Power BI Desktop vs Service in handling percentages

[nosikliw]

Appreciate any help someone can give.  I have a stacked bar and line chart in which I want to use the line to display a percentage.  The measure I am using for the value of the line is formated as a percentage.  In Power BI desktop, it shows as a percentage, but when I publish it to Power BI service it shows up as a decimal.  To make matters more confusing I have the % measure in tooltips as well and when (in Power BI service) I hover over the bar in the chart, it shows as a percentage, but if I hover over the line, it shows as a decimal.  What is going on?  Any ideas what setting might be causing this?

[nosikliw]

For anyone else who is having this issue. 

1) Microsoft support has been great about trying to resolve this for us.  

2) Another member of our team pointed out that another very similar visual was displaying correctly.  After comparing the two I figured out that the issue is having the measure used for the line in the line and stacked column visual also in the tooltip section.  If it is in the tooltip as well then it still displays correctly in desktop, but online in Power BI service the data points for the line switch to decimals.  If the measure is removed from tooltips (but still used for the line) the data points show correctly, as percentages, in both desktop and online in Power BI Service.  This doesn't fix the issue, but at least I now know what is causing it to happen.

[Anonymous]

Hi @nosikliw,

I just checked on my side and I don't see any incorrect format in the service.

Can you please check with the version I am using?

Version: 2.140.356.0 64-bit (February 2025)

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

Regards,

Vinay Pabbu

[nosikliw]

Can you provide me the link to the February 2025 update?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @nosikliw,

This might be a bug in the January 2025 version, and I see that many people have raised a similar issue, mentioning that it shows two decimals by default even though it is 0 on desktop.

Please download from Microsoft store because Microsoft Official document is still have Jan 2025 version.

If you are unable to get the new version, I suggest raising a support ticket because the February 2025 version has not been officially released.

How to create a Fabric and Power BI Support ticket - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

Regards,

Vinay Pabbu

[nosikliw]

Thanks, but the February 2025 version doesn't seem to be available yet, in the Microsoft Store or anywhere else.  If you have a link to download it, please let me know.  Otherwise, guess I'll just have to wait and see.

[Anonymous]

Hi @nosikliw,

I believe it is available for only Microsoft users, and I suggest escalating your issue to the Microsoft Support team so they can address these bug fixes.

Regards,

Vinay Pabbu

[Anonymous]

Hi @nosikliw,

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided for the issue worked? or Let us know if you need any further assistance?
If our response addressed, please mark it as Accept as solution and click Yes if you found it helpful.

Regards,
Vinay Pabbu

[Anonymous]

Hi @nosikliw,

As we haven't heard back from you, I hope you have raised a support ticket. At this time we are closing this thread. If you have any further issues, please start a new thread in the community forum, and we are here to assist you. Thankyou for your understanding and continuous support.

Thank you for being part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.

Regards,

Vinay Pabbu

[nosikliw]

The model view shows that the measure is formatted in both Power BI desktop and service as a percentage.  The secondary axis being used for the line shows percentages in desktop, but decimals in service (consistent with the line itself).  The only custom formatting was to set the minimum value on the y-axis to zero.  I did try clearing all customizations in service and it didn't change anything. 

The tooltip display of the measure shows as a decimal when hovering over the line, but as a percentage when hovering over the bar part of the chart.  The measure's logic is a simple DIVIDE function.  I have cleared the cache in desktop and republished, but don't know how to clear the cache in service.

In terms of international settings, in desktop the Global: Regional Settings uses Application language of "Use Windows deault display language" and the Current File: Regional Settings Locale for import is set to "English (United States)".  I looked under Workplace Settings in service but didn't see anywhere to change international settings.

Any other thoughts / solutions would be appreciated.

I also checked my desktop version and it is up to date (Jan 2025). 

[Poojara_D12]

Hi @nosikliw 

The issue where the percentage shows as a decimal in Power BI Service but as a percentage in Power BI Desktop is likely due to formatting inconsistencies between the two environments. Ensure that the measure is formatted as a percentage in both the Power BI Service and Desktop. In the Service, check the Y-axis settings of the line chart to confirm it’s displaying as a percentage, and reset any custom axis formatting to automatic if necessary. Tooltips might still show correctly as percentages due to different formatting contexts, so ensure both axis and tooltips are consistently formatted. Also, re-publish the report and clear the Power BI Service cache to resolve potential rendering issues. Finally, confirm the measure's logic is consistent across environments to avoid context-based formatting issues.

 

[nosikliw]

Appreciate your suggestions.  I replied to your suggestions in a new reply to my own post.  Please let me know if you have any other thoughts / solutions.

[Gabry]

Hello,

That sounds really strange.

Have you already checked if the data type is set to percentage in the Model View?

What about the visual-level formatting? Is everything set to percentage?

Also, maybe you could check the international settings? For example, whether the thousand separator is a period and the decimal separator is a comma, or vice versa?