Can't connect / refresh using external SharePoint site

[PetyrBaelish]

I'm trying to connect to a SharePoint site (not my own company's - a company has provided a username/password for me to connect).

In Power BI Desktop I connect via the SharePoint folder method, but when I try to connect using a Microsoft account, it won't let me; I['m presented with the following error message:

Selecting Sign In does nothing (the window flickers for a split second, but goes nowhere)

I then tried Windows authentication - this works in Power BI Desktop (privacy level set to Organizational) and I can refresh in Power BI Desktop.

When I go to Power Bi Service -> select Scheduled Refresh next to the dataset ->  under Data Source Credentials (which is showing the warning: Your data source can't be refreshed because the credentials are invalid. Please update your credentials and try again) when I select Edit credentials the only authentication method that is showing is "Anonymous" - which fails to connect.

I'm not sure how to proceed... Power BI Desktop confines me to a "Windows" connection, then Power BI Service doesn't like it.

[Anonymous]

Hi@PetyrBaelish，

Please check if the filename contains certain special characters, it may lead to authentication errors due to the filename being truncated in the URL. If you are getting unusual authentication errors, make sure that all of the filenames you're using don't contain any of the following special characters.

# % $

If these characters are present in the filename, the file owner must rename the file so that it does NOT contain any of these characters.

Hope it helps.

Best Regards,

Caitlyn Yan

If this post helps then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[PetyrBaelish]

Hi @CaitlynV ,

The filenames don't contain any strange characters. In Power Bi Desktop we can successfully connect to the SharePoint folder - see all the files that are visible, filter it to the relevant files (all spreadsheets), expand their contents and trasnform the relevant columns. It is only when we publish this to Power BI Service that it becomes a problem.

In Power Bi Desktop, the first couple of steps in query editor are:

---

= SharePoint.Files("https://portal.xxxx.com/sites/xxxx/", [ApiVersion = 15])
= Table.SelectRows(Source, each [Date created] > #datetime(2021, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0))

---

[lbendlin]

The credential type doesn't really have to match between desktop, service and gateway.  Speaking of which - is that sharepoint a Sharepoint Online (something.sharepoint.com) or on-premise (sharepoint.company.com) ?

[PetyrBaelish]

The address is https://portal.xxxx/sites/xxxx

I'm not 100% sure if this is SharePoint Online or on-premises.