Authentication popup suppression in power query excel

[Siddhipatil]

Hi everyone, I have connected a power query for a sharepoint list in a file in my system and set the authentication as organizational in global settngs, however the sign in popup comes for other users when they open the file at their end, is there a way we can set the organizational sign in by default in the main file ao users dont get popups for this again? Through M query or something

Thank you

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Siddhipatil,

We are following up to see if what we shared solved your issue. If you need more support, please reach out to the Microsoft Fabric community.

Thank you.

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Siddhipatil,

We would like to follow up and see whether the details we shared have resolved your problem.
If you need any more assistance, please feel free to connect with the Microsoft Fabric community.

Thank you.

[Poojara_D12]

Hi @Siddhipatil 

No — unfortunately, you can’t fully “bake in” the Organizational Account authentication into a Power BI or Power Query file in a way that automatically signs in other users without a prompt, because Power Query intentionally does not store or share credentials inside the PBIX or Excel file for security reasons. When you set the authentication method to “Organizational Account” in your local Power BI or Excel file, that setting is stored in your local data source privacy and credential store, not in the file itself. So when another user opens the same file on their machine, Power Query sees a new environment with no stored credentials for that SharePoint source and prompts them to sign in.

There’s no M query syntax that can force or preconfigure authentication for other users either — M code only defines the data retrieval steps, not credential handling. The two main ways to avoid repeated popups are:

1. Instruct users to sign in once and store credentials under Data source settings → Global → Organizational account, so subsequent refreshes don’t prompt again.

2. Publish the dataset to Power BI Service and use a gateway or cloud connection, so authentication happens centrally through the service, not each user’s desktop.

If you’re working in Excel, you can also use SharePoint Organizational connections in Power Query and ensure users are signed in to Microsoft 365 in their Office account — if they’re already authenticated at the app level, Power Query may auto-pick their credentials without extra prompts. But ultimately, each user must authenticate once on their machine — there’s no supported method to pre-set Organizational Account credentials in the file itself for everyone else.

[v-pnaroju-msft · Accepted solution]

Thankyou, @Praful_Potphode, for your response.

Hi Siddhipatil,

We appreciate your enquiry through the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

Based on my understanding, Power Query credentials and privacy settings are specific to each user and each machine, they are not embedded within the Excel file. Consequently, other users are prompted to sign in when accessing the workbook from their own devices. The sign in prompt appears because Power Query stores authentication and privacy settings locally for each user. Even if the workbook is configured to use an Organizational Account, every user who opens the file must authenticate once with their own credentials due to security and tenant policies (for example, MFA and Conditional Access).

Please follow the steps below to help prevent repeated sign in prompts:

1. Each user should sign in to Office via Excel → File → Account → Sign in.
2. Go to Data → Get Data → Data Source Settings → Edit Permissions, select the SharePoint source, choose Organizational Account, and sign in once, the credential will be reused.
3. If multiple users need seamless access to the file, consider using Excel for the web, which leverages browser based single sign on (SSO).
4. If authentication prompts persist for all users, the Microsoft 365 administrator should review Conditional Access and MFA policies and enable Seamless SSO or device join where appropriate.

To suppress privacy level popups, go to Data → Get Data → Query Options → Current Workbook → Privacy, select Ignore the Privacy levels and potentially improve performance, and consider this setting only when the sources are trusted.

Additionally, please refer to the links provided below:
Privacy levels in Power Query - Power Query | Microsoft Learn
Authentication in desktop apps - Power Query | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft Entra Connect: Seamless single sign-on - Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn

We hope this information helps to resolve the issue. Should you have any further queries, please feel free to contact the Microsoft Fabric community.

Thank you.

[Siddhipatil]

Sure and also for the privacy level popup is there a way to suppress it? 

[Praful_Potphode]

Hi @Siddhipatil ,

Privacy level is one time popup that you can fill from your end and publish.

once you do it then they will not see that  option.

Please mark it as resolved once confirmed

[Praful_Potphode]

Hi,

Can you check with your 365 admin team, if any specific setting(like MFA,single signin) is enforced from their end.