Why is Power BI Desktop running so slowly?

[mossshvlw]

Hi all,

I'm using Power BI Desktop, version: 2.86.961.0 64-bit (October 2020).

It's unbearably slow, and I don't think it has to do with my internet connection.  For example, I have a two-page report.  Clicking on the second page, it takes about 7 seconds to fully render and open.  Clicking back and forth from items in the report is really slow too, and it seems to need to reload every single chart, every single time.  I've tried checking the option for "Allow data preview to download in the background" and the issue persists.  I've cleared the cache too. 

Task manager indicates it's only using between 0 and .5 % of CPU at this moment, and yet it's still unbearably slow.

Even opening menus in power Bi is slow.  

Where can I start in trying to diagnose this problem?  I'm running Power BI on a virtual machine, but then again, no other program is as slow as this.

Thanks in advance.

[Akshay_M]

Using too many graphics, too much data, using non-certified custom graphics or leaving the default options are some examples of practices that can lead to Power BI having to make an extra effort to load our report and therefore increase the time the machine needs to load.

[v-alq-msft]

Hi, @mossshvlw 

I'd like to suggest you follow the optimization guide for Power BI in the document . You may also use Performance Analyzer to examine report element performance.

Best Regards

Allan

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

[mossshvlw]

They are tables coming in from SQL.  I wonder, if I delete some of the fields in the Power BI query editor, and then refresh the original SQL dataset (all fields), will the deleted fields stay deleted?  

I have 16 GB of installed RAM.

[littlemojopuppy]

Ok...slow refreshing?  Is that the issue?

There was a known issue Microsoft had a problem with that caused problems.  I had reports that used to take <1 minute to refresh take 90+ minutes to refres.  I don't think Microsoft ever fixed it, but they had a workaround.  Go to options and hit the clear cache button.  Maybe it'll help

[mossshvlw]

Already tried clearing cache.

[ebeery]

@mossshvlw  Are the tables in "Import" or "DirectQuery" mode?  This is a critical piece of information to consider any time performance is becoming a problem.

[mossshvlw]

Import mode.

[littlemojopuppy]

How much data is there?  How much RAM does the machine have?