Images Not Loading in Power BI Report from SharePoint with Direct URLs

[user26]

Hello,

We are facing an issue with our Power BI report where images stored in SharePoint are not appearing in the report. Instead, blank image placeholders are displayed.

Process Overview:
Each month, division users submit content images via PowerApps, which stores them in SharePoint. The image URLs are then saved in our database tables processed through DataBricks, and this data is sent to Power BI for display in the report. While the text data is loaded correctly, the images fail to load in the Power BI Service.

We have ensured that the ImageURL columns in Power BI are set to the "Image URL" data type, but the issue persists.

Current Behavior:
We’ve observed that if users open SharePoint in the same browser session as Power BI, the images appear after refreshing the Power BI report page. However, this is not an ideal solution, as we cannot ask users to open SharePoint every time.

Questions:

• Has anyone encountered a similar issue?

• Are there any solutions or workarounds to ensure the images load correctly without requiring users to manually access SharePoint ij the same browser?

Thank you in advance for your help!

[lbendlin · Accepted solution]

The Power BI service has no access to the images stored on your sharepoint, nor should it.  Place your images on a public share, or include them in the semantic model as Base64.

[v-sathmakuri]

Hi @user26 ,

I hope this information proves helpful. Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions or would like to discuss this in more detail. If responses provided answers your question, please accept it as a solution so other community members with similar problems can find a solution faster.

Thank you.

[v-sathmakuri]

Hi @user26 ,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If the responses has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[v-sathmakuri]

Hi @user26 ,

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[v-sathmakuri · Accepted solution]

Hi @user26  ,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.

Thank you @lbendlin   for prompt repsonse.

Here are some addition details:

Power BI Service cannot authenticate to SharePoint to fetch images unless the user is already logged into SharePoint in the same session. Below could be the alternate solutions :

Store images in an anonymous-accessible location, such as:

• Azure Blob Storage with public or SAS-token-based access
• CDN
• Public SharePoint folder (less recommended)

Then use those accessible URLs in Power BI. This ensures images load without requiring separate SharePoint authentication.

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it! 

Thanks & Regards,

Rekha.

CustomerSupportTeam

[user26]

Thank you for your response and suggestions. @v-sathmakuri and @lbendlin .

While we appreciate the proposed solutions, due to strict cybersecurity restrictions within our organization, we are unable to use public/anonymous access methods such as Azure Blob Storage with public or SAS-token-based access(if it's public access/anonymous), or public SharePoint folders. Additionally, as this solution is intended for C-suite level users, maintaining a high level of security and privacy is critical.

We can store images directly from Power Apps to Blob Storage without involving SharePoint. However, we are wondering if it would be possible to access the image URLs in Power BI without enabling public/anonymous access to the storage.

We are exploring alternative options that align with our security policies while ensuring seamless access to images in Power BI. If anyone has further suggestions or insights that would work within these constraints, we would greatly appreciate your input.

Thank you again for your assistance.

[lbendlin]

However, we are wondering if it would be possible to access the image URLs in Power BI without enabling public/anonymous access to the storage.

You would have to grant the Power BI Service access to your Azure Blob storage.  There are hundreds if not thousands of IP addresses involved.

You will find that inlining the images is your only reliable option.

[user26]

Hi @lbendlin 

Thank you for your response.

I'm still trying to fully understand the implications of your suggestion. You mentioned that granting the Power BI Service access to Azure Blob Storage involves hundreds or even thousands of IP addresses, and that inlining images might be the only reliable option.

Could you kindly elaborate on this a bit further?

Specifically:

• Why does inlining become a more reliable solution in this scenario?
• Are there any recommended best practices or documentation links you could share for implementing inlined images in Power BI?

I appreciate your time and insights—I'm just trying to ensure I follow the best and most sustainable approach.

Thanks again!

[lbendlin]

https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2019/05/19/storing-large-images-in-power-bi-datasets/

[lbendlin · Accepted solution]

The Power BI service has no access to the images stored on your sharepoint, nor should it.  Place your images on a public share, or include them in the semantic model as Base64.