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Power BI – Direct Query Mode

Direct query mode power-Bi

Direct Query is a data connectivity mode allows you to Direct Connection with live data base. It does not load or copied data into Power BI model, because data directly came from data source.

When you click or interact with any visualization, due to direct connection mode queries are directly hit to database and you got the updated data into visualization. So there is no need of refresh the data.

Refer – Import Mode Vs Direct Query Mode Difference



Let’s get started-

Follow these steps in order to get data from SQL server to Power BI using Direct Query Mode-

Step-1: Go to Home tab> click on Get Data tab > Select SQL Server.

Get Data from SQL in Power BI

Get Data from SQL in Power BI

Step-2:After that, a pop-up screen will appear. Enter your SQL Server name with the database, select Data Connectivity mode as Direct Query.

Write SQL Query (Optional):

You can choose to write a custom SQL query to specify which data to retrieve from the database. This is optional; you can also import entire tables. Click on OK.

Direct query mode

Direct query mode

Step-3: Afterwards, a data preview will be displayed, click the “Load” button thereafter.

Load Data PBI

Load Data PBI



Step-3: After loading the data, it will appear in the Data Pane. Here, you can rename the dataset by right-clicking on it and selecting the “Rename” option.

Rename dataset direct query PBI

Rename dataset direct query PBI

How will you identify connection is Direct Mode or not?

You just hover the mouse on Data set name, it will show you Mode name as a Tool Tip. Also you can see storage mode name right hand bottom side.

Direct Query does not support the Data tab because it does not store data in the Power BI cache or model. Therefore, the Data tab is not visible in this context.

How to check direct query mode

How to check direct query mode

The “Import” mode supports the “Data” tab because it stores data in Power BI’s memory.

Import mode data view

Import mode data view

Is there any way to view data in Direct Query Mode?”

Yes, you can preview the loaded data by using the “Transform Data” option. Go to the Home tab and then click on “Transform Data.”

Transform Data

Transform Data



See the screenshot below:

Direct Query Mode - View Data

Direct Query Mode – View Data

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