Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Compete to become Power BI Data Viz World Champion! First round ends August 18th. Get started.

Reply
astarczyk
Regular Visitor

Is it possible to rename column names based on a Parameter?

Hello, I'm loading data from Excel file to Power BI and I'm trying to rename column names based on Parameter (Language, EN for English and DE for German), like so:

astarczyk_1-1751881447052.png

It renames the columns in Power Query correctly, but then in the report it doesnt recognize them as the same columns used in the visuals:

astarczyk_3-1751881600412.png

 

But if I manually rename the columns, without the parameter, it recognize them in the visuals as the same ones:

astarczyk_2-1751881494238.png

astarczyk_4-1751881946616.png

 

Is there any way to make this work with the parameter? Or am I missing something obvious?

Thank you in advance 🙂

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
v-echaithra
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @astarczyk ,

Unfortunately, Power BI does not currently support dynamic column renaming in Power Query if those column names are referenced in visuals. Column names in visuals are bound statically at design time, so when the column name changes due to a parameter, the visuals lose track of them, even if the data is still there.

Best Regards,
Chaithra E.

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
v-echaithra
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @astarczyk ,

We’d like to confirm whether your issue has been successfully resolved. If you still have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re more than happy to continue supporting you.

Best Regards,
Chaithra E.

v-echaithra
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @astarczyk ,

Unfortunately, Power BI does not currently support dynamic column renaming in Power Query if those column names are referenced in visuals. Column names in visuals are bound statically at design time, so when the column name changes due to a parameter, the visuals lose track of them, even if the data is still there.

Best Regards,
Chaithra E.

astarczyk
Regular Visitor

Hi, thank you for your responses, the report I would like to implement it in contains around 50 tables, so I'd like to ask for a solution that would ideally be a step in PowerQuery (that I'd apply for each table), if at all possible, instead of using measures, since creating measures or translation tables for each of those 50 tables would be quite time consuming and complicated to maintain afterwards. 

Thank you!

rajendraongole1
Super User
Super User

Hi @astarczyk  - Rather than renaming columns dynamically, keep the internal column names constant and use a translation table to switch labels dynamically in visuals.

rajendraongole1_0-1751883315364.png

 

create one language selector table with the languages column that you have eg., EN and DE labels, 

create a measure now with selectedvalue column with 

SelectedLanguage = SELECTEDVALUE(LanguageSelector[Language], "EN")

 

Now we can create last measure to dynamic 

rajendraongole1_1-1751883730002.png

 

DynamicLabel =
VAR lang = [SelectedLanguage]
RETURN
    SWITCH(lang,
        "EN", LOOKUPVALUE(Translation[EN Label], Translation[FieldName], "Amount"),
        "DE", LOOKUPVALUE(Translation[DE Label], Translation[FieldName], "Amount"),
        "Amount"
    )
rajendraongole1_2-1751883787915.png

 

 
Hope this works. 




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

Proud to be a Super User!





pallavi_r
Super User
Super User

Hi @astarczyk ,

 

Yes, it is possible to change the columns names on visual dynamically using parameters. Please check these links for detailed steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ETaaOgNLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLNqU2jJ7u0

 

If this post helps, please accept this as a solution. Appreciate your kudos.

 

Thanks,

Pallavi

Helpful resources

Announcements
August Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - August 2025

Check out the August 2025 Power BI update to learn about new features.

August 2025 community update carousel

Fabric Community Update - August 2025

Find out what's new and trending in the Fabric community.

Top Solution Authors