Power BI gains exact column widths

Microsoft added fixed column width controls for table and matrix visuals in the May 2026 Power BI update, giving report authors a native way to set consistent column sizes. Microsoft listed “column fixed width for table and matrix” in its May 2026 release notes, published on Microsoft Learn. A Power BI community post from @HowToPowerBI on May 21 showed the feature in use and described it as the end of the older workaround-heavy approach to exact sizing. ### Where did this show up first? Microsoft published the change in its “What’s new in Power BI?” page for May 2026. The release notes place the feature under reporting updates alongside other report-authoring changes, indicating it is part of the current monthly product release rather than a separate preview announcement. The @HowToPowerBI account, run by Power BI educator Bas Dohmen’s channel branding, posted a short demo on May 21 showing exact column-width control in action for tables and matrices. (learn.microsoft.com) The post framed the change as the removal of an old pain point for report builders who had relied on drag-resizing and layout workarounds. ### What exactly changed inside tables and matrices? Microsoft’s current documentation for table and matrix visuals says authors can use the Layout section of the Format pane to control how columns size, set a default width, and customize widths for individual columns. (learn.microsoft.com) That language appears in both the table and matrix documentation now live on Microsoft Learn. (youtube.com) The matrix formatting page says the visual’s format settings cover layout and presentation controls in both Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service. The table documentation uses similar language and says tables are intended for detailed value comparison, where alignment and readable headers matter more than visual abstraction. ### Why were users asking for exact widths in the first place? (learn.microsoft.com) Power BI’s older approach let users manually resize columns, but repeatable, exact sizing across visuals and report pages was harder to enforce. Microsoft’s new wording — “set a default width” and “customize widths for individual columns” — indicates a move from purely manual adjustment toward explicit formatting control. That matches the community reaction shown in the May 21 social post. (learn.microsoft.com) For dashboard authors, fixed widths matter most in dense table and matrix layouts where headers, totals and financial measures must line up predictably. Microsoft’s documentation for these visuals emphasizes readability, presentation and comparison of detailed values, which are the use cases most affected by uneven column sizing. ### Why does a small formatting control matter to executive dashboards? (learn.microsoft.com) Tables and matrices are commonly used in Power BI for side-by-side metric review, including revenue, margin, goals and status fields. Microsoft’s table documentation says those visuals are designed for quantitative comparisons across multiple measures, which is the kind of layout where inconsistent widths can crowd numbers or waste space. (learn.microsoft.com) In practice, fixed widths give report authors tighter control over how KPI-heavy pages render across reports, workspaces and handoffs between developers. The May 2026 documentation says the feature is available in Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service, which means teams can apply the same formatting approach in both authoring and shared environments. (learn.microsoft.com) ### Where can users find it now? Microsoft’s May 2026 update page says the feature shipped in that monthly release, and the current table and matrix documentation describes the relevant controls in the Format pane’s Layout section. Users running the May 2026 version of Power BI Desktop, or working in the Power BI service with the updated visual formatting options, should see the setting there. (learn.microsoft.com) Microsoft also links the May 2026 update page to the Power BI Desktop download and the change log for later fixes and improvements. Those pages are the next checkpoints for users tracking whether the fixed-width controls expand further or receive follow-up adjustments in future monthly releases. (learn.microsoft.com)