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Location of Saved files in PowerBi Desktop

I dont know if I am aloen in this persistens issue I have.

 

I tend to update reprots daily and change the datasoruces to refresh  standard reports with new inputs. 

 

When I open a report from a directory, PowerBi will save that file nt tto the directory from which it was opened (As does Excel and most other desktop apps) instead it will save the file back to the last location it used from a  previous saved report 

 

I have to remember that PowerBi will try and do this and then "save as" to the original directory that the current report came from

 

When I forget , I then get reports saved in the worng directories

 

Can this be fixed so that PowerBI "remembers" where the current report being edited cames from and defaults to saving back to its original  location

 

If I am doing somehting peculiar or there is a fix for this already I would much appreciate any pointers or help as this bug can be frustrating and time wasting

Status: Needs Info
Comments
techinresearch
Advocate I

just to clarify (having reread the above it is not very clear)

 

When I open a report from a directory, PowerBI does NOT Save the file back to the directory where it is located

Instead, PowerBI saves to the LOCATION of the LAST FILE I edited prior to that file , even if this is a new PowerBI session (the last file location seems to persist even after PowerBI desktop is closed)

 

These are almost always different directories so I end up with mismatched reports and directories: both annoying and erroneous

 

I would like PowerBI to recognise that a user expects it to save an updated version of a Report to the DIRECTORY IT CAME FROM and not the  PREVIOUS DIRECTORY THAT THE LAST FILE EDITED CAME from

 

Am I alone in this or do other  users have the same issue?????????????????

 

My work-around it to always Save As and then browse to the directory that the file being edited came from .....pretty time wasting and very unituitive imo 

 

maybe I am doing something wrong or have a config issue?

 

 

 

 

v-jiascu-msft
Employee

Hi @techinresearch,

 

Quite weird! 

1. What will happen when you click Save button in the upper left corner? 

2. What is the directory? A local folder or a network directory?

3. Do you have edit permission of that directory?

 

Best Regards,

Dale

Vicky_Song
Impactful Individual
Status changed to: Needs Info
 
techinresearch
Advocate I

OK

tried to click save and it does indeed save the file to the directory it was opened from...but it is still the saem file name (obviously)

I am updating the soruce data with new daily data and want to make a new copy of the report with the udpated data: I therefore need a new filename...

 

This then invokes a "Save As"

 

It is when I click "Save As" that it goes back to the previous directory that an earlier file was saved to and not the source directory for the current file. This is not the same file handling that Excel or other MSFT products do so it is alien to any MSFT user

 

It is possible to change this so that it assumes I want to "Save As" in the current directory of the file just opened and not the directory of the previous file?

If nothing else, removing the persistence of that location would remove steps in my workflow

 

 

 

 

Sue
Frequent Visitor

Whenever my team or I save a power bi report, it saves to whatever location last open on our computers. You must save as everytime to ensure it saves in the appropriate location.


Randy8565
Regular Visitor

This is issue is perhaps the most annoying aspect of PowerBI. There is NO other software that I've EVER used that does this. Why on earth "Save As" doesn't default to the folder where the original file resides is beyond me. Countless times, I'm forced to go search through folders to find an updated file. 

 

The fact that the original post was 2 years ago, has me worried that is NOT on the radar to be fixed.

 

Perhaps there's some setting somewhere where this can be changed? If NOT Please fix this!

eliavecellio
New Member

+1 upvote for this

 

PowerBI's behaviour in this respect is absurd and, as has been mentioned, completely at odds with every other application (both Microsoft and non-Microsoft) that I have ever come across... not to mention unfriendly from a design and usability perspective!

JenZ4
Frequent Visitor

I frequenty work with two different PBIX in different subdirectories at the same time, and this annoys the tar out of me. As I go, I will save versions (in case I've screwed something up), and you would THINK the next version would automatically get saved in the subdirectory of the existing file that I'm "Saving As" a new version name, but NO.  Then I have to go searching the next day for the latest version of each.  Before I realized this happened, I actually wasted time "re-fixing" problems because I didn't realize the latest version I'd worked on was hiding somewhere else !!

Bella42
Advocate III

This is truly incomprehensible. I too have used Save As expecting it to behave as EVERY OTHER software and save the newly named file into the SAME location. You end up on a Monday morning wondering if you imagined all the work you did on Friday, only to later find the new version of the file in a random folder somewhere else (if you are lucky). I KNOW I fixed all the buttons on my report. Can I find any version that has the fixes? NO. Am I sure I am working on the most current version? NO. Am I angry at PowerBi and Microsoft? You bet. PowerBI is one of the worst softwares I have ever used, this is just insult to injury. I tried opening autorecovered versions but most of those just opened blank???? Going to have to start scribbling my latest version number on a pad. Finally found a version using Windows Restore Previous Versions. Microsoft - get your act together. Try and be consistent.

Hi69
Frequent Visitor

Hi, I hoped that this behaviour would change with the last (10?) updates but it is still the same.

Team, is there any chance that this will be fixed?

BR