PowerBI - Microsoft Access ODBC Errors and Data Source Connectivity Issues

Question

Just installed new January 2026 version of power bi on virtual machine and now get OBDC/Apache spark connection errors from google big query queries. Posting screenshots of errors below

Answer 1

Hello @Dowd, Madison M ,

The January 2026 release of Power BI Desktop introduced a major connector change: Google BigQuery (and Spark/Databricks) now default to Apache Arrow Database Connectivity (ADBC) drivers instead of the older Simba ODBC drivers. The errors you’re seeing (“side‑by‑side configuration incorrect” and missing Apache.Arrow.Adbc.Telemetry.Traces.Listeners) are known issues with this transition. The recommended fix is to either disable the new ADBC connector preview or roll back to the November 2025 Power BI Desktop build until Microsoft issues a patched release.

This is because, Driver migration: Power BI is phasing out embedded ODBC drivers (Simba) in favor of ADBC drivers for BigQuery, Spark, Snowflake, etc.

Side‑by‑side error: Indicates a missing or misconfigured dependency in the new ADBC driver package.

Assembly not found: The Apache.Arrow.Adbc.Telemetry.Traces.Listeners DLL is not properly bundled or registered in the January 2026 build.

Resolution Options.

1. Disable ADBC Preview

In Power BI Desktop:

Go to File → Options and settings → Options → Preview features.

Uncheck “Use new Google BigQuery connector implementation.”

Restart Power BI and retry the query.

This forces Power BI to use the legacy Simba ODBC driver.

2. Roll Back to November 2025 Build

Uninstall the January 2026 version.

Download and install Power BI Desktop November 2025 (standalone MSI).

This version still uses the stable ODBC drivers and avoids the ADBC dependency issue.

3. Explicitly Set Implementation

In your M queries, you can control driver choice:

ODBC (legacy):

m

= GoogleBigQuery.Database()

ADBC (new):

m

= GoogleBigQuery.Database([Implementation="2.0"])

If you must use ADBC (for JSON parsing improvements), you’ll need to wait for Microsoft’s patch or apply tenant/workspace overrides to control defaults.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/transition-to-adbc?utm_source=copilot.com

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Many thanks.