Power BI February 2026 Feature Summary
Welcome to the February Power BI update!
Power BI’s February 2026 update is here, and it’s a good one. This release brings smarter Copilot and AI experiences, more flexible ways to interact with reports, polished visuals, and useful modeling enhancements—plus a few important updates to keep in mind. With FabCon right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to explore what’s new and get excited about what’s next. To get the scoop from experts and meet other enthusiasts, join us in Atlanta in March!
Meet the four finalists of the Dataviz World Championships on March 4th
Ever wondered what separates great data visualization from world‑class? This is your chance to find out, straight from the best in the world. Join us for an exclusive session with the four finalists heading to finals at FabCon, where they will battle it out for the title of 2026 Power BI DataViz World Champion. Before they step onto the global stage, you’ll get an inside look at how these elite designers think, create, and win.
Register for the session and get access to the recording on March 4th at 12pm PT.
Learn more about how to enter and view the entries from the first week, happening now.
Less than one month until FabCon – will we see you there?
Join us for the ultimate Power BI, Microsoft Fabric SQL, Real-Time Intelligence, AI, and Databases community-led event from March 16-20, 2026, in Atlanta, GA. The third annual FabCon Americas will feature sessions from your favorite Microsoft and community speakers, keynotes, more opportunities to Ask the Experts for 1:1 support, an engaging community lounge with opportunities to network and connect with your peers, a dedicated partner pre-day, a packed expo hall, attendee favorites Power Hour and the Data Viz World Championships live finals, and a can’t-miss attendee party at the Georgia Aquarium.
Register with code FABCOMM to save $200.
Contents
February Monthly Update Video
https://youtu.be/O21vXCpYdCc
February Power BI Desktop
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General Deprecation of Hierarchies in Power BI scorecards Starting April 15, 2026, the Hierarchies feature in Power BI Scorecards will be removed. Hierarchies allow users to define a multi-level structure (e.g. by region, division, team) and automatically generate filtered scorecard views for each slice of data.
The Heatmap view, which was tied to hierarchies, will also be discontinued. Scorecards themselves will continue to work as usual; no other functionality is being removed. If you currently use hierarchies or heatmap view, these specific capabilities will no longer be available after the deprecation date.
We appreciate your understanding as we streamline the experience to focus on core Scorecard functionality. For more information on Scorecards refer to Create scorecards and manual goals.
Deprecation of SSRS, PBIRS and SSAS Management Packs in SCOM Microsoft has officially announced the deprecation of the System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) Management Packs for SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Power BI Report Server (PBIRS), and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). While these management packs will remain available, they will no longer be supported after January 2027, and no future updates are planned, including compatibility with SQL Server 2025 or SCOM 2025. Customers should begin planning their transition to modern, Azure‑based monitoring solutions to ensure continued reliability and coverage. For full details and guidance on Azure‑based alternatives, refer to the Deprecation Announcement. Deprecation of legacy Import Excel & CSV experience in Power BI Service Excel and CSV files remain a valid data source for Power BI semantic models and reports. You can continue to use them to create reports in Power BI service from the Create page or in Power BI Desktop.
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Figure: Screenshot of the Power BI Service Create page with the legacy / old Excel and CSV import option outlined in red.
This announcement applies specifically to users who created reports using the old experience to import an Excel or CSV file from the Create page in the service. There's no impact for users who created semantic models in Power BI Desktop.
Entry points to the legacy experience will be removed on May 31, 2026, and semantic models created using the legacy experience will stop refreshing on July 31, 2026. Reports created from the legacy experience need to be recreated to continue updating. For guidance, refer to the documentation:
Deprecation of the Simba Vertica ODBC driver The deprecation of the Simba Vertica ODBC driver in Power BI connectors will be part of our ongoing efforts to modernize connectivity and improve performance.
Starting in February 2026, the Simba Vertica ODBC Driver will begin its deprecation process. Customers using the Vertica connector should transition to the Vertica ODBC driver, which is generally available and will continue to receive investment. For more details, visit Power Query Vertica database connector.
This change impacts Power BI Desktop, On-Premises Data Gateway, Dataflows Gen1/Gen2, and Semantic Models. After the deprecation dates, new connections using the legacy drivers will fail, and existing queries may stop working.
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To avoid disruptions, please update your environment to install the supported ODBC drivers.
Copilot and AI Expanded prompt input character limit Based on customer feedback, we’ve now increased the character limit for the Copilot input from the previous 500 characters to 10K in all Copilot surfaces, including Standalone, Report pane, Apps, Mobile, and Embed. This will allow you to type or copy/paste longer and expressive prompts to Copilot to meet your needs.
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Learn more at Use Copilot with Power BI reports and semantic models.
Reporting Filter or enter data in reports with Input slicer (Generally Available) The Text Slicer is now renamed to Input Slicer. This interactive visual lets you filter data using free-form text input when viewing Power BI reports. Unlike other slicers with predefined categories, the input slicer gives you the flexibility to define new filter options—such as exact match, contains, or starts with flexible data exploration. When editing the report, this flexibility is extended further with many formatting options for each part of the input slicer.
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Figure: Input slicer in Power BI report showing the filter options menu (e.g., contains, starts with).
With general availability, you can now choose more filter options. Report consumers can choose from:
- Contains any
- Contains all
- Does not contain any
- Starts with any
- Does not start with any
- Is any
- Is not any
A filter options icon now shows in all reports with the input slicer using a data column to slice. Report authors can choose to have only the filter options icon show or have the filter options text also show in the slicer. Whether you're searching for specific product names, customer identifiers, or any text-based data, the Input Slicer provides a powerful and intuitive way to dynamically filter your reports.
