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How to Remove Data from Power BI

Cody Schneider•

Removing data from a Power BI report might sound simple, but the best way to do it depends on what you're actually trying to accomplish. You might need to clean up your initial data by getting rid of unnecessary rows and columns, exclude certain values from a visual, or completely delete an old dataset from the cloud. This guide will walk you through each scenario, providing clear, step-by-step instructions for properly removing data in Power BI.

First, Understand What "Remove Data" Means in Power BI

Before you start clicking, it’s important to know the difference between the various methods. Choosing the right one will save you time and keep your reports efficient.

  • Removing data at the source (before it loads): This is done in the Power Query Editor. When you remove columns or filter rows here, you are fundamentally changing the data that gets loaded into your report's model. This is the best approach for data cleansing, reducing file size, and improving performance. The data is gone before your end-users ever see it.

  • Hiding data from visuals (in the report): This is done using the Filters pane in the main Power BI Desktop view. This method doesn’t remove the data from your dataset, it just hides it from specific charts, pages, or the entire report. This is ideal for creating interactive reports where you or your users might want to see different slices of the data without permanently altering the source.

  • Deleting an entire dataset (in the cloud): This is an administrative task done in the Power BI Service (app.powerbi.com). This action permanently deletes the dataset and any reports or dashboards connected to it. You would only do this to get rid of outdated or obsolete projects.

Let's break down how to perform each of these actions.

How to Remove Data Before it Loads with Power Query Editor

The Power Query Editor is your data preparation workspace. Any changes you make here are applied every time you refresh your data, ensuring your report always has clean, relevant information. This is the place to go if you want to permanently remove columns or filter out specific rows from your underlying data model.

To get started, open your report in Power BI Desktop and click the Transform data button on the Home tab. This will launch the Power Query Editor.

Removing Unwanted Columns

Often, your source data (like a spreadsheet or database export) contains columns you simply don't need for your analysis. Removing them makes your data model cleaner and more efficient.

  1. With the Power Query Editor open, you'll see a preview of your tables in the Queries pane on the left. Select the table you want to modify.

  2. In the data preview window, identify the column or columns you wish to remove. To select multiple columns, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking each column header.

  3. Once selected, right-click on one of the highlighted column headers.

  4. Choose Remove from the context menu. The columns will instantly disappear from the preview.

Alternatively, after selecting the columns, you can go to the Home tab in the ribbon and click the Remove Columns button. You'll notice this button has a "Remove Other Columns" option, too. This is a handy shortcut: if you select the few columns you want to keep and choose "Remove Other Columns," Power Query will delete everything else.

Every step you take in Power Query is recorded in the "Applied Steps" pane on the right. You can click the "X" next to a step to undo it if you make a mistake.

Filtering Out Unwanted Rows

Let's say your sales data includes orders with a "Canceled" status that you want to exclude from your revenue report. Or perhaps you have "null" values that are skewing your calculations. You can easily filter these rows out.

  1. In the Power Query Editor, find the column you want to base your filter on (e.g., the "Order Status" column).

  2. Click the dropdown arrow icon on the right side of the column header. This will open the filter menu, showing a list of all unique values in that column.

  3. Simply uncheck the box next to any value you want to remove. For our example, you would uncheck "Canceled." Click OK.

  4. All rows containing "Canceled" in the "Order Status" column will be removed from your dataset.

For more complex rules, you can use the built-in filtering options. For example, in the same dropdown menu, you can hover over "Text Filters" (or "Number Filters," or "Date Filters," depending on the data type) to access conditions like "Does Not Contain," "Is Not Equal To," or "Is Not Null." This gives you precise control over exactly which rows should be included in your final dataset.

Applying Your Changes

Once you are done removing columns and filtering rows in Power Query, you must apply the changes to your report model. Click the Close & Apply button in the top-left corner of the Power Query Editor. Power BI will then process your changes and load the newly cleaned data into your report.

