Dynamic display of HTTP URL Images

Hi TanguyMa ,

It sounds like you've run into a common issue when trying to display images in Power BI from a URL. The most frequent cause for this behavior is that Power BI doesn't know that the text in your column is meant to be an image. You need to explicitly tell it by setting the column's Data Category. To do this, go to the Data view or Model view in Power BI Desktop, select the table and the specific column that contains your image URLs. Then, in the Column tools ribbon that appears at the top, find the Data category dropdown and change it from "Uncategorized" to "Image URL". This simple step usually resolves the problem right away. ✨

If changing the data category doesn't work, the next thing to check is accessibility. While the URL works for you in a browser on your machine, Power BI Desktop might be getting blocked. Your browser could be using cached credentials or specific network permissions that the Power BI application itself doesn't have. A good way to test this is to open a private or incognito browser window and paste the URL; if it still loads without asking for a login, it confirms that the image allows for anonymous access, which is what Power BI requires.

Another potential hurdle could be a proxy or firewall issue. Corporate network security can sometimes prevent applications like Power BI Desktop from accessing external or even internal network URLs. The Power BI application needs to have clear access to the webserver on your NAS. This is something you might need to discuss with your IT department to ensure Power BI isn't being blocked.

Finally, keep in mind that if you plan to publish this report to the Power BI Service, the service will also need to access these URLs. Since your NAS is on a local network, the Power BI Service (which is in the cloud) won't be able to reach it. For published reports, the images must be hosted on a publicly accessible web server. For now, focusing on Power BI Desktop, the Data Category and potential network blocks are your most likely culprits.

Best regards,