You can easily move from data to insight to action using Power BI, but you must make sure the data in your reports and dashboards is up-to-date. Getting correct results frequently depends on knowing how to update the data.

This article provides a conceptual explanation of the Power BI data refresh functions and their interdependencies. Additionally, it offers advice on how to avoid typical refresh problems as well as excellent practices.

The information in this article lays the groundwork for your comprehension of how data refresh functions.

 

Knowledge of data refresh

In order to update any visualizations in your reports or dashboards that rely on the updated dataset, Power BI must first query the underlying data sources, perhaps load the source data into a dataset, and then refresh the data.

Depending on how your datasets are stored, the entire procedure is divided into several phases, which are described in more detail in the following sections.

 

How Power BI updates your datasets, reports, and dashboards:

Types of datasets and storage modes: Reimporting data into Power BI is an option if you want to observe any updates, or you can query the data directly from the source.

·         Import mode

·         DirectQuery mode

·         LiveConnect mode

·         Push mode

 

Types of Power BI refreshes: Where Power BI might focus its attention while performing a refresh operation. And by combining these facts with information about the storage mode.

 


Data refresh: Refreshing data for Power BI users often entails importing information from the original data sources into a dataset, either in accordance with a refresh schedule or as needed.

OneDrive refresh: When a OneDrive file is selected as the data source, Power BI uses the file's item ID to complete the refresh.

Refresh of query caches: Enabling query caching may help the performance of any related reports and dashboards if your dataset is stored on a Premium capacity.

Refresh of report visuals: Since live connections to Analysis Services are the only ones that matter, this refreshing procedure is less significant

 

In Power BI Desktop, data refresh, schema refresh, and report visual refresh all occur concurrently using the:

Home ribbon >>> Refresh button

Home ribbon >>> Transform data >>> Close & Apply button

Refresh data can be selected from the context menu (right-click or ellipsis) by selecting any table.

 

Summary: In this article, we learned Using Power BI to update data, in our next article we will learn how to analyze the dependencies of the data infrastructure.