Refresh Issue

[wc123]

I am having an issue with my semantic model refreshes. I have multiple semantic models that refresh every moring. This moring a few took a bit longer than usual, I mannually cancelled them then threid to manually start them again. The issue is with a few of them i will click refresh now and I will get prompted in the right corner that is it prepping and starting the refresdh but nothing happens. It allows me to start a refresh for others ones I cancelled but not others

[v-saisrao-msft]

Hi @wc123,

Have you had a chance to review the solution we shared by @Olufemi7 @GilbertQ @SamInogic? If the issue persists, feel free to reply so we can help further.

Thank you.

[SamInogic]

Hi,

As per our understanding, you had multiple semantic models refreshing in the morning. A few were taking longer than usual, so you manually cancelled them. Now, when you click Refresh now, you see the “Preparing to refresh” message in the top right, but the refresh never actually starts for some models — while others refresh normally.

This behaviour is usually caused by a refresh process that is still running in the background, even though it appears cancelled in the UI.

Why This Happens

This commonly occurs due to:
• The cancellation not fully completing on the backend
• Capacity resource contention (Premium/Fabric capacity overload)
• A refresh job stuck in a “Cancelling” state
• Temporary Power BI Service backend delay

What You Can Do

Check Refresh History
Open the semantic model → Refresh history.
Look for:
• Status still showing “Cancelling”
• Long-running refresh
• Overlapping refresh attempts

If it’s still in progress, you must wait until it fully completes or fails.

Wait 10–20 Minutes
Even after clicking Cancel, the service may still be:
• Releasing memory
• Rolling back transactions
• Clearing locks

Trying to start immediately can cause the “Preparing” message with no actual execution.

Check Capacity Metrics (If Premium/Fabric)
If you're using Premium or Fabric capacity:
• Go to Capacity Metrics App
• Check CPU and Memory pressure
• Look for queued refreshes

Most Common Cause

In 90% of cases, this happens because the refresh is still terminating in the background, even though the UI shows it as cancelled.

Recommendation

Wait until the refresh history clearly shows Completed/Failed (not Cancelling), then retry.
If it remains stuck for an extended period (1+ hour), open a Microsoft support ticket with the Activity ID from refresh history.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!

[GilbertQ]

Hi @wc123 

Just to give a bit more information with regards to the refresh is taking longer typically because Power BI is using a shared model under the hoods there can be termed when refreshes might take a little bit longer than usual, but this shouldn't be the case for every day unless something has changed in your underlying data source. And I typically recommend to customers to just let the refresh finish because it will eventually finish. Instead of trying to restart it again, which delays the entire process.

[Olufemi7]

Hello @wc123, 

If a semantic model gets stuck on “prepping and starting refresh,” it’s usually a service-level issue.

Try waiting a few minutes and retrying, check workspace storage/gateway, and verify service health. If it still doesn’t start, use the Request ID and Activity ID to open a Microsoft support ticket.