functions whose performance is poor in DirectQuery mode, so save often.
I'm not sure why the Format function would be disabled, though. I'll inquire.
v-dabatc
10 years agoMicrosoft Employee
Solution 2 is the one I went with:
seannybgoode
7 years agoAdvocate I
Don't see this option in Power BI Desktop anymore. Is there a modern option?