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What's new in Power BI: August 2025 update (version 2.146.705.0)

The August 2025 update for Power BI delivers a powerful mix of AI enhancements, modeling upgrades, and reporting flexibility. Whether you're embedding reports in SharePoint or refining semantic models, this release is packed with tools to elevate your data experience.

For a quick summary of the August features, read on. For a detailed look at these updates and more enhancements, go to the blog. You can also watch the August demos in the monthly playlist.

Events and announcements

  • Power BI Dataviz World Championships: Compete live at FabCon Vienna! Enter by August 18 or join the community vote. Details here.
  • FabCon Europe and US: Join us in Vienna (September 15–18, 2025) or Atlanta (March 16–20, 2026). Use codes FABCOMM or MSCATL for discounts. Register now.

Copilot and AI

  • Copilot in SharePoint embedded reports: Now available! Users can interact with Copilot directly inside embedded Power BI reports.
  • Measure descriptions (general availability): Copilot can now autogenerate measure descriptions in Power BI Desktop and web modeling.
  • Filtered summaries in standalone Copilot (preview): Ask targeted questions like "What were sales in 2024?" and get filtered, inline responses—no need to open the full report.

Reporting and modeling

  • Org apps in Pro workspaces (preview): Create multiple tailored org apps per workspace—even with a Pro license.
  • Edit data models in Power BI service (preview):
    • Improved error handling in Power Query.
    • Native query support.
    • Workspace-level preview setting to be removed next month.
  • TMDL view enhancements:
    • Script named expressions like Power Query parameters.
    • Drag-and-drop scripting for measures, tables, and columns.
  • Mirrored Azure Databricks catalogs: Use Direct Lake tables from mirrored catalogs in Power BI Desktop.
  • Semantic model refresh templates (preview): Orchestrate refreshes with Fabric Data Pipelines using low-code templates and guided setup.

Data connectivity

  • Impala connector 2.0 (preview): Built on the Arrow Database Connectivity (ADBC) driver for better performance and maintainability.
  • Microsoft Entra ID authentication for PostgreSQL: Microsoft Entra ID support added for PostgreSQL Flexible Server connections.

Developers and APIs

  • Simplified PBIP format for Live Connect reports: Cleaner definition.pbir files with just the connection string and semantic model ID.

Visualizations

  • Drill Down Line PRO by ZoomChart: Interactive line charts with up to 25 series, conditional formatting, and key performance indicator thresholds. Explore features.
  • Date Picker by Powerviz: A modern, customizable calendar slicer with presets, themes, and DAX-driven logic. Try it on AppSource.

Resources

Want to learn about Power BI through videos and other engaging content? Check out these video sources and content:

Note

Some resources use earlier versions of Power BI Desktop or the Power BI service.

Download previous versions of Power BI Desktop if your organization requires it. We recommend using the most recent version of Power BI Desktop instead of a previous version. Previous versions have these limitations:

  • Previous releases of Power BI Desktop aren't serviced—always use the most recent release for the latest features and updates.
  • You can't open files created or saved in newer releases of Power BI Desktop with previous versions.
  • If you get a warning when loading a report saved in a newer release, then save that report in the previous version, you lose any information related to new features.
  • Only the English versions of Power BI Desktop are archived.

Download the August 2025 version of Power BI Desktop.

Past updates

Looking for Power BI updates from previous months? Find them in the Power BI monthly updates archive.