New card visual preview to GA impact FAQ

In November 2025, the new card visual, previously in preview, moved to general availability. A number of fixes and new functionality made it so existing reports using the preview card now will start to look different. Here is a list of the common impacts and the way to address them.

Those only using the card after general availability will not be impacted.

New card visual docs page: Create a card visual in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Frequently asked questions for cards used in reports during preview

Why is the column setting reset to 5 or row setting reset to 3 when I had it previously set to a different number?

During preview, you could set a column or row number for a grid, vertical, or horizontal arrangement of cards. After the November 2025 release, only the grid arrangement setting is kept. Vertical and horizontal arrangements reset to 5 columns and 3 rows on existing reports, including published reports. Scrollbars may appear in your existing card visuals to accommodate these settings. Only reports published or created with the card visual during preview are impacted.

To return your cards to the previous column and row number, update these settings in the November 2025 Power BI Desktop and publish the report or edit the report in the web.

Why do the cards take up more space?

During preview, the default settings had less padding in the cards. After the November 2025 release, more padding and padding options were added to the card. The new default is 12px.

To find and adjust these settings, search for “Padding” in the format pane and adjust as needed. Toggling on "Individual padding" will restate a previous padding setting.

Padding can be set in a custom theme file or added to your own custom theme file to apply them to all cards in your report.

{

"$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/powerbi-desktop-samples/main/Report%20Theme%20JSON%20Schema/reportThemeSchema-2.149.json",

"name": "CardVisualGA",

"visualStyles": {

"cardVisual": {

"*": {

"*": [{

"$id": "default",

"paddingAfterDivider": 0,

"paddingBeforeDivider": 0,

"paddingUniform": 0

}]

}

}

}

}

See the Power BI report themes documentation or more information.

Why is there a reference label area on cards without a reference label?

During preview, the reference labels were part of the callout area when the divider was turned off. After November 2025, the reference labels have their own area. Once an area is used in at least one card, the other cards keep that area available to maintain consistency across cards.

Why is the reference label obscuring the text in the callout?

During preview, the reference labels were part of the callout area. After November 2025, the reference labels have their own area. They also now take up 50% of the card by default.

To adjust the card area sizes, go to Cards, make sure the Apply setting to control is set to All, then in Layout adjust the Callout size %.

Why is there a background color added to the card reference label?

During preview, the background color only showed when the reference label had a divider. The divider gave the reference labels their own area in the card to then apply a background to. After the November 2025 release, reference labels always have their own area with or without a divider, and a default background is used.

The background can be turned off by going to reference labels layout > background in the format pane and toggling off the setting.

This setting can be set in a custom theme file or added to your own custom theme file to apply them to all cards in your report.

{

"$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/powerbi-desktop-samples/main/Report%20Theme%20JSON%20Schema/reportThemeSchema-2.149.json",

"name": "CardVisualGA",

"visualStyles": {

"cardVisual": {

"*": {

"*": [{

"$id": "default",

"backgroundTransparency": 100

}]

}

}

}

}

See the Power BI report themes documentation or more information.

Why can’t I see my image settings in the format pane?

During preview, the callout image was added using the image section of the format pane and showed in the callout area next to the text. After November 2025, those images previously added were kept in the callout area, and their settings move to Callout > Image section in the format pane. Setting the image section of the format pane now adds a new hero image to the card with its own area.

Why is my category header image gone?

Go to Category header settings and turn back on add image. Your image should still be there.

Why is my image now zoomed in?

During preview, the default settings for size of the image had some bugs corrected by the November 2025 update. Depending on your initial settings, the image can look “zoomed in” or different from before.

To fix the image, in the format pane, adjust the Callout > Image settings for image fit to be fit, or sometimes center works better for some images, and check the size and image area size controls in the same formatting section. Note this setting is in a new location, and the top-level image section is now for the hero image.

Where did the legacy card and multi-card visuals go?

The legacy single card and multi-card visuals reappear if you go to the three dots in the visualization pane and choose Restore default visuals. In a report having one of these visuals they may show in the unpinned area of the visualization pane, where you generally find custom visuals.

Why does the new card visual in a published report look different than it looks in Desktop?

Differences between Desktop and the service can happen in these scenarios.

1. You are using a version of Desktop before November 2025, when the card was in preview. When published to the service it was upgraded to be the generally available version of the new card visual. Either update your Power BI Desktop or edit the report in the web after publishing to adjust the style.

2. You are using November 2025 version of Power BI Desktop, and the update for the generally available card isn't in your service region. Once the service region is updated, the card looks the same. This behavior should only happen in a few regions in late November 2025.

3. You open a report previously opened in November 2025 Desktop in an earlier version of Power BI Desktop. The card settings are not lost. Simply open the report again in November 2025 or later version of Power BI Desktop.