Forum Discussion
Power BI on a mac
Hi my friend wants to download a free version of power bi on a Mac. Is there a way to do this without a virtual machine?
Hi Mikes128 ,
Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.
Thank you SamsonTruong and BhavinVyas3003 and for the prompt response.
Whatever SamsonTruong and BhavinVyas3003 said was correct. Currently, Power BI Desktop is only supported on Windows systems and is not available for direct installation on Mac.
If you want to use Power BI Desktop on your Mac computer, you can consider running it on a virtual machine or cloud service. Additionally, here is an idea (https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Fabric-Ideas/Power-BI-desktop-for-mac-URGENT/idi-p/4627918) similar to yours that you can vote for. If an idea receives high votes from other customers, it is likely that the Microsoft Product Team will consider it when designing future versions.
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!
Thank you!!
4 Replies
v-sathmakuriCommunity Support
Hi Mikes128 ,
Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.
Thank you SamsonTruong and BhavinVyas3003 and for the prompt response.
Whatever SamsonTruong and BhavinVyas3003 said was correct. Currently, Power BI Desktop is only supported on Windows systems and is not available for direct installation on Mac.
If you want to use Power BI Desktop on your Mac computer, you can consider running it on a virtual machine or cloud service. Additionally, here is an idea (https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Fabric-Ideas/Power-BI-desktop-for-mac-URGENT/idi-p/4627918) similar to yours that you can vote for. If an idea receives high votes from other customers, it is likely that the Microsoft Product Team will consider it when designing future versions.
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!
Thank you!!
- BhavinVyas3003
Super User
Hi,
Power BI Desktop can't be installed directly on a Mac.
You can use Power BI Service, the web-based version, which is free and compatible with macOS.
If you require the full capabilities of Power BI Desktop, consider the following options:
- Virtual Machine: Install Windows on your Mac using virtualization software like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, then install Power BI Desktop within the Windows environment.
- Boot Camp: Use Apple's Boot Camp to install Windows on a separate partition of your Mac's hard drive, allowing you to boot into Windows and run Power BI Desktop.
Thanks,
Bhavin
- SamsonTruong
Hi Mikes128 , currently there is no way to natively dowload Power BI Desktop on Mac. A windows VM is currently the best way to get the full Power BI Desktop experience on Mac.
Alternatively, Power BI can be accessed on Mac through the web version, Power BI Service. While you won't get all the features of Power BI Desktop in Power BI service, you will still be able to model the data and create reports.If this helped, please mark it as the solution so others can benefit too. And if you found it useful, kudos are always appreciated.
Thanks,Samson
Adding one option for Mac users who find this thread later:
Power BI Desktop still cannot be installed natively on macOS. A Windows VM or the Power BI Service is still required to create, edit, and refresh reports.
For the narrower use case of inspecting existing PBIX or ABF files, I built PBIXRay, a native macOS app. It can inspect semantic model metadata, DAX, Power Query, data sources, VertiPaq statistics, stored table data and report structure locally.
It is not a replacement for Power BI Desktop and cannot create or modify reports. It is intended for situations where you receive a PBIX file and need to understand its contents without starting a Windows VM or uploading the file.
More information: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6787160588
