How to Add Last Refresh Date in Power BI Dashboard

A Power BI dashboard is only as useful as the data behind it, and nothing undermines confidence faster than stale, old data. When a team member or a client looks at a report, they need to know instantly if they’re making decisions based on today's numbers or last week's. This article will walk you through a simple and effective method for adding a "Last Refresh Date" to your Power BI dashboard, eliminating any and all confusion.

Why a 'Last Refresh Date' is So Important

Before jumping into the “how,” it’s worth touching on the “why.” Adding a dynamic date stamp isn’t just a nice-to-have visual element, it’s a critical feature that builds trust and improves the usability of your reports.

• Establishes Trust: It provides a clear, undeniable indicator of your data's freshness. Viewers no longer have to guess or ask, "Are these numbers up to date?" They can see for themselves, which builds their confidence in your reporting.
• Ensures Smart Decisions: Imagine a sales manager reviewing a performance report to decide on daily targets. If they're unknowingly looking at data from two days ago, their decisions will be based on outdated information. A timestamp prevents this costly mistake.
• Provides a Quick Health Check: Did your scheduled data refresh fail? A quick glance at the last refresh date will immediately tell you if there’s a problem with your data pipeline, allowing you to troubleshoot issues before they impact business decisions.

The Best Method: Using a Blank Query in Power Query

While there are a few ways to tackle this, the most reliable and future-proof method involves creating a simple query in Power BI’s Power Query Editor. This technique creates a standalone table that records the exact date and time of the last data refresh, making it easy to display anywhere in your report. It’s insulated from any filters a user might apply to your other data, so it will always show the correct refresh time.

Here's how to do it, step by step.

Step 1: Open Power Query Editor

First, you need to get into the backend of Power BI where you manage your data transformations. From the main Power BI Desktop screen, click on the Transform data button located in the Home tab. This will launch the Power Query Editor window.

Step 2: Create a New Blank Query

With the Power Query Editor open, look at the Home tab again. Click on New Source and then select Blank Query from the dropdown menu. This will create a new, empty query in the Queries pane on the left, typically named "Query1" by default.

Step 3: Enter the M Code Formula

Select your newly created query. Now, go to the formula bar at the top (if you don't see it, go to the "View" tab and check the "Formula Bar" box). Click in the formula bar, delete whatever is already there, and type the following M code formula:

= DateTime.LocalNow()

Press Enter. You'll see this function immediately executed, showing the current date and time on your computer. This function is what dynamically grabs the timestamp every time your Power BI dataset is refreshed.

Pro Tip: If your team works across different time zones and you need a standardized timestamp, you can use DateTimeZone.UtcNow() instead. This will use the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), ensuring everyone sees the same timestamp regardless of their location.

Step 4: Rename and Convert Your Query

Right now, your query is likely called "Query1," which isn't very descriptive. In the Query Settings pane on the right, under "Name," change it to something intuitive like Last Refresh Date.

Next, you need to turn this single value into a table so Power BI can use it in a visual. With your "Last Refresh Date" query selected, click the To Table button in the Transform tab. A small dialog box will pop up, you don't need to change any settings, so just click OK.

Step 5: Format the Data Type

Power Query will create a table with one column, typically named "Column1." You can rename this column by double-clicking the header and typing a new name, like Refresh Timestamp.

Check the data type of the column. Click the icon to the left of the column header (it might show "ABC 123"). A dropdown menu will appear. Make sure you select either Date/Time or Date/Time/Timezone for proper formatting.

Step 6: Close & Apply

You're done with the hard part. Now, click the Close & Apply button in the top-left corner of the Home tab in the Power Query Editor. This will save your new query and load the Last Refresh Date table into your Power BI data model.

You should now see it listed in the Fields pane on the right side of your main Power BI Desktop window.

Displaying the Refresh Date on Your Report

Now that you have the data, you need to show it on your dashboard. There are two great ways to do this: using a simple Card visual or creating a dynamic title with a DAX measure.

Option 1: The Simple 'Card' Visual (Easiest Method)

The Card visual is perfect for displaying a single value. It's clean, simple, and hard to miss.

• Go to the Visualizations pane and click on the Card icon.
• A blank card visual will appear on your report canvas. Resize and position it where you'd like it to appear (a corner of the header or footer is usually a good spot).
• From the Fields pane, find your Last Refresh Date table and drag the Refresh Timestamp field into the Fields well of the Card visual.

That's it! The card will now show the last refresh date and time. You can easily customize it in the Format visual panel — change the text size, color, and disable the Category label if you just want to show the date itself.

Option 2: Creating a Dynamic Title with DAX

Sometimes you want something more integrated, like text that reads "Data updated as of: [Your Date]". This requires a simple DAX measure.

Create the DAX Measure

• Right-click on your Last Refresh Date table in the Fields pane and select New measure.
• The formula bar will appear at the top. Enter the following DAX formula:

Last Refresh Info = "Data updated as of: " & FORMAT(MAX('Last Refresh Date'[Refresh Timestamp]), "MMMM d, yyyy h:mm AM/PM")

• Press Enter to save the measure.

This DAX formula combines a text string ("Data updated as of: ") with your latest timestamp, formatted in a user-friendly way. Feel free to adjust the format string (the part in the second set of quotes) to your liking.

Use the Measure in a Visual

You can now drag this new Last Refresh Info measure into a Card visual to display the full text. This gives your timestamp more context than just the date alone.

Alternatively, you can get even slicker with it and add it as a dynamic subtitle to another visual. Select a chart, go to Format visual > General > Title, and look for the Text section. Click the fx symbol next to the Subtitle text area, and in the dialog box, select your Last Refresh Info measure as the field to base it on. Now your chart has its own dynamic "last updated" indicator.

Final Thoughts

By adding a last refresh date using a quick Power Query step, you can significantly improve the clarity, trustworthiness, and overall professionalism of your Power BI reports. It’s a small change that empowers your viewers to use the data confidently, knowing exactly when it was last updated.

Of course, having to manually implement features like this highlights a friction point common to many powerful BI tools — they often require technical tweaks to achieve straightforward goals. At Graphed, we built our platform to eliminate this exact kind of complexity. Instead of needing to know M code or DAX, you can simply connect your data sources like Google Analytics, Shopify, or Facebook Ads in a few clicks. Your dashboards are always connected to live data and update automatically, so there’s never a question about its freshness. When you want a new report, you just ask for it in plain English, and it’s built for you in seconds.