Navigation Buttons Missing

[tjd]

Just upgraded to the March 2026 version (v: 2.152.882.0, 03/15/2026) for Desktop version.  Selected "Upgrade to Azure maps" and then "Remove Q&A" prompts.  Somehow, MS managed to remove ALL report navigation buttons from the entire report (about 200 pages, 1,000+ nav buttons).  What gives?

[v-veshwara-msft]

Hi @tjd ,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.

Just checking if you are still facing this issue.

Based on what you described and similar cases, this seems to be happening when the “Remove Q&A visuals” option is selected. In some scenarios, Power BI is removing other buttons along with Q&A related elements.

A safer approach is to avoid selecting that option and instead close the window.

Before proceeding with any action on the prompt, it is recommended to save a backup copy of the file without acknowledging it, and then use that backup as a reference in case any buttons need to be recreated.

Also, please check if your report contains any Q&A buttons, as even a single one can trigger this behavior across the report. A Q&A button is one where Action is enabled and the Type is set to Q&A. These can sometimes exist on template or hidden pages as well.

Another approach is to manually remove all Q&A visuals and Q&A buttons from the report, save it, and reopen it. If no Q&A elements remain, the prompt should stop appearing.

If you are still able to experience this issue, could you confirm whether any Q&A buttons are present in the report, including on hidden or standard pages?

Similar cases for reference:
Solved: When excepting Q&A removal, all buttons in project... - Microsoft Fabric Community

All uploaded (PNG) icons missing in report - used ... - Microsoft Fabric Community

Hope this helps. Please reach out for further assistance.
Thank you.

[v-veshwara-msft]

Hi @tjd ,
Just wanted to check if the response provided was helpful. If further assistance is needed, please reach out.
Thank you.

[tjd]

No, your response was not helpful at all!  Why should I have to recreate 1,000+ navigation buttons because MS developers can't seem to remove Q&A links without removing lots of other stuff?  Learn how to code Microsoft!

[v-veshwara-msft]

Hi @tjd ,

Thanks for your response, I understand the impact this has had.

I tested the same scenario on the latest April 2026 Power BI Desktop version. Selecting “Remove Q&A visuals” only removed Q&A related elements and navigation buttons remained intact. Based on this, the behavior you saw could be specific to the March 2026 version.

For the missing buttons, Power BI does not have a way to restore them once they are removed and the file is saved. The only possible recovery would be from an earlier version of the file.

If your PBIX is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, you can check version history and restore a previous copy.

If it is stored locally, you can try using Windows “Restore previous versions” on the file.

You can also check if there is a recent file under "%localappdata%\Microsoft\Power BI Desktop\TempSaves" and open that to see if it contains the report before the change.

I would recommend opening the report in the latest version of Power BI Desktop to avoid this behavior going forward. If you are still on the March version, updating should help prevent this from happening again.

Download Microsoft Power BI Desktop from Official Microsoft Download Center

Deprecating Power BI Q&A | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI

Please reach out for further assistance.
Thank you.

[Kedar_Pande]

@tjd 

File → Options → Preview features → disable "Modern visual defaults" and "New format pane". Restart Desktop. Navigation buttons reappear.

[tjd]

Kedar - they were never selected.

[tjd]

After testing, it is the "Remove Q&A" prompt that is removing all the navigation buttons!