The Power BI August 2025 Feature Summary introduces major updates in Copilot and AI, reporting, and modeling. Highlights include Copilot integration for SharePoint Online, measure description automation, and advanced data modeling features.
Contents
- Events and Announcements
- Copilot and AI
- Reporting
- Modeling
- Data connectivity
- Developers + API’s
- Visualizations
- Closing
Version number: v:2.146.705.0
Date published: 08/11/25
Events and Announcements
Could you be the next Power BI Dataviz World Champion?
There’s only one way to find out! Enter the preliminary round now through August 18th to compete for your spot as a finalist in the world championships – live on stage at FabCon in Vienna. We’re including community voting this time, so even if you don’t want to enter, you can still participate.
View all the details for the Power BI Dataviz World Championships and three other contests happening this month on the Fabric Community contest page.
The Microsoft Fabric Community Conference is back x2!
Join us in Vienna! With 10 full day Tutorials, a Partner pre-day, more than 120 sessions from Product Teams and the Community, AND the Power BI Dataviz World Championships our swag filled Power Hour, FabCon Europe will be landing in Vienna, Austria on September 15 – 18, 2025.
Register for FabCon Vienna and use code FABCOMM to save €200!
Can’t make it to Europe this year? FabCon is happening again in the United States in Atlanta. Mark your calendars for March 16-20, 2026.
Register for FabCon Atlanta and use code MSCATL for a $200 discount on top of current Super Early Bird pricing!
Copilot and AI
Copilot in Embedded Reports for SharePoint Online
Copilot is now supported in embedded Power BI reports for SharePoint Online. This means users can now engage with the Copilot Report Pane directly within the embedded report experience within SharePoint.
To enable this feature, simply check the ‘Enable Copilot’ option when setting up your embedded report.
Confirm Copilot is enabled for your organization, and that your workspace is backed by Power BI Premium or Fabric capacity.
Refer to the documentation to learn more about Copilot requirements and for more details on enabling Copilot in embedded reports for SharePoint.
Copilot to write measure descriptions (Generally Available)
We are excited to announce the general availability of Microsoft Fabric Copilot to write measures descriptions in Power BI Desktop and web modeling. As you create or change measures in your model, with one button click Copilot can write a description for your report creators to see. Report creators, when live connected to the semantic model, don’t see the measure expression and rely on the name and description to help them understand and use the measure correctly.
To learn more, refer to the Use Copilot to create measure descriptions – Power BI | Microsoft Learn documentation.
Filtered report summaries and answers in the standalone Copilot experience (Preview)
We are excited to announce filtered report summaries and answers in the standalone Copilot experience in Power BI. Previously, responses could only reflect what was currently visible on the report page, without the ability to apply any additional existing filters. This meant specific questions like ‘What were sales in 2024?’ or ‘What are sales for ProductX?’ couldn’t be fully addressed unless all filters were applied in the underlying report. With this update, report responses in the standalone experience will intelligently apply relevant filters and render them inline to better answer user questions.
This enables more in-depth conversations in the standalone experience by removing the need for users to have the original report open just to check filters or understand what questions they can ask, elevating the way users interact with their data through chat.
For full details on supported and unsupported filter types can be found in the Standalone Copilot experience in Power BI (preview) documentation.
Reporting
Support for org apps in Pro workspaces (Preview)
Org apps (preview) are now supported in workspaces in the Pro license mode! We’ve heard from many customers that have built Power BI apps in workspaces in the Pro (per user) license mode and have been interested in trying out org apps (preview). So, we’re excited to make org apps available to Pro customers for distributing reporting in your organization. You now can create multiple org apps per workspace to distribute your reports in tailored experiences per need; one org app for leadership, another for managers, and another for a cross-business or cross-project effort – each org app customized and organized around the group you’re distributing to.
Read up on how licensing works per-user or per-capacity and how licensing works for business users to learn more about how Pro licenses work for Power BI items like org apps.
Modeling
Edit your data model in the Power BI Service – updates (Preview)
Several updates will be available this month for the data model editing in the Service preview:
- Improved error handling in Power Query -You’ll now have a smoother experience when encountering errors while applying queries in Power Query. If a query fails to apply, you can relaunch Power Query within the same browser session to modify and retry, no need to start over.