How to Hide Data in a Report with Filters

Maybe you don't want to permanently get rid of data. Instead, you just want to create a specific view for a particular chart or report page – for instance, a sales chart that only shows data for the current year. This is where the Filters pane comes in handy.

This method hides data at the visual level but keeps it available in the dataset for other uses.

  1. In Power BI Desktop's main Report view, make sure the Filters pane is visible on the right side. If not, go to the View tab and check the "Filters" box.

  2. Choose the level at which you want to apply the filter:

    • Filter on this visual: Select a specific chart or table first. Drag the field you want to filter by (e.g., "Year") into the "Filters on this visual" box.

    • Filter on this page: Click on an empty part of the report canvas. Drag the field into the "Filters on this page" box.

    • Filter on all pages: Without selecting any visuals, drag the field into the "Filters on all pages" box.

  3. Once you've dragged a field into the Filters pane, you can set the conditions. For a field like "Year," you could select "Basic filtering" and check the box for only "2024". Or you could use "Advanced filtering" to set a rule like "is greater than 2022."

The visuals will update immediately to reflect your filter. Remember, this doesn’t reduce your model's size or file load times because all the data is still there – it's just being hidden from view.

How to Delete an Entire Dataset from the Power BI Service

Over time, your Power BI workspace can get cluttered with old reports and test data. If a project is complete or obsolete, you can remove its entire dataset from Power BI’s cloud service.

Warning: This is a permanent and irreversible action. Deleting a dataset will also delete all reports and dashboards that rely on that dataset. Be absolutely sure before proceeding.

  1. Open your web browser and log in to app.powerbi.com.

  2. Navigate to the correct workspace from the navigation pane on the left.

  3. Find the dataset you want to delete. You can identify it by its orange dataset icon. If you only see reports, you can switch to the "Datasets + dataflows" tab at the top.

  4. Hover over the dataset and click the three-dot menu (...) that appears.

  5. Select Delete from the dropdown menu.

  6. A final warning will appear, listing the reports and dashboards that will also be deleted. To confirm, type the name of the dataset if prompted and click the Delete button.

This is the most definitive way to remove data, effectively erasing the entire project from your workspace.

How to Delete a Table from Your Data Model

Sometimes you need to remove an entire table from your data model. Perhaps you initially imported a lookup table but later merged its necessary data into another table, making the original redundant.

There are two easy ways to do this in Power BI Desktop.

Method 1: Using Power Query (Recommended)

This method removes the query that imports the table, which keeps your transformation logic clean.

  1. Click Transform data to open the Power Query Editor.

  2. In the Queries pane on the left, find the table you want to delete.

  3. Right-click on the query name and select Delete.

  4. Click Close & Apply. The table will be removed from your entire data model.

Method 2: Using the Model or Data View

You can also delete a table directly from the main interface.

  1. In Power BI Desktop, navigate to either the Data view or the Model view using the icons on the left.

  2. In the Data pane on the right-hand side, find the table you want to remove.

  3. Click the three-dot menu (...) next to the table name.

  4. Select Delete from model.

  5. A confirmation dialog will appear. Click OK to permanently delete the table from your model.

Final Thoughts

Effectively removing data in Power BI comes down to choosing the right tool for the job. You can use Power Query to permanently clean and streamline your dataset before it even loads, use the Filters pane to create flexible and interactive views within your report, or delete entire datasets from the Power BI service to keep your workspace organized. Mastering these techniques will help you build cleaner, faster, and more focused reports.

The learning curve on tools like Power BI is exactly why we built a simpler, more intuitive way to work with data. Juggling between the Power Query Editor, data models, and service settings for a task as fundamental as removing data showcases the platform's complexity. We created Graphed to eliminate that friction. With our tool, you just connect your data sources once, then ask in simple, natural language for what you need — no more manual cleaning or complex configurations. Instead of building the report, you just describe it, and we handle the rest, giving you real-time insights in seconds.