Forum Discussion

prabavathym's avatar
prabavathym
Helper II
11 months ago
Solved

Power BI cannot connect to SQL Server

I can connect to SQL Server from Tableau (Direct Query) without issues, but Power BI fails with errors like “error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server” or “Connection Timeout / pre-login ...
Need Help
rohit1991's avatar
rohit1991
Super User
11 months ago

Hi prabavathym 

This happens because Tableau uses its own ODBC drivers, while Power BI depends on Microsoft SQL drivers. Fix is usually:

  • Install the latest MSOLEDBSQL driver.
  • In Power BI connection >> Advanced options, test with Encrypt/Trust server certificate on/off.
  • Use SERVER,PORT instead of SERVER\INSTANCE.
  • Ensure TCP/IP remote connections are enabled in SQL Server.

Reference: 
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/connect/oledb/download-oledb-driver-for-sql-server?view=sql-server-ver17