Summary
- Microsoft is retiring support for referenced linked entities in Power Platform Dataflows, which are used to let one dataflow consume tables from another.
- New referenced linked entities will be blocked, and existing ones will stop being supported after the retirement date.
- Power Platform admins and dataflow owners should identify any dataflows that depend on this pattern and migrate them to supported standard dataflow connector references.
- If you rely on cascade refresh behavior, you will need to replace it with separate refresh schedules or Power Automate-based orchestration.
Primary Service: Power Platform
Admin Impact: High
User Impact: Low
Release Start: 01 Sept 2026
Release End: 31 Oct 2026
Services: Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Platform
Category: Plan for change
Tags: Admin Action, Retirement, User Adoption
History
9/2/2026 Item Added to Message Center
Microsoft Message
We’re retiring support for referenced linked entities in Power Platform Dataflows. Referenced linked entities allow a dataflow to consume tables from another dataflow and provide capabilities such as dependency validation and cascade refresh.
To simplify dataflow dependencies and align with supported dataflow architectures, creation of new referenced linked entities will be disabled beginning September 1, 2026. Existing referenced linked entities will continue to function during a migration period but will no longer be supported after October 31, 2026.
Rollout Schedule
Worldwide rollout
- September 1, 2026: Creation of new referenced linked entities will be disabled.
- September 1 through October 31, 2026: Migration period for affected dataflows.
- October 31, 2026: Support for existing referenced linked entities ends. Dataflows that continue to rely on referenced linked entities after this date will no longer function as expected.
Impact on Your Organization
You are receiving this message because your organization has one or more dataflows that use referenced linked entities.
Who is affected
- Power Platform administrators
- Dataflow owners and creators
- Organizations with dataflows that consume entities from other dataflows through referenced linked entities
Platforms and services
- Microsoft Power Platform
- Power Platform Dataflows
- Power Automate, when used to coordinate dependent dataflow refreshes
What will happen
- New referenced linked entities cannot be created after September 1, 2026.
- Existing referenced linked entities will remain operational during the migration period.
- Dataflows that have not been migrated by October 31, 2026, will stop working when support ends.
- Dataflows copied during migration will use standard Dataflows connector references instead of referenced linked entity references.
- Organizations that currently use cascade refresh functionality will need to implement an alternative refresh orchestration approach.
Action Required / Recommendations
To avoid service disruption, complete the following steps for each affected consuming dataflow between September 1, 2026, and October 31, 2026:
- Create a copy of the consuming dataflow that references linked entities.
- Verify that the copied dataflow uses standard Dataflows connector references.
- Validate that the copied dataflow refreshes successfully.
- Delete the original consuming dataflow after validation is complete.
If you currently depend on cascade refresh behavior:
- Configure separate refresh schedules for upstream and downstream dataflows, or
- Use Power Automate to trigger downstream refreshes after upstream dataflows complete successfully.
We recommend identifying affected dataflows and planning migrations as soon as possible to ensure completion before the October 31, 2026, support deadline.