In Power BI, data refresh options allow users to keep their data up-to-date and ensure that reports and dashboards reflect the latest information. Here are the various refresh options available in Power BI:
1. Manual Refresh
- Users can manually trigger a data refresh in Power BI Desktop or the Power BI Service.
- In Power BI Desktop, clicking “Refresh” pulls the latest data from the connected sources.
- In Power BI Service, users can manually refresh datasets to update reports and dashboards.
2. Scheduled Refresh
- In Power BI Service, users can set up a scheduled refresh to automatically update datasets at specified intervals.
- Scheduling options include daily or weekly refreshes, with options to select the specific time for each refresh.
- Requires the use of a gateway for connecting to on-premises data sources.
3. Incremental Refresh
- This refresh option allows Power BI to refresh only a subset of data instead of the entire dataset.
- Useful for handling large datasets as it reduces the load time and improves performance.
- Data is partitioned based on a defined range (like a date), and only new or changed data is refreshed.
4. DirectQuery / Live Connection
- With DirectQuery, Power BI queries the data source directly each time a report is loaded, without storing data in Power BI.
- A Live Connection is similar to DirectQuery but typically used for specific data sources like Analysis Services.
- Both options ensure that users see the most up-to-date data without needing a manual or scheduled refresh.
5. Dataflow Refresh
- Dataflows are Power BI data pipelines that store pre-processed data for reuse.
- Users can set up refresh schedules for dataflows, independent of datasets, to ensure the underlying data is kept up-to-date.
- Similar to dataset refresh, dataflow refresh can be scheduled manually or automatically.