Data View column order change

[CahabaData]

Data view: I made a couple of calculated columns.  They were added to the right, in the order column.

I then realized that a couple original columns (originally on the left) should be modeled as currency (they were just whole numbers).

This has moved those 2 columns to the far right, to the right of the calculated columns.

I see no way to return them to their original position, or to rearrange column order at all in Data View.....based on searching Q&A.  But given there is a new release every month am wondering if this is still true?

[varunsood0109]

@CahabaData @Sean @Alirezam @CodySydney 

Use the function 'SELECTCOLUMNS' to create a copy of the original table and reorder the columns in it.

This is how you use it:

SELECTCOLUMNS(<OriginalTableName>, "<Column1NewName>", <Column1OriginalName>, "<Column2NewName>", <Column2OriginalName> ............)

[kathuman]

No answer yet to a function which should be easily solved by developers. The possibility of rearranging columns in the dataview helps tremendously in the development of solutions!!!

[ripstaurVA]

It is unbelievable, if not unexpected. Microsoft has a long tradition of putting stuff out on the street before it's ready. Users have been complaining since the late '80s that paying customers have to be beta testers. A feature like this should have been a no-brainer for developers, and there is no excuse for its sitting in the ideas (bugs) queue for more than a day or two. What is the point of this exercise, if no action is ever taken by MS on these ideas? 

[Zyg_D]

We need a solution... Select and drag column woud do it...

[danielgergely]

I found a sollution. It is quite wierd, but it works.

Remove columns in Power Query view. save and apply changes. Then go back to power Query view, delete the removed Columns Steps in the desired order, and then your columns in Data view will be reordered. 

Data view shows the last changed column last. That is the basic concept behind this trick.

Check out this link for more details:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54354205/trying-to-reorder-columns-in-data-view-in-power-bi

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys,

It is extremely stupid way, but it is working - i found it by accident:

1. In edit query view remove the column, then save changes. You will see that in data view that column was removed as well.
2. Now again in edit query view remove from applied steps the action that removed the column. Save it again.
3. You will see that removed previously column was added to the end of the table.
4. This way you can arrange your columns to have it the way you want it in data view.

Hope it helped.

[CodySydney]

Haha! Good lateral thinking 🙂  I have just learned to live with it.  The Power BI team keeps introducing brilliant new features so I can't complain much about the odd annoyance.

[Ale]

Not implemented yet? Almost 2019 and I still can't reorder my columns in Data View.

[NorthernScott]

We're at 2020 now and still now action on this. What up MS?

[CodySydney]

And now it is 2019 and I am still trying to associate values on one side of my data table to the other rather than having them nice and close which would make contextual sense.

[rblackford]

Why is this marked as "Solved"? There is clearly no solution, just a reply indicating that they've posted this as an "idea".

[Anonymous]

It still is.

[Sean · Accepted solution]

I created this Idea - Aug 24, 2015

https://ideas.powerbi.com/forums/265200-power-bi-ideas/suggestions/9467625-moving-rearranging-calcul...

Still waiting...

[Alirezam]

And this is April 2021 still unsolved...I really don't think the feedback system in Power Bi works!

[CahabaData]

oh my - - did see old Q&A on this topic - - just thought I would check.....

I will hazard the guess that Data View isn't perceived as important in that all the action is up in Visuals....but this lack of column rearrangement sure makes the initial modeling/transform more difficult to the BI designer first discovering the data set that we're working with......