Power BI File Size Limit – the limit on PBI file sizes is just 1GB and with the growth in data volumes this can be quite restrictive for some users.
However, there are ways around the PBI file limit.
Even using Direct query will not get round the PBI 1GB file size limit since in Direct query there is a limitation of 1M records.
PBI Premium
If you have the budget you can purchase Power BI Premium as an option.
Power BI Premium offers advanced, self-service data preparation that allows every user, from Data Scientist to Business analyst to accelerate the delivery of insights and collaborate with ease – it also removes the restrictions of file sizes limit since you can build models as large as the Power BI Premium dedicated capacity memory can hold.
PBI Premium offers the following functionality:
- Greater scale and performance
- Flexibility to license by capacity
- Unify self-service and enterprise BI
- Extend on-premises BI with Power BI Report Server
- Support for data residency by region (Multi-Geo)
- Share data with anyone without purchasing a per-user license
Power BI Premium is a tenant-level Office 365 subscription available as
- P SKUs (P1-P5) requiring a monthly or yearly commitment, billed monthly, and includes a license to install Power BI Report Server on-premises.
- EM SKUs (EM1-EM3) for organizational embedding, requiring a yearly commitment, billed monthly. EM1 and EM2 SKUs are available only through volume licensing plans. You can’t purchase them directly.
Power BI File Size
To get round the Power BI file size limit we recommend you consider Power BI Premium.