Microsoft List version history data sometimes displaying as [table] in power BI

[powerbihelp2025]

Hello and happy new year!

I have a microsoft/Sharepoint list for projects that is regularly updated. I have connected it to PowerBI and have created a table displaying the most recent changes in the microsoft list using the version history data.

Mostly this works perfectly but sometimes the change in free text fields (from the title or project status) column shows up in the powerbi report as [table]. Is there some specific character I should not use to prevent this or does anyone know how I can fix this?

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Hi @powerbihelp2025 ,

Can saud968's answer help you solve the problem? If yes, please remember to mark saud968's answer as solution. If you still haven't solved the problem, can you provide some screenshots of the operation and results to explain your problem more clearly so that we can understand it more easily? Thank you!

Best Regards,
Dino Tao

[saud968]

It sounds like you're encountering an issue where certain changes in free text fields are being displayed as [table] in your Power BI report. This can happen if the data being pulled from the SharePoint list includes complex objects or HTML content that Power BI interprets as a table.

Here are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve this issue:

Check for Special Characters: Ensure that the free text fields do not contain special characters or HTML tags that might be causing Power BI to misinterpret the data. Sometimes, characters like <, >, or & can cause issues.

Data Transformation: Use Power Query in Power BI to transform the data before loading it into your report. You can clean up the text fields by removing or replacing problematic characters. For example, you can use the Text.Replace function to replace specific characters.

Custom Column: Create a custom column in Power BI that extracts the plain text from the free text fields. This can help ensure that only the relevant text is displayed in your report.

SharePoint List Settings: Check the settings of your SharePoint list to see if there are any configurations that might be affecting how the version history data is stored or retrieved.

Power BI Community: If the issue persists, consider reaching out to the Power BI community forums. There might be others who have encountered and resolved similar issues

Best Regards
Saud Ansari
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