Insufficient Memory issue

[UHS]

Hi Everyone,

Hope all are doing great.
I am facing insufficient memory issue from past few days.
I have a report with a size of 400 mb. Report is created on the basis of multiple excel files. I was having 2023 and 2024 data i nthe report and all was working fine. Recently i added 2025 data excel in the report. So when i refresh the report i get insufficient memory error.
I deleted some of the unused  columns , some calculated column and other unnecessary data from the report and then this issue got resolved.
since last week friday i am again starting to get same memory error as i created 2 cols in the report and few updates.
How can i fix it. I have even unchecked 2023 and 2024 to be included in data refresh.
i want all these 3 years data to be seen in my report. How can i fix this memory issue? Please help on this

[UHS · Accepted solution]

@v-sdhruv Thanks for yuor reply.. I have tried everything but still getting this issue. i am hopeing that moving the source to db and creating logical cols  there might help more. 

[v-sdhruv]

Hi @UHS ,
Just wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the suggestions provided?
If the response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank You

[v-sdhruv]

Hi @UHS ,
Just wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the suggestions provided?
If the response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank You

[v-sdhruv]

Hi @UHS ,
Just wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the suggestions provided?
If the response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank You

[v-sdhruv]

Hi @UHS ,
Just wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the suggestions provided?
If the response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank You

[UHS]

Hi @v-sdhruv  Thanks for checking.. No it hasn't resolved. I am courrently in process of trying to connect it with the database directly instead of the excel files. Will see how it works

[v-sdhruv]

Hi @UHS ,
Sure that sounds like a great approach.
Meanwhile you can even try these-

1. Use 64-bit Power BI Desktop If you're on 32-bit, switch to 64-bit version.

2. Reduce columns with many unique values (e.g., timestamps, text IDs), they consume the most memory.

3. Avoid calculated columns — Use Power Query instead
Hope this helps!
If the response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank You

[UHS · Accepted solution]

@v-sdhruv Thanks for yuor reply.. I have tried everything but still getting this issue. i am hopeing that moving the source to db and creating logical cols  there might help more. 

[v-sdhruv]

Hi @UHS ,
Did your issue got resolved or you need any assistance from our end?
Please feel free to reach out incase of any issue.
If your query got resolved, please mark the post  that helped you resolve your query as
Accept as Solution so that other users can benefit from it.
Thank You for being a part of Microsoft Community.

[v-sdhruv · Accepted solution]

Hi @UHS ,
If none of it worked then its better to pull it directly from data source and transforming it there.

Because can  db can handle large volumes more efficiently and it would be less strain on Power BI’s memory model.

[rohit1991]

Hi @UHS ,

Even if your machine has plenty of RAM, Power BI Desktop can run into memory limits pretty quickly, especially with large or complex models.

1. Combine and clean your data before it hits Power BI. Try to merge your yearly Excel files into a single source ideally outside of Power BI if you can (for example, in a database, or even a cleaned-up CSV). The more you can do to prep the data upstream, the less strain you’ll put on Power BI Desktop.

2. Trim down your data model. Remove any columns you’re not actually using, and try to avoid calculated columns in the model if you can move that logic into Power Query or the source. Also, watch out for columns with lots of unique values (like timestamps or IDs) they eat up memory fast.

3. Use 64-bit Power BI Desktop. If you’re on 32-bit, you’ll always be fighting memory issues with bigger reports.

4. Publish to Power BI Service. Once your report is ready, try publishing it to the Power BI Service. It has much more horsepower than Desktop, and you’ll usually avoid memory errors there.

5. If all else fails: Split your report into smaller, more manageable pieces (for example, by year). Consider moving your data into a database or using Dataflows as a staging area.

In short, the more data prep and cleaning you do before Power BI gets involved, the better things will work especially with big, multi-year Excel data. I know it’s a pain, but it really does make a difference.

[lbendlin]

How much RAM do you have on your PC, and how much of it did you allow Power BI Desktop to use?

[UHS]

I have 16 gb ram in my PC, 64 bit OS and we allow 450 mb to power bi.. yesterday i tried to change it to 1000 mb in power bi but still got the memory error. Report is running fine in the power bi service but in desktop version i am getting issues after adding more data.. Now its getting so slow that when i have to create any new measure or col it take 1-2 minutes to let me do that. IS ther eany way i can resolve it