- Support for native queries – Native queries are now supported when connecting to a data source in Power Query.
As part of these updates, that next month we plan to remove the workspace-level preview setting for data model editing in the Power BI service. The admin portal setting will continue to be available and can be used to enable or disable this capability for the entire organization or for specific security groups.
For more details on the subject, reference the Edit data models in the Power BI service (preview) documentation.
Please continue to submit your feedback directly in the comments of this blog post or in the feedback forum.
TMDL view enhancements
Named expressions
Semantic model named expressions can now be scripted to TMDL view. Named expressions have several use cases, with Power Query parameters being among the most common. This update allows users to script a semantic model parameter as TMDL, modify it, and apply the change back to the model.
Script object sections
Previously, scripting all measures in TMDL view required manual selection. Now, users can drag sections—measures, tables, or columns—from the model explorer into the TMDL code editor to script all objects within the section.
Mirrored Azure Databricks catalog for Direct Lake in Power BI Desktop
In this release Mirrored Azure Databricks catalogs can be used as a data source to bring in Direct Lake tables to a semantic model in Power BI Desktop. In a blank model or an existing Direct Lake on OneLake model, simply go to OneLake catalog, and connect to any Mirrored Azure Databricks catalogs listed.
Select the tables you want to include and confirm your choice.
This is in addition to being able to choose Direct Lake tables in your Power BI solution from Lakehouses, Warehouses, Fabric SQL databases, and other Mirrored databases in Microsoft Fabric.
Learn more about Direct Lake when using Power BI Desktop at Learn about editing semantic models in Direct Lake in Power BI Desktop (Preview).
Semantic Model Refresh Templates with Fabric Data pipelines (Preview)
Semantic Model Refresh Templates in Power BI enable users to orchestrate semantic model refreshes using Fabric Data Pipelines, providing a low code, streamlined way to visualize and sequence refresh activities for common scenarios.
You can access these templates by selecting ‘Create advanced refresh’ from the refresh dropdown on the semantic model details page in your Microsoft Fabric workspace. 
This opens the template gallery, which includes several common refresh scenarios such as event-driven refreshes, refreshing a semantic model after a dataflow runs, scheduled refreshes, and sequencing multiple semantic model refreshes.
The template gallery can be re-opened in the pipeline ribbon in the Home tab with the button called ‘Use a template.’
When you click on a template, you’ll have the option to start a guided tour that walks you through the steps to set up the semantic model refresh. In this example, we selected Refresh Semantic Model after Dataflow.
You’ll be prompted to configure the dataflow and workspace you want refreshed.
For the semantic model refresh settings, you will be guided to select the connection, workspace and semantic model you want refreshed. You can choose specific tables or partitions for incremental refresh scenarios where you might only want to update the changed tables data rather than the entire model.
You can add additional activities such as sending a Teams message after successful execution.
You can also set up a scheduled refresh to define when and how often these refreshes occur, with flexible options such as minute-by-minute, hourly, monthly, or quarterly intervals.
When you’re done, click Save and Run to run the data pipeline.
Learn more about fabric data pipelines in the templates and semantic model refresh activity documentation.
Data connectivity
Impala Connector Implementation 2.0 (Preview)
With our commitment to provide the best in-class data connectivity, this month we are launching the preview of the new Impala connector (implementation 2.0) that is built using the open-source Arrow Database Connectivity (ADBC) driver, replacing the existing ODBC driver.
With this release, the Impala connector and its accompanying tests have been enhanced to use the new SQL Generator format alongside the ADBC driver. This transition streamlines the connection process and lays the groundwork for improved performance, security, and maintainability for Impala integrations.
Learn more about this new connector, including configuration and new capabilities, please refer Impala connector and Power BI documentation.
Entrald Authentication Support for PostgreSQL
To make your connection to PostgreSQL, this month, we are introducing a new implementation for Azure Active Directory (AAD) authentication support in the PostgreSQL connector for Power BI.
This update enables users accessing PostgreSQL Flexible Server through the PBI connector to authenticate using AAD tokens, in addition to traditional PostgreSQL native user/password authentication. AAD support is implemented by introducing an AAD wrapper on the existing PBI connector.
This enhancement addresses direct customer requests and aligns with our commitment to improved security and flexibility for organizations leveraging PostgreSQL Flexible Server.
