Metadata Translation Not Applied to Renamed Column/Measure Names in Visuals

[ニック]

I want to create a report translation from Japanese to English.
The report content is already completed in Japanese, and now I want to apply metadata translation for English.

The column and measure names in the matrix visual have already been renamed directly in the visual. When I enter the English translations using Translation Builder, nothing changes for those renamed measure names in the Power BI service.

Do you recommend avoiding hard-coded column or measure names in the Visualizations pane if I want metadata translation to work correctly?
Is there a way to revert renamed fields to their original names in the Visualizations pane?
Also, do I need to remove all renamed fields from the visuals and instead rename the measures or fields at the model level and then add them back to the visual? Is there a better way to solve this?
I’d really appreciate any help or suggestions. Thank you!

[v-ssriganesh]

Hi @ニック,

Thank you for posting your query in the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum, and thanks to @cengizhanarslan, @Ritaf1983 & @Tahreem24  for sharing valuable insights.

Could you please confirm if your query has been resolved by the provided solutions? This would be helpful for other members who may encounter similar issues.

Thank you for being part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.

[cengizhanarslan]

Metadata translations only apply to model-level names (columns, measures, tables). When you rename a field directly in a visual, that text becomes a hard-coded visual label, and translations will never override it. The service is doing exactly what it’s told: keep the visual’s custom text.

Best practice (recommended)
If you want translations to work correctly:

• Do not rename fields in the Visualizations pane

• Rename columns and measures at the model level

• Apply translations to those model names

• Use the fields “as-is” in visuals

[Ritaf1983 · Accepted solution]

Hi @ニック 

This behavior is expected and works by design in Power BI.

Metadata translations (via Translation Builder / Tabular Editor) apply only to model-level metadata — meaning column names and measure names as they exist in the model.
When you rename a column or measure inside a visual, Power BI treats that text as a hard-coded label and completely bypasses metadata translations. As a result, translations will never be applied to those renamed fields in the Service or Desktop.

Because of this:

Yes, you should avoid renaming columns or measures at the visual level if you plan to use translations.

Visual-level renaming should be considered incompatible with multi-language reports.

Regarding reverting renamed fields:

There is no automatic “reset to original name” option.

To revert, you must remove the field from the visual and add it again from the Fields pane, which restores the model name.

Best practice solution:

Perform all renaming at the model level only (tables, columns, and measures).

Define translations on those model objects.

Remove any visually renamed fields and re-add them after the model names and translations are finalized.

If your report was built with extensive visual-level renaming, this isn’t a translation issue — it’s technical debt. Cleaning it up is required for translations to work correctl

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly

[Tahreem24]

@ニック , If Translation Builder isn't working in the Power BI Service, it often stems from using an outdated version, misconfigured external tools integration, or needing specific Premium capacity for testing.