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Troubleshooting & FAQ

Symptoms first, then the fix. If your problem isn't here, get in touch.

The chart doesn't render​

The landing page is still showing​

The visual needs all three of Series, Time and Value before it draws anything. Check the Build pane — an empty well is the answer nine times out of ten. Tooltips is optional and never gates rendering.

The chart area is blank​

Every field is bound, but nothing is drawn. In order of likelihood:

  • The measure returns blank for every row. Drop the same measure into a table visual to confirm it produces numbers.
  • A filter or slicer has emptied the data. Check the visual's filter card and the page-level filters.
  • The Value well is aggregating to nothing — a Count of a column that is blank, for example.

Ranks and order look wrong​

Ranks are upside down​

Rank 1 is drawn at the top by default. If your report reads "up is better", turn on Format → Ranking → Reverse Rank to put rank 1 at the bottom. The numbers don't change — only the direction.

The periods are in the wrong order​

The rule depends on the Time column's type:

  • Date and number columns always sort ascending; nothing to configure.
  • Text columns follow your model's order. Set it with Sort by column on the model column (Month Name sorted by Month Number).

Alphabetical months, or quarters running Q1, Q10, Q11, Q2, are always a text column without a sort key. See How your periods are ordered.

Periods are evenly spaced but my data isn't​

By design. The axis is a sequence of steps, not a time scale, so a one-month gap and a three-year gap look the same. If true spacing matters, a line chart is the right visual — see The axis is evenly spaced.

Two series with the same value get different ranks​

There are no shared ranks: tied series always take consecutive positions, and the order between them follows the order Power BI delivers the series in. It stays consistent between periods, but it is arbitrary. Add a tie-breaker to the measure if the order matters — see Ties.

Ranks didn't change when I clicked another visual​

Power BI's default interaction is highlight, which dims the series that aren't part of the selection while keeping ranks computed over the whole dataset. To re-rank within the selection, set that interaction to filter:

Format ribbon → Edit interactions, then choose the filter icon over the Bump Chart.

Full explanation in Being filtered by other visuals.

A period is missing from the axis​

A period where every series is blank is dropped rather than drawn empty. If the gap is meaningful, make the measure return a real number for it — [Revenue] + 0, or a COALESCE — so the period carries values.

There's a blank step at the far left​

A blank value in the Time column becomes a step with an empty label, sorted first. Exclude blanks in the visual's filter card, or fix them in the model.

Lines and series​

A line disappears for part of the chart​

Two different causes, and they look different:

What you seeCauseFix
The line breaks, with nothing drawnThe series fell outside the Top N for those periodsRaise Top N, or turn Show only Top N items off
The line continues straight through, with no markerThe series has a blank value in that periodFix the data, or accept it — the bridge is intentional

A series is missing entirely​

  • Top N is on and that series never reaches the top N in any period — it's removed from the chart, the legend and the Data Colors list.
  • Its value is blank in every period, so there is nothing to rank.
  • A filter excludes it.

One series draws a flat line at the top​

If only one series has data, there's only one rank to draw, and it sits at the top of the plot area. That's a data question, not a formatting one — check whether a filter has reduced the field to a single series.

Lines are too thick, or merge into each other​

Reduce Format → Lines → Line Width to 2–3, drop Opacity to 60–80 so crossings show through, and apply Top N. See Dense chart settings.

Labels and text​

Series names are missing on one side​

A label is only drawn where the series' line genuinely reaches that end of the timeline — and only if it's inside the Top N there. A series with no value in the first period gets no left-hand label. See Which labels actually appear.

Also check that Show Left Labels / Show Right Labels are on.

Labels overlap, or sit slightly off their line​

Labels that would collide are nudged downward until they clear each other, so in a crowded chart one can sit just below its line. Reduce Text Size, turn off one side, or apply Top N.

The plot area is squeezed into the middle​

Data labels reserve space on each enabled side for the longest series name. Turn off one side (right-only reads well), shorten the names in the model, or turn labels off and rely on the legend.

Rank numbers are too small, or hard to read​

The rank number scales with the marker, so raise Format → Data Points → Size rather than looking for a font setting. If the numbers disappear against pale series colours, change Rank Color — it must contrast with the series colour, not the background.

Axis labels overlap​

Labels are never rotated or thinned out. Shorten them at the source (2026 Q1 rather than a full date), reduce X-Axis → Text Size, filter to fewer periods, or widen the visual.

Colours​

A series changed colour after a refresh​

Colours are assigned by series name. Renaming a series in the model — or a change in spelling, casing or trailing spaces — makes it a new series, which takes the next palette colour. Fix the name upstream, then set the colour again under Data Colors.

My colour choices have no effect​

  • High contrast mode is on, so Power BI supplies every colour. Your settings return when it's switched off.
  • The series you coloured is no longer drawn (filtered out, or outside the Top N), and a different series has taken its place in the list.

Every series is the same colour​

That's Windows high contrast mode: all lines take the system foreground colour. Keep the legend or data labels on so series stay identifiable.

Interaction problems​

Clicking a line doesn't filter anything​

  • The visual is pinned to a dashboard tile, where Power BI disables interactions.
  • Edit interactions has been set to None between this visual and the others.
  • The other visuals aren't built on a field related to your Series column in the model.

Nothing happens on hover​

Tooltips are attached to the markers. With Format → Data Points → Show off, there is nothing to hover. Check Format → Tooltips → Show as well.

A report-page tooltip doesn't appear​

Three things must all be true: the tooltip page allows use as a tooltip, Format → Tooltips → Show is on, and Format → General → Tooltips is set to Report page with your page selected. The middle one is the usual culprit.

Clicking empty space didn't clear my selection​

Clicks land on the chart surface, so make sure you clicked inside the visual but away from any line or marker — a click on the legend or outside the visual's bounds does something else.

Tooltip values are formatted oddly​

Display units and Decimal places apply only to the Value row. Fields bound to the Tooltips well keep their own model formatting — change the format string on the measure. Leave Decimal places blank to let the format string decide.

Performance and limits​

The chart is slow, or unreadable with many series​

The Bump Chart is a small-multiples-free, one-line-per-series visual: it is legible at roughly 3–15 series and 4–30 periods, and Power BI caps the periods it sends at its standard 1,000-step window.

If you're beyond that:

  • Turn on Show only Top N items.
  • Filter to a date range with a slicer.
  • Aggregate the periods upstream — months instead of days, quarters instead of months.
  • Group the long tail into an "Other" series in Power Query or DAX.

Licensing​

A license notification appears on the visual​

The visual is unlicensed in that environment. Every feature keeps working; the notification is what a license removes. See Licensing.

The notification appears even though we bought a license​

  • Licenses are per user. Everyone who edits or views the report needs one assigned.
  • Licenses are cached for a Power BI session. A newly-licensed user should sign out and back in.
  • The environment may not support AppSource licensing — Report Server, Embedded, Publish to web, SharePoint and sovereign clouds all need a direct license key instead.

My license key says "License verification requires HTTPS"​

Key verification uses browser cryptography that only runs on secure origins. Enable HTTPS on your Power BI Report Server and reload the report.

Getting more help​

  • In-product: the Documentation button on the visual's landing page opens this site.
  • Email support: hello@chartpad.io

Include your Power BI version (Desktop or Service), the visual version, a screenshot, and a small sample of your data — three or four rows in the shape described in Data fields is usually enough to reproduce a problem.

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