PBIX File downloaded from power bi service is not opening on power bi desktop

[Baqa]

I downloaded a PBIX file from Power BI Service that I want to open in Power BI Desktop for some UI work. However, the report is not opening.

I have tried opening it on other systems as well, but the issue persists. I am using the latest version of Power BI Desktop. Initially, there were some custom visuals in the report, which I removed directly in Power BI Service. After saving the changes, I downloaded the report again and tried opening it in Power BI Desktop, but it still does not open.

Currently, the report contains only the default Power BI visuals—no external or custom visuals are used.
This report is connected with a live coneection to a semantic model.

. 

[Baqa · Accepted solution]

The issue was resolved after installing the May 2025 updates. It seems the service updates hadn’t been included in my desktop version, which caused the error. Everything works correctly now.

Thanks to eveyone who responded to this query.

[v-kathullac]

Hi @Baqa,
Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

can you try the below debug steps to resolve your issue.

1. The error occurs because the PBIX file uses schema version 2.89.0, which may not be supported by your current Power BI Desktop version.
2. Even if you're using the latest version, it might not match the cloud version used to generate the file.
3. Download and install Power BI Desktop from the Microsoft Store, which auto-updates to the same build used by Power BI Service.
4. Open Power BI, go to File > Options and settings > Options > Preview features and ensure relevant preview features are enabled.
5. Avoid using the standalone installer from the Power BI website if possible, as it's updated less frequently than the Store version.
6. If you're using Power BI Report Server version, it likely won't support the schema used in cloud-generated PBIX files.
7. If the file connects live to a semantic model, ensure the model doesn't depend on custom visuals or features removed or deprecated.
8. As a workaround, try rebuilding the report manually by reconnecting to the semantic model and re-creating visuals.

Regards,

Chaithanya.

[Baqa]

@Jai-Rathinavel thank you for your reply.
 I have tried that but it is alsno allowing me to downlaod that file.

[Jai-Rathinavel]

@Baqa  We let's try fixing the issue by altering the report metadata

1. Install Notepad++

2. Now click your Power BI Report -> Edit with Notepad++ and then save the file as a zip file like below

3. Now extract the contents of the compressed zip file.

4. Inside the extracted folder, you can find Report folder

5.  Fix the json and zip the file back as it was.

6. Edit with Notepad++ and Save as PBIX

[Jai-Rathinavel]

@Baqa  Have you synced the workspace to a Git repository ? If not sync it and get the PBIR files of that report from the git repository and work on that downloaded files locally.

If you have older version of the working report with you, you can copy paste the new folders or files from the downloaded folder to your old working files/folder. Checkout the below documentation to get started !
Power BI enhanced report format (PBIR) in Power BI Desktop developer mode (Preview) | Microsoft Powe...

[Baqa]

@Jai-Rathinavel I am not using  Git repository in that workspace currently.

[Jai-Rathinavel]

Hi @Baqa Try clicking Save A Copy, duplicate that report and try downloading the cloned report