topic Re: Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why? in Desktop

Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why?

AnkitaaMishra — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:46:59 GMT

Hi,

I have 30+ reports in my workspace. When I configure a scheduled refresh, it takes around 10–15 minutes to complete. However, when I manually trigger the refresh, it finishes in just a few seconds.

The dataset is very small, so I’m not sure why there’s such a big difference in refresh time.

Has anyone experienced something similar?
What could be causing this delay in scheduled refresh, and how can I resolve it?

Thanks!

Re: Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why?

rohit1991 — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 06:19:48 GMT

Hii @AnkitaaMishra

When you click Refresh now, the dataset usually starts immediately because capacity is available at that moment.

But during a scheduled refresh, many datasets across the service trigger at the same time. Your dataset first goes into a queue and waits for available capacity before it actually starts refreshing.So the longer duration is mostly queue/wait time, not actual data processing time.

Re: Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why?

danextian — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 06:29:18 GMT

Hi @AnkitaaMishra

A manual refresh can appear faster because it’s often triggered during a quieter period, with less competition for resources and little to no queueing within the capacity. Scheduled refreshes are commonly set at the same times, which can cause multiple datasets to run simultaneously and compete for compute and memory. In shared capacity, this often results in noticeable queueing. In Premium capacity, queueing may be less obvious, but refreshes still share resources with other workloads, so overall capacity load can still affect performance. In most cases, the difference in speed comes down to timing and resource availability rather than the refresh type itself. Try triggering a refresh with Power Automate that isn't along the set times allowed for scheduled refresh in Power BI interface. Note: Refresh will be done via API but will still be counted against the allowed number of scheduled refreshes in a day.

Re: Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why?

Kedar_Pande — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:36:35 GMT

@AnkitaaMishra

Pro workspace → 8 datasets parallel → scheduled refreshes queue behind others.

Premium workspace (no queue)

Stagger schedules (5min gaps)

Manual = immediate slot. Scheduled = FIFO queue.

If this answer helped, please click 👍 or Accept as Solution.
-Kedar
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kedar-pande

Re: Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why?

MohdZaid_ — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:42:26 GMT

Hey @AnkitaaMishra ,

I’ve seen similar behavior in Microsoft Power BI where scheduled refresh takes significantly longer than a manual refresh, even with a very small dataset.

In most cases, the delay isn’t related to dataset size but to the environment in which the refresh runs. A manual refresh in Power BI Desktop uses local machine resources, while a scheduled refresh runs in the Power BI Service, which may introduce queue time, capacity constraints, or gateway initialization overhead.

If an On-Premises Data Gateway is being used, the connection setup and authentication process can add several minutes before the actual data refresh begins. I recommend checking the dataset’s refresh history in the Service to see whether the delay is happening during queue time or processing time, and also reviewing gateway performance or capacity utilization if applicable.

If it solved your issue, feel free to mark it as the solution so others can benefit too.

Thanks for being part of the community.

Re: Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why?

v-achippa — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 12:08:41 GMT

Hi @AnkitaaMishra,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.

Thank you @rohit1991, @danextian, @Kedar_Pande and @MohdZaid_ for the prompt response.

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided by the user's for the issue worked? or let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

Re: Scheduled refresh takes much longer than manual refresh — why?

v-achippa — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:22:14 GMT

Hi @AnkitaaMishra,

We wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided by the user's for the issue worked? or let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa