Forum Discussion
Viewer Access - PowerBINotLicensedException
We have purchased a Fabric Capacity License, in the past we had Power BI Pro for each user. Our users who have Viewer access have started getting the error: PowerBINotLicensedException in the Org App. My concern is 20% of the users now get this error and are not able to access the Org App. Our IT department has not found a solution and feels we should just purchase a PPU license for our Fabric Capacity. I am the workspace admin, so I am limited at what I can do. Can someone help me find a solution or point me in a direction that could help? thank you
First, thank you so much for a reply. I check the first two items and it seems they are set up under the Capacity setup. However, one thing looked odd. While it shows we have the license when I looked the workspace Admin Portal it shows it is under a Trial Capacity while the Fabric Capacity is empty. I mentioned this to our IT and they said this has no barring because it resets every 20 days for example. But this cannot be as only 20% of our viewer have this issue. My fear is the remaining viewers will start to have this the same issue. As previously mentioned I think we purchase PPU before then in the spring we moved to Fabric but I see all the reports are under our Org App which falls under the Fabric Capacity. thank you againUnder FabricUnder Admin Portal: Capacity Settingsd from my perspective.
Hello henry_fen ,
The error PowerBINotLicensedException usually happens when users without a Power BI Pro license try to access reports, and the Fabric capacity SKU is not high enough to cover “viewers.”
👉 To allow users to consume content without needing a Pro license, your Fabric capacity must be at least an F64 or higher.
SKUs below F64 (like F2, F4, F8…) still require users to have a Pro license.
From F64 and up, users with just a Fabric free license can view reports hosted on that capacity.
So the fix is not to buy PPU licenses for everyone, but to check your current Fabric SKU:
If you’re on < F64 → Pro is still required.
If you upgrade to F64 or higher, your viewers can access the Org App without Pro.
Reference: Microsoft Fabric licensing and capacity requirements
Best regards,
Antoine
4 Replies
Hi henry_fen
This error usually means the workspace isn’t running on the right capacity. A Fabric Capacity license lets users with “Viewer” access consume reports without a Pro license, but only if the workspace is actually assigned to that Fabric (or Premium) capacity. If the workspace is still tied to Pro or PPU, those users will see PowerBINotLicensedException.
The quick check is:
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Confirm the workspace is assigned to your Fabric capacity.
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Make sure reports don’t use Premium Per User (PPU) features, because those always require a PPU license.
-
For normal viewing in Fabric capacity, no extra Pro licenses are needed.
Once the workspace is fully on Fabric capacity, your viewers should be able to open the Org App without this error.
First, thank you so much for a reply. I check the first two items and it seems they are set up under the Capacity setup. However, one thing looked odd. While it shows we have the license when I looked the workspace Admin Portal it shows it is under a Trial Capacity while the Fabric Capacity is empty. I mentioned this to our IT and they said this has no barring because it resets every 20 days for example. But this cannot be as only 20% of our viewer have this issue. My fear is the remaining viewers will start to have this the same issue. As previously mentioned I think we purchase PPU before then in the spring we moved to Fabric but I see all the reports are under our Org App which falls under the Fabric Capacity. thank you againUnder FabricUnder Admin Portal: Capacity Settingsd from my perspective.
Hello henry_fen ,
The error PowerBINotLicensedException usually happens when users without a Power BI Pro license try to access reports, and the Fabric capacity SKU is not high enough to cover “viewers.”
👉 To allow users to consume content without needing a Pro license, your Fabric capacity must be at least an F64 or higher.
SKUs below F64 (like F2, F4, F8…) still require users to have a Pro license.
From F64 and up, users with just a Fabric free license can view reports hosted on that capacity.
So the fix is not to buy PPU licenses for everyone, but to check your current Fabric SKU:
If you’re on < F64 → Pro is still required.
If you upgrade to F64 or higher, your viewers can access the Org App without Pro.
Reference: Microsoft Fabric licensing and capacity requirements
Best regards,
Antoine
-
Thank you both. I saw that we have an F4 SKU and confirmed this with our IT. They have misunderstood what and SKU F4 means.
