Forum Discussion
Helper IVDirect Access vs sharing via link difference
Solution Specialist
Direct access in Power BI means granting a user direct permission to access a report or dashboard without requiring them to navigate through any shared content or group membership. It provides immediate access to the report without any additional steps.
Sharing a report via a link means generating a URL that can be shared with specific people or groups. The recipients can access the report via the link without needing to sign in to Power BI or having direct access to the report.
In general, direct access is a more secure way to grant access to reports and dashboards, as it limits access to only those users who are explicitly granted permission. Sharing a report via a link, on the other hand, can be useful for sharing reports with a wider audience, but it can also create potential security risks if the link is shared outside the intended audience.
Regarding your specific question, it's possible that the settings you've configured for sharing the report via link and granting direct access are causing them to behave similarly in terms of access permissions. However, it's important to note that these are two different methods of granting access, and they may have different implications for security, sharing, and collaboration.
Let me know if this helps or if you would like to further discuss this!
Best regards,
Isaac Chavarria
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Advocate IThis answer is incorrect. Sharing via the link functionality in Manage Permissions has exactly the same security features as direct access. As far as I can tell, there is no functional difference between the two methods of managing access. In my organization we use Direct Access exclusively, just so we keep it all in one place, but functionally it appears to provide exactly the same result regardless of which method you use.