Dataflows behaving as if Enhanced Compute is off

[ChristopherKing]

We have multiple dataflows, and all of them seem to be exhibiting this behavior (We are in the Government Cloud, premium capacity in US East). This was first noticed today, but could not have been present for more than a week. All of our dataflows are set with Enhanced Computer turned on, but when someone tries to use them as a data source in Power BI Desktop, the icon on the tables is the grid that is typically what shows for a table with Enhanced Compute off. In addition, trying to load a table using direct query results in the "This step results in a query that is not supported in DirectQuery mode", even when there are no steps other than Source and Navigation in Power query, which is behavior that I would expect if Enhanced Compute were turned off. I have tried turning Enhanced compute off, refreshing, then turning it back on, and refreshing again. In the refresh log, the "Compute Engine" column shows "Cached", but I still see the same behavior in Power BI Desktop.

[v-echaithra · Accepted solution]

Hi @ChristopherKing ,

Thank you for the detailed follow up and for isolating the issue to the August 2025 Power BI Desktop update that’s incredibly helpful.

Since the behavior is consistent across machines and tied to the latest update, this may be a regression or change introduced in the August build.
If feasible, you might consider continuing with the July version for affected users until the issue is resolved or clarified in a future update.

Warm regards,
Chaithra E.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @ChristopherKing ,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Community.

I understand that you're experiencing unexpected behavior in Power BI Desktop when connecting to dataflows that have Enhanced Compute Engine explicitly enabled. These symptoms include:

In Power BI Desktop, tables from these dataflows show the default grid icon (Import mode), rather than the lightning bolt (DirectQuery-compatible).
Attempting DirectQuery results in the error:
"This step results in a query that is not supported in DirectQuery mode" even with minimal transformation steps Source + Navigation only.
Refresh logs show "Compute Engine: Cached", which implies Enhanced Compute is active, yet the experience doesn't reflect that.

Although Enhanced Compute is enabled, several other factors can prevent DirectQuery from becoming available or functioning as expected like Dataflow Configuration, Dataflow Size, Query Folding Limitations, Data Source Compatibility, etc.

Here are some settings and checks to resolve the issue:

Toggle Enhanced Compute Explicitly

Go to your dataflow settings.
Set Enhanced Compute to “Off”.
Refresh the dataflow.
Then, set it back to “On” (not "Optimize").
Refresh the dataflow again.

Test Minimal Setup

Create a new test dataflow with just one simple table.
Use no transformations (just Source > Navigation)
Enable Enhanced Compute.
Refresh the dataflow.
Then try connecting via Power BI Desktop and check if DirectQuery is available. If it works here, it confirms that transformations or data size in your Prod dataflow may be the cause.

Validate DirectQuery Eligibility

For the problematic Prod table:
Remove any non-foldable transformations.
Avoid calculated columns, merges, filters, or any custom logic.
Temporarily disable incremental refresh (if applied).
Validate folding using "View Native Query" in Power Query Editor.

Workspace & Capacity Settings Check

Ensure the workspace is in a Premium capacity.
Go to the Capacity Settings > Dataflows in Power BI Admin portal.
Confirm that Enhanced Compute is enabled at capacity level.

As noted here issue with enhanced compute engine settings for da... - Microsoft Fabric Community , Enhanced Compute set to "Optimize" instead of "On" may result in the system silently defaulting to Import mode.

Hope this helps
Warm regards
Chaithra E.

[ChristopherKing]

While going through the troubleshooting steps, I discovered that this issue appears to be a problem with Power BI Desktop. I have one machine with the July 2025 update, and one machine with the August 2025 update. This issue is present in the August Update, but not in the July Update. If I try this with the July update, everything works as I would expect it to.

Thank you,

Christopher King

[ChristopherKing]

As I was testing this, I thought the issue was resolved, but it appears to be a problem with Power BI desktop, not the service. 

On one machine, I have the August 2025 update. This machine experiences the issue.

On another machine, I have not yet received the update and have the July 2025 update. This machine does not experience the issue.

Are there any desktop settings that could result in this? So far as I can tell, both have the same settings, but it is possible I overlooked something.

Thank you,

Christopher King

[JP8991]

My team and I are having the exact same issue.

No query folding on tables that can do so, also when refreshing PBIX files with Direct Query tables (used for RLS) these Direct Query tables throw an error and stop the file from being refreshed.

I have created an issue here:

https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Issues/Direct-Query-Mode-Missing/idi-p/4799096