Set the default format string locale for a Power BI report

APPLIES TO: Power BI Desktop Power BI service

You can set a default format string locale for a Power BI report so dates and numbers display in a specific locale, regardless of the viewer's browser settings. This setting is useful when you need consistent formatting across your organization or when your report targets a specific region.

When you set the format string locale for your report, all locale-aware format strings—such as date formats marked with an asterisk in Format options—use the locale you specify instead of the viewer's browser locale.

Set the format string locale

You can set the default format string locale in either Power BI Desktop or the Power BI service.

Power BI Desktop

1. Select File > Options and settings > Options.
2. Under Current file, select Regional settings.
3. Under Default format string locale for dates and numbers, select a locale from the dropdown.
4. Optionally, select Default display units to 'none' to display numbers without abbreviations.

Power BI service

Set the locale from Reading view, not Editing view. After you save the setting, you'll need to refresh the browser to see the change. Setting the locale from Reading view ensures no in-progress edits are lost when the browser refreshes.

1. Open the report in Reading view.
2. Select File > Settings.
3. Scroll to Default format string locale for dates and numbers and select a locale from the dropdown.
4. Optionally, select Default display units to 'none' to display numbers without abbreviations.
5. Select Save.
6. Refresh the browser to apply the change.

What this setting affects

The format string locale setting only affects how values display in visuals.

Set default display units to none

By default, most visuals have a Display units setting of Auto, which abbreviates large numbers (for example, 1.2M instead of 1,200,000). When you use dynamic format strings for measures, or when you set a specific report locale, the abbreviation might not be what you want.

The Default display units to 'none' toggle turns off automatic abbreviation across the entire report, so you don't have to change the Display units setting on each visual value element one by one. It works even when the format string locale is set to Auto.

To turn it on, select Default display units to 'none' under Default format string locale for dates and numbers in the same location as the locale setting (Current file > Regional settings in Power BI Desktop, or File > Settings in the Power BI service).

Considerations and limitations

The format string locale setting doesn't change the semantic model's awareness of user culture:

• USERCULTURE still returns the viewer's browser locale.
• Metadata translations still use the viewer's browser locale.

Related content

• Use custom format strings in Power BI Desktop
• Create dynamic format strings for measures in Power BI