Error reading the primary service from the application manifest

[ahiemstra]

I have 10 .pbix files saved in a folder on my Microsoft OneDrive. I'm able to open 8 of them without issue. The other 2, when I try to open them, I receive a message indicating "There was an error reading the primary service from the application manifest." These files have been fine up until Friday when I started to receive this message.

I tried searching the forums and online to resolve the issue however so far have no had success. Some people who experience this issue seem to experience it with all files they open whereas with me, it's only 2 files. I tried pasting the 2 affected files on my desktop and launching from there and they launch fine, no issue.

The issue seems to be with the 2 files in my OneDrive.

Any ideas what's causing this or how to fix them? I read on one forum that someone was able to resolve the issue by renaming the files. I would prefer not to rename the files if I don't have to.

[PowerBIgirl26]

I have the same issue. The file was working fine and I can open the file within powerbi. I rename it and can open it, can't open any files with the original name. I have tried repairing PowerBI and I also have made sure I have the most recent version. 

Was there a solution to this issue? 

[Anonymous]

Hi @ahiemstra ,

Please check the following steps:

• Ensure that the OneDrive sync is complete and there are no errors. Sometimes, files may not sync properly, which could lead to issues when trying to open them directly from OneDrive.
• Although you mentioned a preference to avoid renaming the files, as a troubleshooting step, it might be worth trying to rename them temporarily to see if this resolves the issue. If it does, you can rename them back to their original names. This step is to determine if the issue is related to the file name or path in OneDrive.
• Since the files open without issues from your desktop, try re-uploading them to a different folder in OneDrive. This can help determine if the issue is related to the specific location in OneDrive.

If after trying these steps you're still experiencing issues, please provide more details:

Are the affected files larger in size compared to the ones that open without issue?
Do you receive any specific error codes along with the message?

Best Regards
Community Support Team _ Rongtie

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

[ahiemstra]

OneDrive sync seems complete, and I don’t see any errors.

I tried renaming each of the problematic files and they open fine with the new names. When I change the names back, the error message returns.

One interesting point is if I open Power BI first, then choose Open > OneDrive and select the files this way, they open fine.

Does this suggest an issue with the path? If so, is there any way to fix the path? The easiest solution seems to be to simply open the files from within Power BI, I’m just so used to opening OneDrive and double-clicking the file from there.