Fields not visible in power query of a kobo form

[GisselaMejia26]

Hello community,

In power query it does not display fields that were recently added in a Kobo form.
How can I solve this difficulty?

Pda: the fields already have data.

[v-dineshya]

Hi @GisselaMejia26 ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

If fields recently added to a Kobo form are not showing up in Power Query, the issue is usually due to how Power Query connects to the Kobo form API or data export.

Please check below things to fix the issue.

1. Check the new fields are included in the source you are connecting to Kobo, Export the data as XLS or CSV manually. Check if the new fields appear in the exported file. If not Kobo may not have registered the changes in the export schema. If yes try below options.

2. Power Query caches the Schema of your data source. If the schema changes, Power Query does not detect them automatically.

Solution: In Power Query, Go to Home > Data Source Settings. Select the Kobo API. Click Clear Permissions.

In Advanced Editor. Look for steps like = Table.SelectColumns(...) or similar these often hardcode the visible columns. If present, remove or update them to allow dynamic column detection.

3. If your Kobo form is accessed via API or web connection, and the new fields don’t appear, Your query uses a static schema. The new fields are not being expanded dynamically.

Solution: After the Record.ToTable() or Table.ExpandRecordColumn() step, check you are not limiting columns. Modify your Power Query to dynamically expand columns like below.

= Table.ExpandRecordColumn(Source, "data", Record.FieldNames(Source{0}[data]))

Note: This ensures any new fields are automatically included.

4. Sometimes Kobo uses versioned submissions, and older API endpoints or exports may point to older schema definitions. check you are using the latest dataset version. Kobo provides data endpoint and sometimes assets versioned endpoint make sure the correct form ID and version is being queried.

5. Download a fresh CSV/XLSX and import into Power BI, If the columns appear here, it confirms the Power Query logic or API schema cache is the issue. Use this version to test your import logic without column filtering.

If my response has resolved your query, please mark it as the "Accepted Solution" to assist others. Additionally, a "Kudos" would be appreciated if you found my response helpful.

Thank you

[v-dineshya]

Hi @GisselaMejia26 ,

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet.do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Thank you.

[v-dineshya]

Hi @GisselaMejia26 ,

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet.do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Thank you.

[v-dineshya]

Hi @GisselaMejia26 ,

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet.do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Thank you.

[Ilgar_Zarbali · Accepted solution]

If recently added fields from your Kobo form are not showing up in Power Query, here are a few steps you can take to resolve the issue:

1. Refresh the data source connection:
   Go to Home > Data source settings in Power Query and clear permissions if needed, then reconnect to ensure Power Query is pulling the latest schema.

2. Check the source structure (especially JSON/XML):
   Kobo often provides data in nested formats (e.g., JSON). If you're connecting to a Kobo API or exported file, ensure the new fields are not nested inside a record or list. Use the Expand button (⤵️ icon) next to a column to reveal nested fields.

3. Re-import the dataset (if schema has changed):
   If you're using the Kobo API or downloaded file and the schema has changed (i.e., new columns added), Power Query may cache the old structure. Try deleting and re-importing the dataset to force schema refresh.

4. Use Table.ColumnNames(Source) to inspect available fields:
   In a blank query, write:

   = Table.ColumnNames(Source)

   Replace Source with the step name of your loaded table. This will return a list of all fields that exist in the current source — even those not visible in the applied steps or interface.

5. Check applied steps:
   Some earlier steps in the query might be filtering out or ignoring the new columns. Review all applied steps, especially those like Removed Other Columns, which might be excluding the new fields.

Let me know if you're pulling data via API, XLS export, or another method — the steps can be more specific depending on that.