Power Query changes are now permanent, how do I prevent this?

[beeper]

It seems my company has updated Power BI and as of the April 2024 version, the behavior of Power Query has changed in a way that is very detremental to my work flow. Since PQ has no undo feature, I could always count on exiting without saving to undo any mess I may have made. But now I do not have the choice, when exiting I am presented with this message:

"Not now" still saves all changes I made. How do I not save my changes?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @beeper 

Thanks for the reply from @Greg_Deckler .

You can undo previously taken steps through APPLIED STEPS.

In addition, after my test, if you select NOT NOW, Power Query will close back to the Desktop and will not save the changes.

I deleted the Month Name column, and after I clicked Not Now I returned to the desktop.

This column exists in the desktop unless Apply Changes.

Best Regards,
Yulia Xu

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @beeper 

Thanks for the reply from @Greg_Deckler .

You can undo previously taken steps through APPLIED STEPS.

In addition, after my test, if you select NOT NOW, Power Query will close back to the Desktop and will not save the changes.

I deleted the Month Name column, and after I clicked Not Now I returned to the desktop.

This column exists in the desktop unless Apply Changes.

Best Regards,
Yulia Xu

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Greg_Deckler · Accepted solution]

@beeper One last step to what @Anonymous provides, at that point you can click the Discard changes button to not save your changes.

[beeper]

Thank you @Anonymous and @Greg_Deckler. It's an extra click, but after clicking "Discard Changes" once in back in Power BI, it then undoes all PQ changes as desired. I was confused as this behavior is inconsistent with all other Microsoft products that I've been using for decades. Appreciate the help!

[Greg_Deckler]

@beeper Open Task Manager and kill the process?

[beeper]

That will close Power BI entirely, losing any changes I may have made to my dashboards. I just want to quit Power Query and return to Power BI, without the changes in PQ being saved.