Microsoft splits Direct Lake into two modes with different refresh meaning
Reviewed by Helen Jones
Microsoft Learn pages on Direct Lake, updated 18 September 2026, now treat it as a Power BI semantic model storage mode that loads Delta tables from OneLake into memory. Direct Lake comes in two forms. Direct Lake on OneLake is the one Microsoft says you should use when you expect faster queries, want composite models with Import or DirectQuery, and need OneLake security. Refresh in Direct Lake is not a full data copy. Microsoft describes it as framing metadata, often taking seconds, unlike Import which copies the dataset. On 6 September 2026 Chris Webb summarised a Microsoft-commissioned white paper on Power BI storage modes against Azure Databricks. Direct Lake on OneLake won most of the tests they ran. A composite with DirectQuery facts, Dual dimensions, and Import aggregations won at larger volumes. The paper measured performance only and left out cost and governance.
Until now, many teams treated Fabric as a faster Import. If the refresh succeeded, the pack was assumed current because the model had copied the data. That mental model still fits classic Import and it still fails for DirectQuery, where every visual hits the source. Direct Lake sits in between. A green refresh can mean the model only updated its picture of the Delta tables, not that it rebuilt a local copy. Query speed and freshness now depend on which Direct Lake type you pick, whether you mix Import or DirectQuery, and whether the lake tables actually moved. The Databricks paper is useful as a performance hint, not as a licence to ignore cost, ownership, or KPI definitions.
Analysis
This is a change to act on only for reports that already sit on Fabric Delta tables in OneLake. For the next monthly pack you might move, write one line per table: Direct Lake on OneLake, Direct Lake on SQL, or stay Import, and state what a successful refresh will and will not guarantee before you promise leadership a faster dashboard.
Source note
Pulse published by Collab365 Spaces, reviewed by Helen Jones on . Cite as "Microsoft splits Direct Lake into two modes with different refresh meaning", Collab365 Spaces. 3 sources referenced.