Mismatch in Date Column Format Between Desktop and Service

[ashmitp869]

Hi,

I have a column that contains date values followed by an "A" at the end (e.g., 2025-05-20A), so I’ve kept the column in Text format to preserve the original data structure.

Although Power BI Desktop is returning the expected results, I’ve kept the column in Text format due to the "A" suffix in the date values.

Although Power BI Desktop returns the expected results when I keep the column in Text format (due to the "A" suffix in the date field), after publishing the report to the Power BI Service, the formatting appears differently — specifically, the month is shown at the beginning.

Any suggestions ?

[v-achippa · Accepted solution]

Hi @ashmitp869,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.

The issue here is likely happening because your Start and Finish columns are in Text format not in Date format. Power bi service and browser locales can affect how the date like text values are displayed but they don't fix the formatting issues when the column is of Text type.

Keep column as Text but manually format the text to a consistent format like for example dd-mm-yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd, so that there will be a consistent behavior in both desktop and service regardless of locale and ensures all the dates are formatted one way.

Alternatively if possible please split the ‘A’ into a separate column and store the date in a proper Date column.

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it! 

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

[v-achippa]

Hi @ashmitp869,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution I have provided for the issue worked? or let us know if you need any further assistance.
If my response addressed, please mark it as "Accept as solution" and click "Yes" if you found it helpful.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

[v-achippa]

Hi @ashmitp869,

We wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution I have provided for the issue worked.
If my response addressed, please mark it as "Accept as solution" and click "Yes" if you found it helpful.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

[v-achippa]

Hi @ashmitp869,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution I have provided for the issue worked.
If my response addressed, please mark it as "Accept as solution" and click "Yes" if you found it helpful.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

[burakkaragoz]

Hi @ashmitp869 ,

This usually happens due to a mismatch between regional settings in Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service.

Here’s what you can check:

• In Power BI Desktop, go to: File > Options and settings > Options > Regional Settings Make sure it matches the format you want (e.g., English (United Kingdom) for DD/MM/YYYY).

• In Power BI Service, the report will use the browser’s locale or the tenant’s default language. So if your browser is set to en-US, it might force MM/DD/YYYY.

To fix it consistently:

1. Set the correct regional format in Power BI Desktop before publishing.
2. In Power BI Service, go to: Settings > Language and Region and adjust the locale to match your desired format.

Let us know if that helps!

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If my response resolved your query, kindly mark it as the Accepted Solution to assist others. Additionally, I would be grateful for a 'Kudos' if you found my response helpful.
translation and formatting supported by AI

[ashmitp869]

Hi @burakkaragoz 

Will you please help me to set up the Power BI Service : Settings
I am only getting English (United States) not English (United Kingdom).

Will you please kindly provide step by step screenshots.
Thanks

[burakkaragoz]

Ah, got it—yeah, sometimes the Power BI Service only shows limited language options depending on your tenant settings or browser locale.

Here are a couple of things you can try:

1. Browser settings: Try changing your browser’s language/region to English (United Kingdom), then refresh Power BI Service. Sometimes it picks up the locale from the browser.
2. Power BI Service settings:
   • Go to Settings > General > Language and Region
   • Under Locale for import models, try setting it to “English (United Kingdom)” if it appears there.
3. If that still doesn’t work, you can force the format in Power BI Desktop by:
   • Going to File > Options > Regional Settings
   • Set it to “English (United Kingdom)” before publishing.

translation and formatting supported by AI

[ashmitp869]

Hi @burakkaragoz 
The solution only work for date data type.
As my Start and Finish is Text data type - your solution didn't work

1. If that still doesn’t work, you can force the format in Power BI Desktop by:
   • Going to File > Options > Regional Settings
   • Set it to “English (United Kingdom)” before publishing.

The data set looks like below

[burakkaragoz]

Ah got it — if your Start and Finish columns are in Text format, then yeah, the regional settings trick won’t apply directly.

Here’s what you can try:

1. In Power Query, convert those text columns to Date type using:

   • Transform > Data Type > Date
   • Or use Date.FromText([YourColumn]) if you need more control.

2. If the text is in a non-standard format (like dd-mm-yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy), you might need to use Date.FromText(Text.Replace([YourColumn], "-", "/")) or similar to normalize it first.

3. Once converted to Date, the formatting should carry over correctly to the Service — especially if your regional settings are aligned.

Let me know what the raw format of your text dates looks like, and I can help you write a quick transformation step.

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If my response resolved your query, kindly mark it as the Accepted Solution to assist others. Additionally, I would be grateful for a 'Kudos' if you found my response helpful.
translation and formatting supported by AI

[pankajnamekar25]

Hello @ashmitp869 

Go to the Power BI Service → Settings → Language and Region.

 Set the Locale to match your desktop's locale (e.g., English (United Kingdom)).

Refresh the report.

Thanks,
 Pankaj Namekar | LinkedIn

If this solution helps, please accept it and give a kudos (Like), it would be greatly appreciated.

[ashmitp869]

Hi @pankajnamekar25 
Are you talking about web browser (Chrome settings ).
If not , can you please provide screenshot how to change below ?

Go to the Power BI Service → Settings → Language and Region.

 Set the Locale to match your desktop's locale (e.g., English (United Kingdom)).