Matrix column headers misaligned in Power BI Service (renders correctly in Desktop)

[Michael12]

Hi all,

I'm experiencing a visual rendering issue in the Power BI Service that doesn't occur in Power BI Desktop.

Issue: The column headers of my matrix visual are misaligned in the Service. The header row appears shifted relative to the underlying data rows. In Power BI Desktop, the same report renders correctly.

What I've tried:

• Hard refresh (Ctrl+F5) and browser cache clear
• Republishing the dataset
• Tested in two different browsers (Edge and Comet) - same issue in both
• Loaded an older, unchanged report - same issue, even though this report rendered correctly previously

The fact that an unchanged older report is also affected suggests this is a service-side rendering issue rather than something specific to my current report.

Screenshots:

• First screenshot: Power BI Desktop (correct rendering)
  
• Second screenshot: Power BI Service (misaligned headers)
  

Has anyone else encountered this recently? Any known workarounds?

Thanks!

[Michael12 · Accepted solution]

Quick follow-up to my previous post — I figured out what was causing the issue and wanted to share in case anyone else runs into this.

Root cause: I'm using empty Spacer measures (Spacer = BLANK()) between column blocks in my matrix as visual separators. When the column width gets narrow and Word Wrap is enabled on column headers, the empty Spacer headers wrap to two lines. This makes the entire header row taller than the body rows, which causes the visible misalignment in the Service. Power BI Desktop renders this differently and didn't show the issue.

Fix that worked: Turn text wrap on Column headers level off + make Spacer columns wider so they render on a single line.

Hope this helps someone else.

[ajholl]

Michael you are the GOAT! Was able to solve my issue as well. THANK YOU!!!!

[Michael12]

Love it!