Issue with GeoJSON Layers and Filters in Azure Maps Visual

[danielpmaximo27]

Hi everyone,

I am building a Power BI report using the Azure Maps visual.

Overall view of the panel
My goal is to display the neighborhoods of Recife (Brazil) on a map using a GeoJSON file I downloaded.

• I added this GeoJSON as a reference layer in Azure Maps.

• I also have an Excel sheet with the list of neighborhoods, written exactly the same way as in the GeoJSON.

• I created a slicer for neighborhoods, but when I select a neighborhood, the map does not highlight only the filtered polygon — it keeps showing all of them.

Trying to filter the map by using the slicer (no success)

• However, if I click directly on a neighborhood in the map, the name of that neighborhood is displayed correctly in a text field I configured.

Trying to highlight the district in the map and succesfully showing the district name

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My Question

Why does the click inside the map successfully identify and show the neighborhood name, but the external slicer/filter in Power BI does not highlight only that neighborhood on the map?

[AmiraBedh · Accepted solution]

Hello !

Thank you for posting on MS Fabric community.

When you add your GeoJSON as a reference layer in the Azure Maps visual, it’s just a static overlay and it doesn't participate in PBI filter context, so slicers won’t hide or show polygons.

When you click on the map you can can still read a feature property but the layer itself can’t be filtered.

Load the GeoJSON as model data and draw it with the visual data layer, not as a reference layer and import the GeoJSON file into PBI using PQ and expand to features then expand properties.Name and geometry.

Then create a text column that contains the geometry as GeoJSON or WKT.

In the visual, put the geometry column in Location and set Location type = Geometry and put the neighborhood name in Category and build your slicer from the same neighborhood field.

[v-saisrao-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @danielpmaximo27,

Thank you @AmiraBedh, for your insights.

This issue happens because the GeoJSON file was added as a reference layer, which only provides visual context and does not interact with slicers or filters. To enable interactivity, import the GeoJSON as model data using Power Query, expand its features and geometry, and use that field in the Azure Maps visual’s Location input. 

Create an ArcGIS Map in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Thank you.

[AmiraBedh · Accepted solution]

Hello !

Thank you for posting on MS Fabric community.

When you add your GeoJSON as a reference layer in the Azure Maps visual, it’s just a static overlay and it doesn't participate in PBI filter context, so slicers won’t hide or show polygons.

When you click on the map you can can still read a feature property but the layer itself can’t be filtered.

Load the GeoJSON as model data and draw it with the visual data layer, not as a reference layer and import the GeoJSON file into PBI using PQ and expand to features then expand properties.Name and geometry.

Then create a text column that contains the geometry as GeoJSON or WKT.

In the visual, put the geometry column in Location and set Location type = Geometry and put the neighborhood name in Category and build your slicer from the same neighborhood field.

[danielpmaximo27]

Hi Amira,

Thank you for your suggestion! I followed your steps carefully:

• I imported the GeoJSON into Power BI via Power Query.

• I expanded the features column, then properties.Name and geometry.

• I created a text column containing the geometry (GeoJSON format) and put it in the Location field of the Azure Maps visual.

However, I am facing some issues:

1. When I set the geometry column in Location, the map does not update — it seems that nothing is being recognized as a point or polygon.

2. I couldn’t find the Location type = Geometry option or the Category field in the Azure Maps visual to adjust these settings.

So unfortunately, the map is still not responding to the slicer/filter as expected.

Could you clarify if there is a specific version of the Azure Maps visual where these options exist, or if there is another way to make the polygons responsive to filters in Power BI?

Also, if possible, could you share some screenshots showing how you configured the visual and the fields? It would help a lot to understand the steps.

Thank you!