Power BI Model - Fabric

[Sanju_BI]

Hello, 

Got an issue :  Date Field Not Updating in Power BI Desktop After Changing Data Type in Fabric Semantic Model.

I am currently working in the Microsoft Fabric environment,
where I have built my semantic model and am using Power BI to connect to that model for reporting.
However, I am encountering an issue where a data type change is not reflecting properly in Power BI Desktop.

In my Fabric semantic model, I have a specific field where I originally had a DateTime data type.
I updated the data type for this field to Date in the semantic model.
The field has a relationship with my Date table, and the relationship itself is working fine.
However, when I connect to this model in Power BI Desktop and refresh the dataset, the field still appears as DateTime instead of just Date.
Fabric Semantic Model

Desktop Version 

Thanks in advance.

[v-kpoloju-msft]

Hi @Sanju_BI,

Thank you for reaching out to us and providing detailed information about the thread. Also thanks for @DataNinja777, for his inputs on this thread.

The behaviour you are experiencing is due to Power BI Desktop caching the metadata schema when connecting to a Fabric semantic model via Direct Lake or Live Connection. Although you have updated the field type from Date Time to Date in the semantic model, Power BI Desktop may not immediately reflect these schema changes unless a full metadata refresh is performed.

This is a known limitation when schema-level changes are made directly in the Fabric model but are not propagated into the Power BI Desktop metadata cache.

To clear the metadata cache in Power BI Desktop, follow these steps: Close all Power BI Desktop files. Open Power BI Desktop, then navigate to: File > Options and settings > Options. Under Global > Data Load, click on Clear cache. Ensure that “Store datasets using enhanced metadata format” is enabled under Global > Preview features (if available). Restart Power BI Desktop. Open your PBIX file, reconnect to your Fabric semantic model, refresh the report, and verify if the date_entered field now displays in the Date format.

Reconnect using a new PBIX file for testing: Create a new Power BI Desktop file and connect it to your Fabric semantic model. Verify if the date_entered field now appears with the correct Date type. If it does, the issue in the original file is likely due to stale cached metadata.

If this post helps, then please give us ‘Kudos’ and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thank you for using Microsoft Community Forum.

[v-kpoloju-msft]

Hi @Sanju_BI,

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[v-kpoloju-msft]

Hi @Sanju_BI,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank you.

[v-kpoloju-msft]

Hi @Sanju_BI,

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you'd like to discuss this further. If this answers your question, please Accept it as a solution and give it a 'Kudos' so others can find it easily.
Thank you.

[DataNinja777]

Hi @Sanju_BI ,

It looks like you've updated the data type of the date_entered field from DateTime to Date in your Fabric Semantic Model, but Power BI Desktop is still displaying it as DateTime even after refreshing. This issue might be caused by metadata caching or an incomplete update in Power BI.

One approach to resolving this is to refresh the metadata in Power BI Desktop. Open Power Query Editor (Transform Data), click Refresh Preview, and then close and apply changes. If the issue persists, clearing Power BI’s cache might help. Navigate to File > Options and Settings > Options, go to Data Load, click Clear Cache, and restart Power BI Desktop before refreshing the dataset.

Another way to force Power BI to recognize the change is to disconnect and reconnect to the Fabric Semantic Model. Remove the connection to your model, reconnect, and verify whether the date_entered field is now recognized as a Date instead of DateTime.

It is also important to ensure that the data type change was saved properly in Fabric. Open Fabric, check the date_entered field, confirm it is set to Date, save the semantic model, and then refresh Power BI.

Additionally, check if the relationship between date_entered and your Date table remains valid. Open Manage Relationships in Power BI, verify that the field is correctly mapped, and if necessary, delete and recreate the relationship.

If Power BI still does not reflect the change, you may try manually updating the field’s type in the Model view. Open Model View, find the date_entered field, and change its type to Date.

If modifying the field manually is not an option, another method is to create a new calculated column to convert date_entered into a pure date format using a DAX formula:

date_entered_fixed = DATE(YEAR('Table'[date_entered]), MONTH('Table'[date_entered]), DAY('Table'[date_entered]))

Alternatively, you can use Power Query to transform the column by removing the time portion:

Table.TransformColumns(Source, {{"date_entered", each Date.From(_), type date}})

After applying these changes, refresh Power BI and check if the issue is resolved. If none of these steps work, the problem may be related to an outdated connection or semantic model refresh delay in Fabric. You may try publishing the model again and ensuring it is fully refreshed before reconnecting to Power BI.

Best regards,

[Sanju_BI]

Appreciate you looking into that, mate! However, I believe this won’t work as expected. As you know, when first connecting to the Fabric Semantic Model, you’re typically restricted from doing certain analysis.