Azure Maps reference layer transparency behaves differently after publishing to Power BI Service

[danielpmaximo27]

Hello everyone,

I’m facing an issue with the Azure Maps visual in Power BI after this new update and I’d appreciate any help or insights.

I added a reference layer to an Azure Maps visual. In Power BI Desktop, the reference layer behaves as expected: the transparency works correctly, allowing me to clearly see the base Azure Maps content behind it (street names, places, establishments, etc.).

However, after publishing the report to Power BI Service (web), the same reference layer appears as if its transparency were 0% (fully opaque). As a result, it completely hides the underlying Azure Maps details, such as street names and other map information.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue with Azure Maps visuals behaving differently between Desktop and Service?

Is this a known limitation or bug, or is there any workaround to ensure the transparency is respected after publishing?

[am_nr]

I'm experiencing the exact same bug with the same strange behaviour where if I click on the map it renders transparent as expected! @danielpmaximo27 have you posted this to the Issues forum already?

[danielpmaximo27]

Hi,

Yes, I ended up opening a support ticket directly with Microsoft about this.

They were able to reproduce the issue on their side and confirmed that it is a bug on their side. According to the Engineering team, this happens because the reference layer features (polygons, lines, points, etc.) are not bound to any semantic model data until the visual is interacted with. On the initial render, no geopoint is selected, so the reference layer is not properly applied. After a click, the visual refreshes and the transparency behaves as expected.

They mentioned that the team is working on a fix.

So it’s a known issue now. Hopefully we’ll see a fix in an upcoming update.

[v-ssriganesh · Accepted solution]

Hello @danielpmaximo27 & @powerbiuser__34,

Thank you both for sharing your findings and for the detailed testing the observations around the initial render vs post-interaction behavior in Power BI Service are very helpful.

Please consider raising a Microsoft support ticket for further investigation. You can create a Microsoft support ticket using the link below: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/support/create-support-ticket

Best regards,
Ganesh Singamshetty.

[v-ssriganesh]

Hello @danielpmaximo27,
Thank you for posting your query in the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

I reproduced this scenario in Power BI Desktop and published the same report to Power BI Service for validation.

• Created an Azure Maps visual using latitude and longitude data for school locations.
• Added a GeoJSON reference layer representing administrative/district boundaries.
• Configured the reference layer with lighter fill colors and higher transparency.
• Used a simple GeoJSON structure and a single reference layer.

In my test, the reference layer transparency is respected in both Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service, and the base map (roads, labels, and POIs) remains visible as expected after publishing.

This suggests the behavior may be scenario-dependent, potentially influenced by GeoJSON complexity, fill colors or map configuration, rather than a general limitation of the Azure Maps visual.

try to testing with simpler GeoJSON polygons, Lighter fill colors and fewer reference layers. For your reference, I have attached the PBIX file I used to reproduce.

Best regards,
Ganesh Singamshetty.

[danielpmaximo27]

Hi Ganesh,

I found something interesting while testing the PBIX file you shared.

After publishing the report to Power BI Service, the reference layer initially appears fully opaque. However, as soon as I click anywhere on the map (just a single click), the reference layer immediately updates and the transparency is applied correctly.

So it seems the transparency does work in the Service, but only after a user interaction with the map. Before that first click, the reference layer renders incorrectly and hides the base map details.

I recorded a short video showing this behavior to make it clearer. 

This makes me think it could be a rendering or refresh issue in Power BI Service rather than something specific to the GeoJSON itself.

Thanks again for looking into this!

[powerbiuser__34]

I am having the same issue with the transparency of reference layer is seemingly defaulted to 0% even though it is defined to different percentages of transparency in the KML file I am using in PBI. For some reason, there is no issue on PBI Desktop but when it is uploaded to PBI Service there is an issue.

I suspect that unfortunately PBI does not seem to be synced between the desktop version and Service version as I noticed in the Visualization Pane had different options for Azure Maps which was causing a different issue. This issue has subsequently resolved and the desktop version was updated after the Service version and is now in sync.

I am mentioning this to identify that this may potentially be related to visual updates to Azure Maps. Does anyone know if there is a contact that can be contacted to verify or bring this bug to the dev team?

[GeraldGEmerick]

@danielpmaximo27 I would definitely post this to the Issues forum here: Issues - Microsoft Fabric Community