Add visual-level option to preserve scroll position (e.g., Keep scroll position on right)
In Power BI (Fabric / Service), visuals that require horizontal or vertical scrolling currently reset their scroll offset to the default origin (left/top) every time a report is rendered. This occurs regardless of the scroll position at save time and cannot be controlled by report authors.
As a result:
- Initial render frequently hides the most relevant data (e.g., latest periods in time-series visuals positioned at the far right)
- Users must manually scroll on every load or refresh
- Report authors rely on non-semantic workarounds (sorting, filtering, duplicate visuals) that alter visual meaning or increase maintenance overhead
There is no visual-level or page-level API or formatting property to define or preserve the initial scroll position during the render lifecycle.
Proposed Enhancement
Introduce a visual-level formatting property that allows authors to explicitly define the initial scroll offset when a report page is rendered.
Suggested configuration (Format pane → General / Advanced):
- InitialScrollPosition
- Auto (default – existing behavior)
- Start (left / top)
- End (right / bottom)
- PreserveLastSaved
This property would be evaluated during:
- Initial report load
- Page navigation
- Visual re-render triggered by filter/context changes
Expected Behavior
When configured:
- The visual’s scroll container initializes at the configured offset without user interaction
- Behavior is deterministic and consistent across:
- Power BI Service
- Microsoft Fabric
- Power BI Apps
- Embedded scenarios
- The setting does not alter data semantics, sorting, or filtering logic
- Existing reports retain current behavior unless explicitly enabled
Justification / Engineering Rationale
- Scroll offset is a presentation concern, not a data concern, and should be configurable independently of model logic
- Lack of control forces report authors to encode UX intent into data transformations, which is brittle and semantically incorrect
- Similar lifecycle control already exists for:
- Page state
- Filters
- Bookmarks (manual only)
- Visual layout and sizing
This enhancement would close a functional gap at the visualization rendering layer.
Common Scenarios
- Time-axis visuals where the most recent data appears at the end of the categorical or continuous axis
- Operational dashboards with daily/weekly monitoring patterns
- Executive reports where first render must surface “current state” without user guidance
- Large categorical visuals where scrolling is unavoidable
Summary
Providing a visual-level mechanism to control initial scroll position would significantly improve UX consistency, reduce report complexity, and align Power BI visual behavior with modern dashboard expectations—without impacting backward compatibility or data logic.
