Removing imported Power BI Visuals doesn't help to reduce file size

[qazwsxedc]

I imported some Power BI visuals but later deleted them, however the Power BI file size still get increased dramtically (almost doubled) even after I remove those visuals. Is there a way to reduce the file size to the size before I imported the visuals?Thanks!

[v-xicai]

Hi @qazwsxedc ,

You may go to File-> Options and Settings->Options -> Global ->Data load , try to clear cache,  restart the Power BI Desktop to take the change effective.

If you still have this issue for Power BI, you'd better create a support ticket in Power BI Support , Scroll down and click "CREATE SUPPORT TICKET", or go to Issue forum  to get further help.

Best Regards,

Amy 

Community Support Team _ Amy

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

[qazwsxedc]

Thanks for your advice but clearing cache doesn't help. I went to Issue forum as you suggested. 

[avatorl]

Are you sure that file size increased because of the imported visuals? Is there any chance that it increased because of the data model? 

[qazwsxedc]

I am sure. It happened many times. This time I removed the visuals and checked the file size immediately and as I expected the size got increased. 

[avatorl · Accepted solution]

Use a tool like 'Total Commander' to open .pbix file as a zip folder. Check if you still have a subfolder for your imported (and then removed) visual in \Report\Custom Visuals folder. This is how \Report\Custom Visuals folder looks (there is a subfolder for each imported visual):
.

Remove a subfolder.

If you have no a tool like Total Commander then you can change .pbix file extension to .zip. Unzip it into a folder. Delete a subfolder (that belongs to the removed visual). Then pack everything back to .zip and rename back to .pbix.

[qazwsxedc]

It works! Thank you so much!😃

[hohlick]

I noticed that behavior a few years ago but didn't check if MS fixed it. Seems they didn't

[Greg_Deckler]

@qazwsxedc - Interesting. Perhaps rename the file to a .zip file and look inside and see if there are any left over artifacts. Perhaps you could then extract all of the files to a folder, re-zip the files and then rename to .pbix and see if it is smaller.