Power BI Python Visualisations being depreciated?

[doug_sheehan]

I heard on a podcast (I may have misunderstood) that the custom visualisations in Power BI created using R and Python may be depreciated in the future, since they are not being widely used. Can anyone confirm this? 

I wouldn't want to spend a lot of effort figuring out how to use these tools if they are going to be removed.

[lbendlin · Accepted solution]

You are probably referring to this announcement

Power BI November 2025 Feature Summary | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI

We are announcing an important change for Power BI customers who use Embed for your customers with R or Python visuals. As part of our ongoing commitment to provide a secure, scalable, and robust analytics platform, we continually evaluate our feature set to ensure alignment with industry standards, customer needs, and platform performance.

What’s Changing?

Starting May 2026, Power BI will end support for the ability to embed reports and dashboards containing R or Python visuals using Power BI’s Embed for your customers solution (also known as app owns data) and Publish to web scenarios. Embed for your customers typically involves a custom app which manages authentication directly, and for which app users do not need Power BI licenses.

This change does not impact customers leveraging secure embeddings to SharePoint, Website or Portal. Embed for your organization (also known as user owns data) scenarios are also not impacted.

Timeline for Deprecation

Announcement & Guidance: Effective immediately, customers are notified of the upcoming deprecation.
Deprecation Date: Official support for embedding R and Python visuals in PaaS scenarios will end on 05/01/2026.
Post-Deprecation: After this date, any embedded Power BI reports or dashboards containing R or Python visuals will still load, but the R or Python charts will display as blank. Reports without these visuals will continue to function as expected.
Recommended Actions for Customers

Review all embedded Power BI reports and dashboards to identify usage of R or Python visuals.
Plan to update or redesign any affected reports using alternative Power BI visuals or DAX-based analytics. Consider leveraging Fabric Notebooks for more sophisticated or technical visualizations.
Consult the Power BI & Fabric documentation for guidance on using alternative visuals effectively.
Support and Resources

We understand that this change may require updates to your existing solutions. Please reach out via the Power BI community forums or through your Microsoft account representative for personalized guidance.

[doug_sheehan]

Thanks Everyone, 
Your suggestions are insightful and pragmatic, as always. I appreciate your time to reply to my question/concern.
Python is thoroughly entrenched in Data Science and Fabric, so it is unlikely that improving my python skills will go to waste. 
Power BI Python visuals in the enterprise are challenging, mostly due to imports/packages and user/developer skills in the org. 
The whole point of visualisations is to make complex data understandable. In designing a visual, I must reduce the cognitive load of the viewer, while at the same time making it look nicer than a quilt of clashing colours.
Lastly, deliberate effort spent learning anything is never wasted. Esp. if the new learning is applied to make something.
Thank you for your thoughts and opinions. It helps a lot.

[SavioFerraz · Accepted solution]

Hi @lbendlin,

This concern comes up quite often, so it’s a good question — but based on everything Microsoft has officially communicated so far, there is no announcement or roadmap indicating that Python or R visuals in Power BI are being deprecated.

Here’s how to think about it.

Current official status

R and Python visuals are still supported in Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service.

There has been no Microsoft statement, blog post, or roadmap item announcing their retirement.

If Microsoft were planning to deprecate them, it would be communicated well in advance, as these features impact regulated and enterprise workloads.

So at this point, the podcast comment sounds more like speculation, not a confirmed direction.

Why people think they might be deprecated

There are a few reasons this rumor keeps circulating:

1) Low adoption in enterprise reports

Many organizations avoid R/Python visuals because:

They require local runtimes

They are harder to govern

They are not interactive in the same way as native visuals

They don’t scale well for self-service users

This doesn’t mean they are going away — just that they are niche.

2) Strategic focus on other analytics experiences

Microsoft is clearly investing more in:

Native Power BI visuals

Deneb (Vega-Lite)

Power BI + Fabric integration

Notebooks and Spark for Python/R analytics

Copilot-assisted insights

That makes R/Python visuals feel less “front and center”, but not deprecated.

3) Python and R have moved “upstream”

Today, Python and R are often used:

In Fabric notebooks

In data prep and feature engineering

For advanced analytics feeding the model, not rendering visuals directly

So the usage pattern has shifted, not disappeared.

Should you invest time in R / Python visuals?
When it does make sense

Highly customized statistical charts

Scientific / academic visualizations

Prototyping complex visuals quickly

Advanced analytics that native visuals can’t express

When it doesn’t make sense

Executive dashboards

Highly interactive reports

Large-scale enterprise distribution

Performance-sensitive visuals

Practical recommendation

If your goal is core Power BI reporting, you’ll get more long-term value from:

DAX

Semantic modeling

Native visuals

Deneb (for advanced visuals)

If your goal is advanced analytics or data science, Python and R are still very relevant — just often outside the visual layer.

Bottom line

❌ No, Python and R visuals are not being deprecated (as of today).

⚠ They are niche and not the strategic focus for mainstream BI visuals.

✅ Learning them is safe if you have a specific use case, but they shouldn’t be your primary visualization strategy.

If this clarification was helpful, please consider giving Kudos 👍 and marking this reply as the Accepted Answer ✔ so others can benefit from the context as well.

[lbendlin · Accepted solution]

You are probably referring to this announcement

Power BI November 2025 Feature Summary | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI

We are announcing an important change for Power BI customers who use Embed for your customers with R or Python visuals. As part of our ongoing commitment to provide a secure, scalable, and robust analytics platform, we continually evaluate our feature set to ensure alignment with industry standards, customer needs, and platform performance.

What’s Changing?

Starting May 2026, Power BI will end support for the ability to embed reports and dashboards containing R or Python visuals using Power BI’s Embed for your customers solution (also known as app owns data) and Publish to web scenarios. Embed for your customers typically involves a custom app which manages authentication directly, and for which app users do not need Power BI licenses.

This change does not impact customers leveraging secure embeddings to SharePoint, Website or Portal. Embed for your organization (also known as user owns data) scenarios are also not impacted.

Timeline for Deprecation

Announcement & Guidance: Effective immediately, customers are notified of the upcoming deprecation.
Deprecation Date: Official support for embedding R and Python visuals in PaaS scenarios will end on 05/01/2026.
Post-Deprecation: After this date, any embedded Power BI reports or dashboards containing R or Python visuals will still load, but the R or Python charts will display as blank. Reports without these visuals will continue to function as expected.
Recommended Actions for Customers

Review all embedded Power BI reports and dashboards to identify usage of R or Python visuals.
Plan to update or redesign any affected reports using alternative Power BI visuals or DAX-based analytics. Consider leveraging Fabric Notebooks for more sophisticated or technical visualizations.
Consult the Power BI & Fabric documentation for guidance on using alternative visuals effectively.
Support and Resources

We understand that this change may require updates to your existing solutions. Please reach out via the Power BI community forums or through your Microsoft account representative for personalized guidance.

[rohit1991]

Hii @doug_sheehan 

Python (and R) visuals in Power BI are not deprecated.They are still supported but not actively enhanced.
Microsoft has made no announcement about removing them.