Forum Discussion
Dataflow with OneDrive folder as source?
Hello folks,
I'm new to Power BI in the cloud (know the Desktop version for about a year now) and wanted to create a data flow with a folder as a source (which contains several CSV files). This folder is on my tenant's OneDrive. However, I think I understood that the "Folder" source for a data flow is only meant for an on premesis folder and has to be connected via a gateway, right?
So how would I then connect this OneDrive folder and it's CSV files to a data flow? Is this possible at all?
I tried my tenant's SharePoint, too, but to be honest: I don't want to have to create a website first to have a "Documents" folder where I put the raw CSV files. (I tried, though, but got errors.)
Thanks a lot in advance!
Ah! I found the solution here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoH_9L9sPYs
The key is to use the SharePoint Folder data source with the base URL of the OneDrive but then later manually change the "SharePoint.Files" to "SharePoint.Contents"! 😉
6 Replies
Ah! I found the solution here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoH_9L9sPYs
The key is to use the SharePoint Folder data source with the base URL of the OneDrive but then later manually change the "SharePoint.Files" to "SharePoint.Contents"! 😉
Hi metawops ,
Do you mean OneDrive or OneDrive for Business. If you mean For Business this link should help Use OneDrive for Business links in Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Microsoft Docs
If you are trying to get an Excel file from OneDrive, this link should help: Get data from Excel workbook files - Power BI | Microsoft Docs
Or, this link here:
Solved: Reading a onedrive excel file - Microsoft Power BI Community
Once you know how to connect to the file, then you can do this in DataFlow and/or Gateway as needed. But, if it is really OneDrive, you should not need a gateway at all.
Hi Collin
and thanks for your answer, much appreciated!
My question has nothing to do with the MS Power Bi *Desktop* version. There, I have no problem accessing multiple files in a folder.
Instead, I want to create a Dataflow (to my knowledge this term only exists with the Power Bi Service/Cloud version?!). And I want to acces not just one CSV (not Excel) file but many CSV files at once, hence the Folder data source option I'm after. 😉
I have a M365 E5 tenant (that came with my MS Developer account) and that comes with a OneDrive. So I guess it's the business OneDrive then?
This is how I tried it:
- On app.powerbi.com in a newly created Workspace I chose New > Dataflow
- In the next dialog I chose the leftmost button, "Add new tables"
- In the list of data sources I chose "Folder"
- In the "Folder path" textbox I paste the URL to the OneDrive folder
Result: Both dropdown listboxes, "Data gateway" and "Authentication kind" only contain "(none)", nothing else is selectable. From what I read I understood that a gateway is only needed when accessing on premises files, which is not the case here because everything is in the MS cloud on my tenant.
The "Next" button in the lower right corner of the web page stays inactive, is not clickable.
That's where I stand and I'm wondering how I can add a OneDrive folder as a data source for a Dataflow.
Thanks,
Stefan.
metawops I'm trying to do the same thing. Did you ever find a solution?
Bit much that two top tier MS products cant talk to each other.
I cant read a folder full of excel files from a dataflow either. Doesnt even give a proper error message, just wont accept a URL in the folder input method.I have the same trouble, I must use files from uther users in their onedrive. In one case, I solved it deleting the part "/f:/g/" of the path (ex: https://nonononon-my.sharepoint.com/personal/nonon/ )
Unfortunately, the other file doesn't work... I don't know why.
