Join us at FabCon Atlanta from March 16 - 20, 2026, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.
Register now!To celebrate FabCon Vienna, we are offering 50% off select exams. Ends October 3rd. Request your discount now.
I am brand new to Power BI and attempting to get it setup on my computer to test out for our firm.
When I try to connect to a SQL Instance local on my computer I receive the following error. I am running as a local user, and not a local admin. I need to be able to open Power BI without admin rights also. (When I run Power BI as a local admin I am able to connect to the SQL instance without an issue.) My local user is able to log into the SQL Instance and DB in SQL Server Managment Studio.
Is it available to run Power BI as a local user and connect to a SQL DB to pull data?
Thank you for your assistance!
Solved! Go to Solution.
Hi @ldragos
You may refer to below post.
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/can-t-connect-to-SQL-without-admin-rights/td-p/13810
Regards,
Cherie
Hi @ldragos
You may refer to below post.
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/can-t-connect-to-SQL-without-admin-rights/td-p/13810
Regards,
Cherie
I tried to uninstall and reinstall, twice. I'm getting the same behavior on two different computers. I have a trace I could email to you. I don't see how to attach it to this thread.
Thank you!
Does anyone have any idea that would assist me to be able to run Power BI as local user and connect to SQL DB?
Hi @ldragos
I would recommend you open a support ticket on the support.powerbi.com site.
Regards,
Cherie
I totally uninstalled Power BI again, deleted all folders and files left behind, rebooted, and reinstalled. This time I was able to connect to our SQL DB running as a local user.
Thank you for your assistance!
User | Count |
---|---|
98 | |
76 | |
74 | |
49 | |
26 |