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Beyond filtering, the input slicer can also be configured for user input with Translytical Task Flows. Without a data column in the build pane, you disable its filtering capability and report consumers can simply enter in any value to pass to the Fabric user data function. This setup is essential for passing parameters that aren't tied to a specific data field—such as comments, annotations, or external triggers. Once all the user input is received, the button with a Fabric user data function passes the input to wherever it needs to go. This enables powerful workflows like write back, approval, or notifications, without relying on dataset-bound filtering.
Take your report to the next level with the input slicer today! Learn more at Create and use in input slicer and Understand translytical task flows.
Paste selections into any report slicer The paste context menu feature on the slicer visual lets you apply multiple selections by pasting a list of values—no need to manually select each option one by one. Already available on button and list slicer, this month brings the functionality to the slicer visual too. Pasting selections into slicers streamlines the filtering process, especially when you already have the selections you want to make in Excel, Notepad, or in an email.
Simply copy a list of values, with each selection on its own line, and paste them directly into your slicer. In the header icon select the … to open the context menu and choose Paste. Or select the visual and use the keyboard shortcut to paste, usually CTRL + v. The slicer then automatically recognizes and applies all matching selections at once. This approach not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of overlooking values.
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Figure: Paste a list of values into a slicer using the slicer header menu (… > Paste).
Learn more about pasting values into slicer at Slicers in Power BI.
Card visual updates The new Card visual brings a visually engaging way to call out key performance indicators in your reports, with extensive formatting options and many ways to incorporate images into your card visual. Create visually rich reports going far beyond simple data points.
We heard your feedback that the default of up to 5 callouts in a horizontal layout was too restrictive and changed the default to be up to 10 callouts. This can be increased further or decreased using the Format pane. If you are using the defaults (and did not change the number of columns), the new default will apply to your report.
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Figure: New Card visual showing multiple callouts (default increased to 10) and layout options.
When using categories in your Card visual, the experience becomes even more interactive as selecting a category name will filter other visuals on the page. To remove the filter, simply select somewhere else on the card to deselect it.
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Figure: Selecting a category in the Card visual cross-filters other visuals on the page.
Try adding the new Card visual to your next report and experience the difference for yourself! For more details and step-by-step instructions, check out the official documentation at Create a card visual in Power BI.
Fonts compatible with non-Windows devices for Power BI reports Defaults fonts such as Segoe UI in Power BI reports when viewed on a non-Windows device now show as expected. Previously, the font didn’t load and showed as a different font.
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Figure: Default report fonts (for example, Segoe UI) now render correctly when viewing Power BI reports on non-Windows devices.
Try it out today! Learn more about the default fonts in Power BI and Fabric and other considerations for non-Windows devices at Supported Browsers for Power BI and Fabric.
Preview visuals update We received your feedback regarding the need for clearer communication about visuals that are still in preview. Preview visuals now display "(Preview)" after their name and will soon appear below the divider line with custom and other unpinned visuals.
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Figure: Preview visuals are labeled “(Preview)” in the visualization pane.
You have the flexibility to arrange visuals in the visualization pane as you prefer. Each visual can be pinned or unpinned at any time.
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Figure: Pin or unpin visuals to control where they appear in the visualization pane.
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Figure: Preview visuals appear below the divider with custom and other unpinned visuals.
To reset the visuals to their default settings, use the restore default visuals option found in the three dots menu. This menu is also where you can access visuals that are hidden by default, including the legacy card and multi-card visuals.
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Figure: Use the three-dots menu to restore default visuals or access hidden visuals.
Learn more about customizing your visualization pane, try it out and let us know what you think.
Conditional formatting dialog updates Additional enhancements are available in the conditional formatting dialog, allowing you to apply data-driven colors to your visuals. For instance, when you select the conditional formatting button beside the bar color, you'll find a wider dropdown menu with helpful tooltips that display field names for easier selection.
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Figure: Conditional formatting dialog with an expanded field dropdown and tooltips that show field names.
Try it out today and let us know what you think. Learn more about conditional formatting at Apply Conditional Table Formatting in Power BI.
Improved error dialogs in Power BI Desktop We have added additional details for errors in visuals on Power BI reports in Power BI Desktop this month. This enhanced error dialog has been available for reports in the browser.
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Figure: Power BI Desktop improved error dialog showing expanded technical details for a visual error.
Learn more about errors in visuals and how you can fix them at Troubleshoot Visualizations in Power BI.
Azure Maps visual updates Based on your feedback, we’ve been working behind the scenes to enhance the performance of the Azure Maps visual with pie charts. Starting with the February release, customers will begin to see faster rendering when working with these visuals.
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Figure: The GIF demonstrates loading an Azure maps visual with pie chart before the perf improvement.
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Figure: The GIF demonstrates loading an Azure maps visual with pie chart after the perf improvement.
Learn more about Azure Maps Power BI visual at Get started with Azure Maps Power BI visual.
Azure Maps endpoints availability in Korea and Brazil
Azure Maps continues to expand its global footprint with the addition of two new endpoint regions: Korea and Brazil. These new regions are now available on the list of supported Azure Maps endpoints, giving customers more flexibility in choosing where their data is processed.
By adding regional endpoints in Korea and Brazil, customers can benefit from lower latency, improved performance, and greater alignment with regional data residency and compliance requirements.
Learn more about Azure Maps Power BI visual Data residency at Azure Maps Power BI visual Data Residency.
Fewer steps to insight in Power BI apps – a more conversational Copilot and app summaries We’ve made updates that bring a more conversational Copilot experience to Power BI apps. Now you can simply ask your question, and Copilot does the work by finding the right reports or data in your app, clarifying only when needed, and getting you to insights faster. No more pre‑selecting items from a list. Just a smarter, more intuitive Copilot that understands your intent and sources from curated content on your behalf.
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