PL-900 Demonstrate the capabilities of Power Apps Practice Question
A user reports that a canvas app is loading slowly. The app connects to a large SharePoint list with over 10,000 items. Which change would most improve performance?
⚠ Common exam trap
PL-900 often tests the misconception that increasing the delegation limit solves performance issues, when in fact it only masks the problem by allowing more records to be processed locally, which can degrade performance further.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Apply a delegable filter on the data source to limit records returned.
Delegation is the key to performance with large data sources. When a canvas app connects to SharePoint, operations that can be translated into a query (delegable) are processed server-side, returning only the necessary records. Applying a delegable filter (e.g., using '=' or 'StartsWith' on indexed columns) reduces the amount of data transferred and processed by the app, directly improving load time. Non-delegable operations force Power Apps to fetch the first 500 (or up to 2000) records and process them locally, which is slow and may miss data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the delegation limit to 10,000.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing delegation limit doesn't speed up loading; it only allows more records.
- ✓
Apply a delegable filter on the data source to limit records returned.
Why this is correct
Delegation pushes filtering to SharePoint rather than pulling all 10,000+ items to the client, so only matching records cross the network. This directly addresses the large-list constraint causing slow loading, whereas non-delegable filters retrieve the full dataset first and process it locally.
- ✗
Add more screens to distribute the data.
Why it's wrong here
Adding screens increases the app's memory footprint and initial load work without reducing the SharePoint query volume; delegation limits still cap returned rows. Distributing data across screens does not address the underlying non-delegable query. Delegable filtering and indexed columns on the SharePoint list are what improve performance.
- ✗
Disable offline mode.
Why it's wrong here
Offline mode affects local caching of data for disconnected use, not the volume of records retrieved from SharePoint. Disabling it removes cached copies but leaves the non-delegable query returning only the first 500 or 2,000 items. Delegable filters and indexed columns are the actual remedy for slow loading.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PL-900 question from scratch — 701 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PL-900
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A canvas app includes a gallery that shows a list of customers. The app loads slowly when the gallery displays more than 500 records. What is the best way to improve performance?
hard- A.Use a non-delegable query
- B.Convert the app to a model-driven app
- ✓ C.Apply a filter to the gallery data source
- D.Increase the gallery height
Why C: Canvas apps use delegation to push filtering and sorting to the data source; when a query is non-delegable, Power Apps retrieves only the first 500 (or 2000, depending on the connector) records and processes the rest locally, which is why performance degrades past 500 records. Applying a filter that is delegable to the gallery's data source reduces the result set at the source, so the app only pulls the records it actually needs. This is the standard, low-effort fix for gallery performance issues.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
This PL-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PL-900 exam.