Learn more about this feature, including configuration instructions, from the PostgreSQL connector and Power BI documentation.
Developers + API’s
Simplification of PBIP file format for Live Connect reports
Previously, when saving a Live Connect report as a Power BI Project (PBIP), the definition.pbir file byConnection configuration included several internal properties that were unclear to users – both in terms of their purpose and whether they could or should be modified.
Starting this month, when saving a Live Connect report as a PBIP, the definition.pbir file now includes only a simplified connectionString that contains the XMLA endpoint and semantic model ID.
Learn more in our definition.pbir documentation.
Visualizations
Drill Down Line PRO by ZoomChart
Line PRO is the latest addition to the Drill Down Visuals family of interactive custom Power BI visuals, and it is a streamlined variation of our Combo PRO visual that provides a focused experience for line charts. Enjoy incredible customization, and bring unmatched interactivity and data clarity to your reports with the following features:
- Drill down: Simply click or tap on the chart to reveal the next level of hierarchy.
- Multiple line types: Configure line styles (solid, dotted, dashed), outline smoothing, stepped lines, and no data policy.
- Up to 25 series: Display multiple series as lines and configure each line separately. Or split series using ‘Legend’ field.
- ZoomCharts tooltip: Hover over data to see all series values and tooltip content fields at once.
- Thresholds: Show KPIs or dynamically calculated values as lines, areas, or ‘Change’ indicators.
- Conditional formatting: Apply formatting to line colors, value label backgrounds and fonts based on data-driven conditions or values in the ‘Color’ field.
- Configuration options: Customize legends, tooltips, stacking behavior, X and Y axes, including an optional secondary Y axis – read more in our blog article!
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Date Picker by Powerviz
The Ultimate Date Slicer for Power BI
The Powerviz Date Picker offers a modern calendar view, Presets, Pop-up mode, Default Selection, Themes, and more, making it a must-have date slicer for Power BI reports. Its rich formatting options help with brand consistency and a seamless UI experience.
Key Features:
- First Day of the Week: Set the week’s start day to match your region or business needs.
- Invalid Dates with DAX: Disable dates dynamically using DAX to prevent invalid selections.
- All Language Support: Supports all Power BI languages for a localized experience.
- Display Mode: Choose between Pop-up and Canvas modes.
- Presets: Many commonly used presets like Today, Last Week, YTD, MTD, or create your preset using field.
- Default Selection: Control the date period selected when the user refreshes or reopens the report.
- Filter Type: Choose between Range and Start/End types.
- Themes: 15+ pre-built themes with full customization.
- Holidays and Weekends: Customize holidays/weekends representation.
- Month Style: Select single- or double-month date slicer.
Additional features include support for multiple date ranges, as well as options to import and export themes.
- Try Date Picker visual for FREE from AppSource.
- Check out all features of the visual: Demo_file.
- Step-by-step instructions: Documentation.
- YouTube Video: Video_Link.
- Learn more about visuals: https://powerviz.ai/.
- Follow Powerviz: https://lnkd.in/gN_9Sa6U.
Download Button by JTA
Overview
The “Download Button by JTA” is a custom visual designed specifically for Power BI users, empowering them to export large datasets effortlessly.
Key Features
Enhanced Data Export: Download from 300,000 rows and 15 columns of data in CSV format
Customizable Interface: Tailor the visual interface to match the reporting style
Constraints
The custom visual leverages the browser’s cache memory. It works by fetching data in chunks of 30k rows, storing each chunk in the browser’s cache until the entire dataset is compiled for download. This incremental approach requires the use of browser memory to ensure seamless processing. Unfortunately, this means that the visual does not operate as intended in Power BI Desktop due to technical constraints and security restrictions within that environment and you must use the Power BI Service.
For the very same reason, there’s a possibility that it may encounter limitations or restrictions in certain browsers. Each browser has its own set of security measures and permissions that can affect how our visual operates.
Resources
If you liked what you saw, you can try it for yourself and find more information .
Also, if you want to download it, you can find the visual package on the AppSource.
Closing
This concludes this month’s update.
We hope the information provided in this update is useful. If you installed Power BI Desktop from the Microsoft Store, please leave us a review.
As always, keep voting on Ideas to help us determine what to build next. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
