Clear data from power BI desktop

[mirajvsen]

Hi,

I was going through the follwing post and then got a question. How do we clear the data from the power BI file and keep only the definition?

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Integrations-with-Files-and/Power-BI-Desktop-data-location/m-p/2423...

Regards...

[Shazu13]

Well, if you just want the structure and no data. Create a view for the data you need to collect. Alter view to select top x so the import only loads the top x. Dont forget to remove the top x when your done.

[ASHOKKPIN]

Save the file as a .pbit - A PowerBI Template.

[aisberg]

this doesn't work, the template is totaly empty and contains nothing

[KHorseman · Accepted solution]

If you are running an import query, the data is all stored in the .pbix file. There is no way to run the queries without having the data in the file. If on the other hand you are using the Direct Query method on a SQL database, that data is only pulled by the file on demand and is not stored locally within it. So unless you are doing a Direct Query against a SQL database, you cannot clear the data from the file and still maintain working queries.