diff --git a/admin/settings/reportbuilder.php b/admin/settings/reportbuilder.php
index 83b630fd785..9b76d04e2d4 100644
--- a/admin/settings/reportbuilder.php
+++ b/admin/settings/reportbuilder.php
@@ -58,4 +58,9 @@ $settings->add(new admin_setting_configtext(
     new lang_string('customreportslimit', 'core_reportbuilder'),
     new lang_string('customreportslimit_desc', 'core_reportbuilder'), 0, PARAM_INT));
 
+$settings->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox(
+    'customreportsliveediting',
+    new lang_string('customreportsliveediting', 'core_reportbuilder'),
+    new lang_string('customreportsliveediting_desc', 'core_reportbuilder'), 1));
+
 $ADMIN->add('reportbuilder', $settings);
diff --git a/lang/en/reportbuilder.php b/lang/en/reportbuilder.php
index dc15edcb3f9..69e828f669a 100644
--- a/lang/en/reportbuilder.php
+++ b/lang/en/reportbuilder.php
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ $string['customfieldcolumn'] = '{$a}';
 $string['customreports'] = 'Custom reports';
 $string['customreportslimit'] = 'Custom reports limit';
 $string['customreportslimit_desc'] = 'The number of custom reports may be limited for performance reasons. If set to zero, then there is no limit.';
+$string['customreportsliveediting'] = 'Custom reports live editing';
+$string['customreportsliveediting_desc'] = 'If enabled, users can view report data while editing the report. This may be disabled for performance reasons.';
+$string['customreportsliveeditingdisabled'] = 'Viewing of report data while editing is disabled by the site administrator. Switch to preview mode to view the report.';
 $string['customreportssettings'] = 'Custom report settings';
 $string['deleteaudience'] = 'Delete audience \'{$a}\'';
 $string['deleteaudienceconfirm'] = 'Are you sure you want to delete the audience \'{$a}\'?';
diff --git a/reportbuilder/classes/table/custom_report_table.php b/reportbuilder/classes/table/custom_report_table.php
index 6bdb7e20671..ac915fb5ecc 100644
--- a/reportbuilder/classes/table/custom_report_table.php
+++ b/reportbuilder/classes/table/custom_report_table.php
@@ -78,10 +78,11 @@ class custom_report_table extends base_report_table {
         $this->showdownloadbuttonsat = [TABLE_P_BOTTOM];
         $this->is_downloading($download ?? null, $this->persistent->get_formatted_name());
 
-        // Retrieve all report columns, exit early if there are none.
+        // Retrieve all report columns, exit early if there are none. Defining empty columns prevents errors during out().
         $columns = $this->get_active_columns();
         if (empty($columns)) {
             $this->init_sql('*', "{{$maintable}} {$maintablealias}", [], '1=0', []);
+            $this->define_columns([0]);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -281,7 +282,16 @@ class custom_report_table extends base_report_table {
         echo html_writer::end_tag('div');
         $this->wrap_html_finish();
 
-        $notification = (new notification(get_string('nothingtodisplay'), notification::NOTIFY_INFO, false))
+        // With the live editing disabled we need to notify user that data is shown only in preview mode.
+        if ($this->editing && !self::show_live_editing()) {
+            $notificationmsg = get_string('customreportsliveeditingdisabled', 'core_reportbuilder');
+            $notificationtype = notification::NOTIFY_WARNING;
+        } else {
+            $notificationmsg = get_string('nothingtodisplay');
+            $notificationtype = notification::NOTIFY_INFO;
+        }
+
+        $notification = (new notification($notificationmsg, $notificationtype, false))
             ->set_extra_classes(['mt-3']);
         echo $OUTPUT->render($notification);
 
@@ -315,4 +325,35 @@ class custom_report_table extends base_report_table {
         }
         return $html;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Overriding this method to handle live editing setting.
+     * @param int $pagesize
+     * @param bool $useinitialsbar
+     * @param string $downloadhelpbutton
+     */
+    public function out($pagesize, $useinitialsbar, $downloadhelpbutton = '') {
+        $this->pagesize = $pagesize;
+        $this->setup();
+
+        // If the live editing setting is disabled, we not need to fetch custom report data except in preview mode.
+        if (!$this->editing || self::show_live_editing()) {
+            $this->query_db($pagesize, $useinitialsbar);
+            $this->build_table();
+            $this->close_recordset();
+        }
+
+        $this->finish_output();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Whether or not report data should be included in the table while in editing mode
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    private static function show_live_editing(): bool {
+        global $CFG;
+
+        return !empty($CFG->customreportsliveediting);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/reportbuilder/tests/behat/customreports.feature b/reportbuilder/tests/behat/customreports.feature
index 6fa5df5bf85..fd5d83f60a5 100644
--- a/reportbuilder/tests/behat/customreports.feature
+++ b/reportbuilder/tests/behat/customreports.feature
@@ -233,3 +233,17 @@ Feature: Manage custom reports
       | customreportslimit     | 2 |
     And I reload the page
     And "New report" "button" should not exist
+
+  Scenario: Disable live editing of custom reports
+    Given the following config values are set as admin:
+      | customreportsliveediting     | 0 |
+    And the following "core_reportbuilder > Reports" exist:
+      | name           | source                                       |
+      | Report users   | core_user\reportbuilder\datasource\users     |
+    When I am on the "Report users" "reportbuilder > Editor" page logged in as "admin"
+    Then I should see "Viewing of report data while editing is disabled by the site administrator. Switch to preview mode to view the report." in the "[data-region='core_table/dynamic']" "css_element"
+    And I click on "Switch to preview mode" "button"
+    And I should see "admin" in the "reportbuilder-table" "table"
+    And I click on "Close 'Report users' editor" "button"
+    And I press "View" action in the "Report users" report row
+    And I should see "admin" in the "reportbuilder-table" "table"