Skip to main content

Reporting - Add 'database last refresh date and time' to a report

Matt Troy
Updated
ℹ️ Info: This article refers to Reporting and Analytics with Power BI. View the FAQ for more details.

In this article, we'll show how to add a Card visualisation to a custom report showing the date and time the database was last refreshed. This makes clear to any report viewer, exactly how current the data is.

How often does the reports database refresh?

  • The report database refreshes twice every 24 hours
  • A time stamp showing the most recent database refresh is shown in every fixed report
  • The 'database refresh' time stamp can also be added to a user-created report
  • The 'database refresh' time stamp displays in GMT/BST time
  • Each Dataset is refreshed individually, so the time stamp may differ between reports using different Datasets
  • When a fixed report and a user-created report are built using the same dataset, the time stamp will be the same
REPORTING_DateRefreshed.png

Steps to add 'database last refresh date and time' to a report

  1. Start a new User-created report or open an existing report
  2. From the Visualisations panel, select 'Card visualisation'. An empty Card will be added to the report:REPORTING_SelectCardVisualisation.png
  3. Check that the Card visualisation is still the selected item on the page. Add the data 'Last refresh date & time with text': REPORTING_SelectDB_Refresh.png
  4. Select 'Format visual':REPORTING_Visualisations_Format_Options.png
  5. Select 'Callout value'. Use the formatting options to amend the text as required:REPORTING_Select_CallOutValue.png
  6. Toggle the 'Category label' to 'Off':REPORTING_Set_CategoryLabel.png

Discover more about User-created reports

For a hands-on learning experience, explore our Deep dive courses in The Academy, and watch as Gary builds reports from scratch to meet specific briefs. 

If you prefer to start at the beginning, check out Get Started: Reporting and Analytics with Power BI. You'll begin with Power BI’s top five features, then dive deeper into each one with step-by-step guidance.

Need quick answers? Check out our FAQ, Reporting and Analytics with Power BI, packed with 100+ common questions and in-depth resources. You can also join our regular Ask Me Anything: Reporting live events, to ask your question directly to a Power BI expert. Search PWRFAQ in The Academy for real-world use cases, examples, and scenarios with User-created reports.

Don't have your Academy account yet? Contact your Customer Experience Manager or the Support Team to sign up today.

Related articles