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abksharma's avatar
abksharma
Icon for Helper II rankHelper II
11 months ago
Solved

default Map visuals being moved to Azure Map in Power BI (Zoom Settings)

HI MSFT The map upgrade is happening for power bi to Azure Maps. But zoom settings in both maps are not the same.  There is no way to zoom out apart from increasing the map visual size. Below imag...
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  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    11 months ago

    Hi abksharma ,

     

    Thank you for your follow-up. At present, the Azure Maps visual operates differently from the previous Bing Maps visual. There is no direct "1x / 2x zoom" option. however, you can turn off Auto zoom under Format visual View and manually adjust the zoom level using the Zoom slider. Please note that Azure Maps does not zoom out as far as Bing Maps, resulting in a more limited view. This limitation is due to the current design of Azure Maps. If a global 1x view is necessary, you may prefer to continue using the Bing Map visual or explore custom visuals such as Icon Map or Mapbox, which provide more flexible zoom options. Additionally, submitting a feature request in the Power BI Ideas forum for expanded zoom-out capabilities in Azure Maps may be beneficial.

    Thank you,

    Tejaswi.

GrowthNatives's avatar
GrowthNatives
Icon for Super User rankSuper User
11 months ago

Hi abksharma ,

You’ve spotted one of the current limitations in the Azure Maps visual in Power BI,  it doesn’t behave exactly like the legacy Map visual.

Why you can’t zoom out easily

  • In the old Bing Map visual, you had +/– zoom controls and mouse scroll for zoom in/out.

  • In the new Azure Map visual, Microsoft reduced some UI clutter, but as of now:

    • Zoom in works with mouse scroll or pinch.

    • Zoom out beyond the data extent is limited — it auto-fits to your data layer, unless you increase the visual size.

Workarounds you can try now

  1. Enable Zoom Controls

    • Go to Format pane → Map settings → Controls.

    • Turn on Navigation controls → This adds a small floating +/- zoom button.

  2. Set Custom Default Zoom Level

    • In Format → Map settings, adjust Zoom level.

    • You can lock the map to start zoomed out (though users may still scroll in/out).

  3. Add Background Layer / Reference Data

    • If your map is snapping too tightly to your data points, add a dummy boundary layer (e.g., wider region polygons). This forces Azure Maps to give more breathing space.


Current Limitation

You’re right as of Sept 2025, there’s no dedicated "Zoom out beyond visual size" control like Bing Maps had. Microsoft has an open item in Power BI Ideas forum where others requested the same.

✅My suggestion: Turn on Navigation Controls in the map formatting options. That gives users at least the +/– buttons without needing to resize the visual.

 

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