Semantic Models: the option to add or edit tables is greyed out

[Nikos83]

Hi all,

Since today we are experiencing an issue in Microsoft Fabric: within our Semantic Models the option to add or edit tables is greyed out. Last Friday this was still possible without any problems.
Nothing has changed on our side regarding permissions. We are administrators in our workspace and we are using the Fabric trial. Our Fabric environment is running in the West Europe region.
Are other users experiencing the same issue?

Thanks in advance!

[v-kpoloju-msft]

Hi @Nikos83,

Thank you for using the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum and for sharing the update and glad to hear you found the reason. Also, thanks to @AntoineW, for his inputs on this thread.

What you noticed is expected behaviour in the Semantic Model editor. The “Add/Edit Tables” option only becomes active once a table in the model is selected. If nothing is selected, the option will appear greyed out, which can feel confusing at first.

This isn’t related to permissions since you already have admin rights but more to how the UI behaves in Direct Lake or Semantic Model editing mode. Once you’re inside the model and select a table, the option should always light up again.

For reference, Microsoft has some documentation on how table editing works in Direct Lake semantic models here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/fundamentals/direct-lake-edit-tables 

Hope this helps you move forward. Please give it a try and let us know how it goes.
Thanks for using the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

[Nikos83 · Accepted solution]

Solved: when you select a table in your model, the option is available again. Weird behavoiur 

[blopez11]

Thank you so much, I was wondering what was going on.  I did not think to select a table in the model.

[AntoineW]

Hello @Nikos83,

The “Add or Edit Tables” option being greyed out in Fabric Semantic Models is a common scenario, and here’s why it happens and what you can do:

 

✅ Why it’s greyed out

1. Direct Lake limitation

   • If your semantic model uses Direct Lake mode, you cannot create calculated tables or columns. The UI disables “New Table” and “Edit Tables” in some contexts.

2. Viewing mode vs Editing mode

   • Fabric recently introduced a toggle (top-right) between Viewing and Editing in the model view. If you’re in Viewing mode, all modeling options (including Edit Tables) are disabled. Switch to Editing mode.

3. Connection type

   • If the model is live-connected to another semantic model or report, you can’t add tables. Only models in Import, DirectQuery, or Direct Lake (with supported features) allow editing.

4. Trial capacity quirks

   • Some users on Fabric Trial report intermittent issues with Edit Tables not loading or failing to apply changes. This is often a service-side limitation or temporary bug.

5. Known issues

   • Microsoft has acknowledged bugs where Edit Tables dialog fails or is disabled unexpectedly. Fixes are being rolled out region by region.

✅ How to fix

• Check the mode toggle: Switch from Viewing → Editing in the semantic model UI.
• Verify storage mode: If you need calculated tables, use Import or DirectQuery (Direct Lake doesn’t support them yet).
• Refresh schema: In Edit Tables dialog, click Reload to sync the Lakehouse/Warehouse schema.
• Retry later: If it worked last week and stopped today, it may be a service regression—Microsoft is actively patching these issues.

Hope it can help you ! 😊

Best regards,

Antoine