Reduce PBIX file size

Hi NehaGoel_2203, 

Take a look at this article: 
Data reduction techniques for Import modeling - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

If you have already removed unused columns, the next step would be to look at the granularity of your data. Does it need to be that granular for the reporting that you are doing? Can you summarize the data to reduce the number of rows you have?  

1) Reduce rows (this has the biggest impact)

Column removal helps, but row count matters much more.

Do this in SQL, not in Power BI:

• Filter by date (e.g. last 2–3 years instead of full history)

• Aggregate in SQL if you don’t need transaction-level detail

• Avoid SELECT *

2) Check cardinality killers

Certain columns explode memory usage even if they look harmless:

• Replace text keys with integer surrogate keys

• Split datetime into Date (keep) and Time (remove if not needed)

• Move long text columns to a detail table or remove them entirely

3) Disable Auto Date/Time

Auto Date/Time silently creates hidden date tables per column, increasing size.

Power BI Desktop → Options → Data Load

• Uncheck Auto Date/Time

Then refresh and save again.

4) Remove unused tables, measures, and visuals

Often overlooked:

• Unused tables still consume memory

• Hidden columns still consume memory

• Complex visuals don’t affect PBIX size much, but calculated columns do

• Replace calculated columns with measures