Forum Discussion
SharePoint List dates (UK format) being misinterpreted in Power BI
Answer: The problem arises when Power BI ingests the data: Power Query applies type detection based on the regional settings of your operating system (or the Power BI Service environment). If that defaults to US English, dates get misinterpreted as MM/dd/yyyy even if SharePoint shows them as dd/MM/yyyy.
Resolution Steps:
Set your OS regional settings to UK (dd/MM/yyyy) so Power Query inherits the correct locale.
Remove auto “Changed Type” steps in Power Query, as they often lock in US format.
Explicitly convert using locale: in Power Query, use Change Type → Using Locale → Date → English (United Kingdom) as the first applied step.
Check Power BI Service regional settings (workspace → Settings → Regional Settings) to ensure they match UK format, otherwise refreshes may revert to US defaults.
Documentation Link for Reference:Set a locale or region for data (Power Query) - Microsoft Support
This usually happens because Power BI is interpreting the dates using a different locale (US instead of UK), especially when the data comes from SharePoint.
Even if SharePoint shows dd/mm/yyyy, Power BI can read it as mm/dd/yyyy if the column is treated as text or auto-converted incorrectly.
What worked for me:
Go to Power Query
Select the date column
Change Type → Using Locale
Choose Date + English (United Kingdom)
That forces Power BI to interpret the dates correctly.
Also worth checking:
If the column is coming as text instead of date
If there’s an automatic “Changed Type” step early in the query (this can lock the wrong format)
In short: it’s not a SharePoint issue — it’s how Power BI parses the dates. Forcing the correct locale fixes it.