Power BI does not support 32 bit Access DB

[DashboardABC]

Tried to import some Access DataBase queries into Power BI dataset but got reminded it does not support 32 bit Access.

Is this an attention to work this way or it is a bug can be fixed? 

[CahabaData]

I realize this is an old post - but I didn't see a suggestion that I think is important:

* the 32 bit install of Office is widely recommended and still most common

* the 64 bit install of Power BI is most common

I think the idea of altering either to not be the most practical approach to this dilemma.

An alternative, if it is at all feasible, is to export the Access tables out to excel.  They can then be brought into Power BI without a problem. 

A side benefit to this is that, if one knows the Access data, a simple query can define which data gets exported - and so you can perform the first step of Power BI work as part of this as well by not exporting unneeded fields and also delimiting the range of records.

[nirrobi]

Hi,

Are you using 32k/64k version of power BI?

I had a problem similar to you (I think) - I have 32K oracle db and when tried to connect to power bi 64K got the same err msg you have/

Try to download the 32k version of power BI hope it will help you like it helped me.

[DashboardABC]

@nirrobi thanks for the advice. I think this is prossibly the reason. When I downloaded it, it is defaulted to 64 bit. Do you know if there is any 32 bit available? Cheers.

[Greg_Deckler]

Are you doing this through the Service or Designer?

[DashboardABC]

I am talking about the Power BI desktop. So i assume it is the designer in your word?

[nirrobi]

Yes.

[mllopis · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

Both 32-bit and 64-bit are supported when it comes to importing Access files. The only requirement is to have the ACE OLEDB provider installed on your machine, in a bit-ness that matches the one of your Power BI Desktop installation.

If you have Office installed in your machine, the ACE OLEDB provider comes with it and it matches the bitness of Office. This might be an issue if you're running 32-bit Office in a 64-bit environment as there is no way to overwrite the version of the ACE OLEDB provider and, by default, Power BI Desktop will be installed in 64-bit.

Your options are either to install 64-bit Office (not likely, I assume, due to other dependencies), or to install Power BI Desktop 32-bit. You can pick the exact bitness and language that you want from our Advanced Download page:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=45331

We're currently looking at other solutions that don't require a change to your installation, but don't have a timeline to share at this stage.

Hope this helps.

M.

[Tiff]

Hi mllopis, 

I tried your solution, and it worked perfectly. 
But now I have a problem using 32 bits Power BI, is the problem of the memory !

I saw on the Internet that 32bits power BI can have this kind of problem, with a massive database, but how to solve it ? 

I can't change my 32bits Access base, and power 32 bits is not powerful enougth, and power 64bits doesn't match with 32bits Access database ! 
How can I solve my problem ? 😮 

[mbwt]

Hi,

I had the same issue (see error message below)...  so I uninstalled my 32-bit version of office...  and installed 64-bit version...  restarted 2X...  and am still getting the same error...  i.e., unable to Load the Access database tables into Power BI.  Hope to can help.  Thanks.

Version of Access on my machine:

[CahabaData]

Did you delete the prior connections and make brand new ones?  Also sanity check your new Access install by opening it and looking at the tables.  You might copy a duplicate of the Access file and change its name slightly....and then attempt to import the tables of this new file.

[mbwt]

Thanks for your reply.  I deleted the prior connections, backed up the database, restored it...  and still get the 64-bit error message.

[CahabaData]

I guess I didn't ask - - you did do what the message says to do right?  ....downloaded the ODBC connector....

[mbwt]

I'm not sure that I did.  Could you supply best link for that?  Thanks!

[CahabaData]

actually - please check and confirm your operating system - whether it is 32 or 64

[mbwt]

[Anonymous]

For those of us who have a 64bit Windows install and mostly 32bit Drivers, what link do we use to get the 32bit version of PowerBI Desktop?

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@Anonymous https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=45331

Click download and you can select the x86 version "PBIDesktop.msi"

[Ashish_D]

any update on this ,. I see this post is verey old.  I cant install as IT governs the system. So need anoterh solution to connect MS access databse to power bi

[dung-anh]

Hi mllopis,

Do you have the solution at this time? (not need to change the installation of ACCESS?)

I have the same problem with:

-Oracle: the provider used is deprecated: "systeme.data.oracleclient requires software client Oracle version 8.1.7 or higher"

-Access : The Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 provider is not registered on the local computer. The OLEDB provider for the 64-bit version of Access 2010 Access Database Engine database engine is needed to connect and read this type of file

@all: if you guys have some document on the prerequired system for data connection to: Access,DB2, ORACLE please send mail at dunganhl@exakis.fr

thanks in advance,