Power BI Settings That Are Secretly Ruining Your Reports

Proposed session for SQLBits 2026

TL; DR

In this rapid-fire lightning talk, you’ll learn about often invisible but important Power BI settings that quietly wreck performance, inflate models, and scramble results. With quick demos and instant fixes, you’ll walk away knowing exactly what to check so your reports stop fighting you.

Session Details

In this rapid-fire lightning talk, you’ll learn about often invisible but important Power BI settings that quietly wreck performance, inflate models, and scramble results. With quick demos and instant fixes, you’ll walk away knowing exactly what to check so your reports stop fighting you.

3 things you'll get out of this session

1. Learn how small configuration choices in Power BI can quietly degrade performance and model quality. 2. Understand how to quickly diagnose subtle report issues caused by default or overlooked settings. 3. Gain simple, repeatable fixes to ensure cleaner models and more reliable, predictable results.

Reid Havens's other proposed sessions for 2026

Building a Data Platform that Delivers ROI, Value, and AI Readiness - 2026

Lights, Camera, Data!: Building Your Brand through YouTube and Speaking - 2026

Navigating Microsoft Fabric: A Practical Guide to Tool Selection - 2026

Power BI Feature Overload: Balancing Flexibility with Maintainability - 2026

Power BI Features I Regret Using (So You Don’t Have To) - 2026

Scoped for Success: Why Composite Models are a Report's Best Friend - 2026

Semantic Models Comes First: Managing Models for Growth and Self-Service - 2026

Speaker Hacks for Nervous Nerds (From a Nerd Who Talks a Lot) - 2026

F is for Fabric - 2026

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