Connect to shared Excel file in OneDrive for Business with "guest link" (Anonymous Authentication)

[Anonymous]

Hello friends,

I have a simple shared Excel file on OneDrive for Business (shared with anyone = "guest link")
I want to import it as a source with my query.

When I do this:

= Excel.Workbook(Web.Contents("https://team8industrial-my.sharepoint.com/personal/michaelshparber_team8industrial_onmicrosoft_com/_..."), null, true)

I get error message:

DataFormat.Error: The input URL is invalid. Please provide a URL to the file path on SharePoint up to the file name only (with no query or fragment part).

Maybe I can alter the link somehow?

Please help

Thank you

Michael

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

Do you connect to Excel file on OneDrive for Business in Power BI Desktop using Anonymous option? If that is the case, I get the following error message when using Anonymous option. As stated in this article, we need to use Organizational Account (for Office 365 or OneDrive for Business sites) when connecting to files on OneDrvice for Business.

However, it is possible to connect to Excel file on OneDrive for personal in Power BI Desktop using Anonymous option.

Thanks,
Lydia Zhang

[Anonymous]

Thanks Lydia,

So I understand it's just not possible, even if the file is shared publicly with everyone as a "guest link".

Strange, but if  so - I'll search for another storage option.

Thanks again for the reply.

Michael

[MattAllington]

Read my article here.  It describes how to connect Power BI to one drive files  http://exceleratorbi.com.au/data-modelling-onedrive-source-files/ 

[Anonymous]

Great Article!

While it's working fantastic with OAuth2 - it doesn't work with "guest link"

The Url needs some other stucture...

?

Thanks!

Michael

[MattAllington]

I haven't tested this, but my assumption is you own the file and hence you should be able to make a secure connection to the file. The guest link is just a way for other to connect to the file.