PowerPoint Desktop crashes when opening presentation containing multiple embedded Power BI add-ins

Question

Good morning Microsoft Support communities,

We have a weekly project report PPT containing multiple embedded Power BI add-ins, pictures and SharePoint-linked content. When the file is opened using PowerPoint Desktop (Microsoft 365 Apps), Power BI visuals take a long time to load and PowerPoint frequently becomes unresponsive or crashes. Note : This issue is more and more recurrent since mid-June26. Even after reducing the size of the report by separating into several files and freezing most of the PBI add ins as "Saved image" or "Public snapshot", the crash still happen. The same presentation contains numerous dashboard pages and images. We would like Microsoft to investigate whether this is caused by WebView2 resource utilization, Power BI add-in rendering, authentication/network calls, or known Office issues.

Please advise:

1. Known limitations on number of Power BI add-ins per presentation.
2. Recommended architecture for large project reporting decks.
3. Best practices to avoid long loading times.
4. Collection of diagnostic logs and crash dump analysis.
5. Is there a way to freeze and unfreeze all PBI add ins of a presentation by once?

Sample file available upon request.

Thank you,

Answer 1

Hi @Kristelle  

From my findings, there's currently no documented Microsoft-known issue specifically stating that PowerPoint will crash when a presentation contains many embedded Power BI add-ins. However, your scenario is consistent with a presentation that places significant demand on the Office add-in runtime (WebView2), Power BI rendering, authentication, and network resources. 

1.Known limitations on the number of Power BI add-ins 

Microsoft does not publish a strict hard limit on the number of Power BI add-ins that can be embedded in a single PowerPoint presentation. However, each embedded Power BI add-in relies on the Office add-in runtime and WebView2, which can increase CPU, memory, and network utilization as more live visuals are added. To optimize performance, Microsoft recommends using no more than 25 Power BI add-ins per presentation. Beyond this threshold, stability and responsiveness may degrade. 

You can refer to the tip in this article Add a Live Power BI Report Page to PowerPoint - Power BI | Microsoft Learn 

2.Recommended architecture for large reporting decks  

For large project reporting presentations, a common approach is to:  

• Keep only the visuals that truly need to remain interactive. 
• Convert historical or reference content to snapshots/images. 
• Split very large report packages into multiple presentations by workstream or audience. 
• Consider linking to the full Power BI report for deep-dive analysis rather than embedding every dashboard page into a single deck. 
• Use Public snapshot or Show as saved image for content that does not need live interaction. Microsoft specifically notes these modes can improve loading performance during presentations. 

You can read more at What's new in Power BI collaboration and integration - Power BI | Microsoft Learn 

3.Best practices to reduce loading time 

• Minimize simultaneous live visuals. 
• Favor static images for reference material. 
• Ensure network connectivity is stable and sufficient for multiple live queries. 
• Test presentations across different devices to confirm consistent performance. 

4.Diagnostic logs and crash analysis 

To investigate whether the issue is related to Power BI rendering, WebView2 resource utilization, or Office itself, the following diagnostics would be helpful:  

• Microsoft 365 Apps version and build number.  
• WebView2 Runtime version.  
• Crash reports from Event Viewer.  
• Process Monitor traces during load.  
• Crash dumps of POWERPNT.EXE and associated msedgewebview2.exe processes.  
• Verification of whether the issue reproduces across multiple devices and user profiles.  
• A reproducible sample presentation for testing.   

5.Freeze / unfreeze all Power BI add-ins at once 

Currently, PowerPoint does not provide a built-in feature to freeze or unfreeze all Power BI add-ins in a presentation with a single action. Each Power BI add-in currently needs to be managed individually. 

Since this is a peer-to-peer forum, moderators cannot access your environment or escalate issues to Microsoft engineering. For deeper investigation, please create a support ticket with Microsoft Support for further assistance. Additionally, because the Power BI add-in is a Power BI feature, you may also receive more specialized guidance by posting in the Power BI forums - Microsoft Fabric Community, where Power BI specialists and other customers may be able to share similar experiences and troubleshooting guidance. 

I hope this information is helpful. 

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