Forum Discussion

274188A's avatar
274188A
Advocate I
1 year ago
Solved

Surplus Tables

Hi, is there any recommended method to establish whether or not a Table is used by any visual,slicer or anything?  Just trying to tidy up a big mess I inherited and trying to identify unused tables.

 

I not sure if 'hiding' the table from visual method is  full proof.

 

Thanks 🙏 

Tips and Tricks
  • v-saisrao-msft's avatar
    v-saisrao-msft
    1 year ago

    Hi 274188A,

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community.

     

    Currently, there’s no automated way to detect if a table is used in visuals, slicers, or filters tools like Tabular Editor only check the data model, not the report layer. So the only reliable method is to manually check all visuals and filters.

    To improve this, you can suggest or upvote a feature on the Power BI Ideas forum here:
    Fabric Ideas - Microsoft Fabric Community

     

    Thank you.

7 Replies

  • pankajnamekar25's avatar
    pankajnamekar25
    Super User
    1 year ago

    Hello 274188A 

     

    There are many ways

     Use DAX Studio with VertiPaq Analyzer to check table size and usage

     Use Tabular Editor to find references using "Find in Model"

    Run C# script in Tabular Editor to identify unreferenced tables

      Manually hide table in Power BI and test report functionality

    Check for tables without relationships in Model View

     Run DMV query (DISCOVER_CALC_DEPENDENCY) in DAX Studio

     Back up your .pbix before deleting any table

     Delete one table at a time and validate visuals and measures

     

    Thanks,
     Pankaj Namekar | LinkedIn

    If this solution helps, please accept it and give a kudos (Like), it would be greatly appreciated.

    • MasonMA's avatar
      MasonMA
      Super User
      1 year ago

      Hi pankajnamekar25 , i'm not sure if this answered 274188A's specific question. I've been wondering the same for some time and just tried running a C# script in Tabular Editor with your advise. but the problem is this doesn't catch visuals/slicers from the report canvas using the table, Tabular Editor can’t read the report layer of the PBIX, only the data model. Could you be spefic how to identify these unused tables? I normally just click the Visuals or go through the Filter pane one by one to identify which tables are not being used, which is time consuming..

       

      thanks

       

      • 274188A's avatar
        274188A
        Advocate I
        1 year ago

        Yes exactly, just checking for zero relationships has caught me out already!

        As far as I can tell there is in fact no answer to this problem.  Time for a suggestions I guess...

  • v-saisrao-msft's avatar
    v-saisrao-msft
    Community Support
    1 year ago

    Hi 274188A,

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community.

     

    Currently, there’s no automated way to detect if a table is used in visuals, slicers, or filters tools like Tabular Editor only check the data model, not the report layer. So the only reliable method is to manually check all visuals and filters.

    To improve this, you can suggest or upvote a feature on the Power BI Ideas forum here:
    Fabric Ideas - Microsoft Fabric Community

     

    Thank you.

  • v-saisrao-msft's avatar
    v-saisrao-msft
    Community Support
    1 year ago

    Hi 274188A,

    Could you please confirm if you've submitted this as an idea in the Ideas Forum? If so, sharing the link here would be helpful for other community members who may have similar feedback.

    As we haven’t heard back, we’re closing this thread. For any further discussions or questions, please start a new thread in the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum we’ll be happy to assist.

    Thank you for being part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.