Forum Discussion
Refresh All and Service refresh not returning new data — manual table refresh works fine
Hi chelly911,
Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum. Also, thanks to garvitgupta96, Lodha_Jaydeep, for those inputs on this thread.
The issue is not with the gateway or data load, but with semantic model processing failures. Your refresh is successfully pulling data (as seen from the row count), but the warnings like missing columns/tables, invalid DAX, and type mismatches indicate that parts of the model (calculated columns, measures, relationships) are breaking during a full refresh. When this happens, Power BI keeps the last valid model state, so visuals continue to show old data. Manual table refresh works because it only executes Power Query (M) and doesn’t validate the full model.
To fix this, resolve all model warnings/errors: correct DAX references, ensure columns/tables exist, and fix data type mismatches (e.g., in SWITCH). Also review relationships and remove any broken dependencies. As a check, temporarily disable calculated tables/columns and run Refresh All, if new data appears, the issue is confirmed in model logic. Once all errors are fixed, clear cache, refresh again, and republish to the Service. After the model processes without warnings, new data will appear correctly.
Thank you for using the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.
Hi chelly911,
This is a common misunderstanding between model refresh and M query refresh. In Power BI desktop & service, refresh all perform a full semantic model reprocessing, not just a data reload. This includes:
- Importing data from SQL Server and relationship modelling
- Re‑validating all DAX measures, calculated columns, and model dependencies
When you manually refresh tables inside power query, only the M queries are executed. The model (DAX, measures, relationships) is not fully revalidated, so new rows appear temporarily and give the impression that the refresh works. During a full refresh, Power BI validates the entire model as a single atomic unit. If validation fails, Power BI silently keeps the last valid model snapshot, even though the refresh status shows Completed.
If my answer helped you solve the problem, please consider accepting it as the solution and help other members to use the same solution in same/similar situations.
I misexplained it when I manually refresh the tables in Power BI Desktop, I get the new rows. However, when I use “Refresh All” in Power BI Desktop or refresh in the Service, the new rows do not appear.
It would still be the same issue. When you manually refresh a single table - all it does is refresh the Power query of that table but does not refresh the relationships or any incremental refreshes (if any). Can you please confirm if there are any incremental refresh enabled on your model?
no i dont have incremental refresh
Could you please confirm if you have followed these steps and verified no issues?
- Open Model View → Dependencies to identify measures referencing missing tables or columns
- Fix or delete every measure showing “Cannot find table/column” warnings
- Correct all data type mismatches in DAX (e.g., Text vs Integer in SWITCH)
- Ensure no measures return tables where scalars are required
- Refresh All again and confirm zero DAX warnings
- Close and reopen the PBIX to confirm the model commits correctly
- Republish and trigger a Service refresh