Azure Maps visual: Bubble layer conditional formatting works in Desktop but not in Power BI Service

[stefandebruin]

Hi all,

I’m seeing a formatting/settings mismatch between Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service for the Azure Maps visual after publishing.

In Desktop, the visual exposes formatting for a Bubble layer. When I expand Bubble layer, I can set the bubble color using conditional formatting.

After publishing to Power BI Service, the Bubble layer formatting section is no longer available. The visual instead shows only a Marker layer (I can’t find Bubble layer anywhere). Under Marker layer, there is also no option to set marker color (including via conditional formatting).

Has anyone encountered this, or knows whether this is a known limitation/bug in the Service version of Azure Maps? Any workaround would be appreciated, as this is affecting multiple published reports used by different stakeholders.

[bathyphen · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I managed to sort this issue yesterday when I updated to the January 2026 desktop version. The 'Bubble Layer' has now gone completely from the desktop version & the online service, however, the you can get the same result by putting the conditional formatting in the color section of the Marker Layer instead. I think Microsoft have just moved where you enter it but not made it possible for any conditional formatting already set up to migrate across.

[stefandebruin]

Hi! Thanks for this. Extremely unfortunate that I have to set up all the color rules again, instead of BI automatically migrating the conditional formatting to the new marker color. But I guess this will have to do for now.

[v-pgoloju]

Hi @stefandebruin,

Just checking, have you had a chance to open a support ticket, as suggested. If so, we'd love to hear the current status or any updates from that.

If the issue was resolved through the support ticket, it would be great if you could share the solution here as well. It could really help other community members find answers more quickly.

Warm regards,
Prasanna Kumar

[v-pgoloju]

Hi @stefandebruin,

If the issue still persists, I’d recommend raising a support ticket with Microsoft. The support team can look into the backend and provide more in-depth assistance tailored to your environment.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/support/create-support-ticket

Thanks & Regards,

Prasanna Kumar

[v-pgoloju]

Hi @stefandebruin,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Forum Community.

In Power BI Desktop, Azure Maps exposes the Bubble layer and supports conditional formatting for bubble colors. After publishing to Power BI Service, the visual may fall back to the simpler Marker layer, where the Bubble layer options are no longer visible and conditional color formatting isn’t supported. This is a known Service side limitation, not an issue with your report or the publishing process.

As a possible workaround, if you’re using Import mode, you could try moving the color logic into the data model by creating a calculated column (or measure) that returns color values (HEX codes) and then using that field to drive the map colors. While this may not cover all scenarios. You may also find the community discussion below helpful.

Solved: Azure Maps Visual ignores Conditional Formatting (... - Microsoft Fabric Community

Solved: Azure Maps Visual ignores Conditional Formatting (... - Microsoft Fabric Community

Thanks & Regards,

Prasanna Kumar

[stefandebruin]

Hi!

Thanks, but this workaround won't work as I have various slicers that control complex measures used in the conditional formatting of the bubble colours. 

Also note that this issue has only recently appeared. My bubble layers were working flawlessly for months in BI Service. This glich appeared less than a week ago.

Regards

[bathyphen]

I am also having this issue - was working fine for over a year - then all of a sudden, all bubble now appear in blue, instead of multiple shades of RAG.