Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

The Power BI Data Visualization World Championships is back! Get ahead of the game and start preparing now! Learn more

Reply
GARYSS
Regular Visitor

Incremental refresh process

Good day.

 

Just seeking to confirm how the incrementl refresh process works.  Understand it only works with Premium level license.  The reports  have been created in Power BI Desktop and posted to the Service where they are posted along with the Dashboard created at the Service level.

 

Does the incremental refresh:

1) connect to the data source(s)

2) perform the Transformations for each data source

3) load the incremental data from the data sources

4) perform the Applied Steps on the table columns

5) perform the update to the Merge Table of the 2 data sources

6) Update the Desktop Reports

7) Update the Service Reports

😎 Update the Service Dashboard.

 

Appreciate anybody willing to set me straight on this.  Thank you, in advance, for your time.

Sincerely,

Gary 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
GilbertQ
Super User
Super User

Hi @GARYSS 

 

When using Incremental refresh it will only apply to the tables where you applied the Incremental refresh policy.

 

On the table where it has been applied it does the following:

 

  • The first time you upload the PBIX to the PBI Service and refresh the dataset it will refresh all the data and create the incremental partitions.
  • It will run through the steps in your table and apply the date filter and only upload the newer data to your dataset.
  • All your service and reports will always look at the entire dataset and will show the new data once the dataset has been refreshed.

 

Here are more details: Incremental refresh for datasets and real-time data in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn





Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution!

Proud to be a Super User!







Power BI Blog

View solution in original post

4 REPLIES 4
djurecicK2
Super User
Super User

Hi @GARYSS ,

Updating the report in the service will not update the data in the .pbix file on your desktop. Other than that, I agree with what you posted. Here is additional information:

 

https://radacad.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-incremental-refresh-in-power-bi-load-changes-only

 

https://towardsdatascience.com/incremental-refresh-in-power-bi-everything-you-need-to-know-857183895...

 

 

Thank you so very much, djurecicK2!!!  Made my day.  Appreciate your time, input, and the links.  All of it is a tremendous help!

 

Sincerely,

Gary

GilbertQ
Super User
Super User

Hi @GARYSS 

 

When using Incremental refresh it will only apply to the tables where you applied the Incremental refresh policy.

 

On the table where it has been applied it does the following:

 

  • The first time you upload the PBIX to the PBI Service and refresh the dataset it will refresh all the data and create the incremental partitions.
  • It will run through the steps in your table and apply the date filter and only upload the newer data to your dataset.
  • All your service and reports will always look at the entire dataset and will show the new data once the dataset has been refreshed.

 

Here are more details: Incremental refresh for datasets and real-time data in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn





Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution!

Proud to be a Super User!







Power BI Blog

Thank you so much, GilbertQ!!!

I really appreciate your time and the detailed explanation.  Am using it as my guidepost.

Sincerely,

Gary

Helpful resources

Announcements
Power BI DataViz World Championships

Power BI Dataviz World Championships

The Power BI Data Visualization World Championships is back! Get ahead of the game and start preparing now!

December 2025 Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - December 2025

Check out the December 2025 Power BI Holiday Recap!

FabCon Atlanta 2026 carousel

FabCon Atlanta 2026

Join us at FabCon Atlanta, March 16-20, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.