"Power BI: 'Not enough memory to complete this operation' error when saving data model"

[Anonymous]

I’m experiencing a persistent memory error in Power BI when trying to save modifications to my data model. The error message reads:

"Failed to save modifications to the server. Error returned: 'There's not enough memory to complete this operation. Please try again later when there may be more memory available.'"

I’ve already tried the following solutions:

• Reduced the size of my data model by removing unnecessary columns and rows.
• Optimized my data model by minimizing calculated columns and setting appropriate data types.
• Attempted to refresh the model during off-peak hours.

Here are a few details about my setup:

• Power BI Version: Power BI Desktop, August 2024 update.
• Data Size: Around 10 million rows, mostly transactional data.
• Hardware/Capacity: 16GB RAM on a Windows 10 machine, Intel Core i7 processor. Using Power BI Pro.
• Error Frequency: Occurs every time I try to save the data model after adding any new measure or column.

Could someone provide guidance on additional steps or settings adjustments that might help with memory optimization? Is there a specific way to manage memory better, or could this be an issue related to server capacity that requires further configuration?

Thank you in advance for any help!

[malikshiraz12]

@vojtechsima  tried your trick, however, still no success. thank you

[malikshiraz12]

I am experiencing the same issue: "Failed to save modifications to the server. Error returned: 'There's not enough memory to complete this operation. Please try again later when there may be more memory available. I have tried all the potential solutions listed in the original post, along with other options recommended by the community members, with no success.

• Reduced the size of my data model by removing unnecessary columns and rows.
• Optimised my data model by minimising calculated columns and setting appropriate data types.
• Attempted to refresh the model during off-peak hours.
• Turned off Auto date and time for the new file under Global and the current file.
• Clear the cache and set the maximum allowed limit to 10 GB.
• Minimised model size 

Furthermore, the size of my PBIX file is less than 20MB, and I am using import mode with two XLSX files as Data sources with a total memory size of Just 26MB.

Strange enough, when I drop the size of XLSX to under 25MB, the load/refresh seems to work fine. it also work well on other machines with higher RAM (32GB)

Appreciate the community's thoughts and opinions on this!

Thanks

[vojtechsima · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Anonymous ,

you can try to run the query in Power BI Service in Dataflows just to test it.

For Power BI Desktop, try maximize the allowed usage of memory in Settings, Data Load:

Set this to maximum you can, in your case of 16GB, just go all the way to 16 and 1024MB, alternatively less Evalutions but more MB up to 1960MB