Forum Discussion
Refresh error with BigQuery credentials
- 4 months ago
Please try the solution that has been marked accepted in below link:
It is similar to what you are experiencing.
- 4 months ago
Hi laracitrinelaw,
Thank you for reaching out to the Fabric Community. We are happy to assist you with your issue!
This is a very common issue you're hitting an OAuth token expiry problem. OAuth tokens used by Power BI for BigQuery don't stay valid indefinitely and require periodic re-authentication. Here's how to fix it permanently:
Root Cause
OAuth tokens expire quickly and often fail on scheduled refresh which is exactly why your first few refreshes work, then it breaks again daily.
Immediate Fix
- Go to Power BI Service → Semantic Model → Settings → Data source credentials
- Delete the existing BigQuery credentials
- Re-authenticate fresh using OAuth2
- Try the refresh again it should work right away
Permanent Fix - Switch to a Service Account
If you're using OAuth, consider switching to a service account with a private key service accounts are much more reliable for automation and scheduled refresh.
Steps:
- In Google Cloud Console → IAM → create/use a Service Account
- Assign roles: BigQuery Data Viewer + BigQuery Job User
- Generate a JSON key file
- In Power BI Service → Data source credentials → select Service Account → upload the JSON key
- This avoids token expiry entirely
Extra Checks
- Make sure to re-enter credentials in both Power BI Desktop AND Power BI Service remove the old ones first, then add updated credentials in both places to keep everything in sync.
- Verify IAM permissions include BigQuery Data Viewer and BigQuery Job User roles missing permissions can cause intermittent failures.
- Use a dedicated service account to avoid expiry issues in the future.
Problem
Fix
OAuth token expires daily
Switch to Service Account JSON auth
Credentials out of sync
Re-enter in both Desktop & Service
Permissions issue
Verify BigQuery IAM roles
Hope this resolves it! Let us know which fix worked for you.Please consider marking this as the Accepted Solution to help other community members find this fix more easily. If this helped you, Kudos are always appreciated!
Hi laracitrinelaw ,
Thank you Lodha_Jaydeep for the response provided!
Has your issue been resolved? If the response provided by the community member addressed your query, could you please confirm? It helps us ensure that the solutions provided are effective and beneficial for everyone.
Thank you.
- v-tejrama4 months agoCommunity Support
Hi laracitrinelaw ,
I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Thank you.