Restricting access to some data in desktop version

[Anthea]

Hello

On the web version I am using Row level security to restrict access to some of the data on teh dashboards, however is there a way to restrict access to data when sending them the desktop version of a dashboard? Many thanks

[v-yingjl]

Hi @Anthea ,

You can use row-level security (RLS) with Power BI Desktop to restrict data access for given users. Filters restrict data at the row level. You can define filters within roles.

You can set RLS under Import or Direct Query mode in power bi desktop(Connect live needs to do that within the Analysis Services model):

1. Modeling -> Manage Roles -> Create roles
2. Under Tables, select the table to which you want to apply a DAX rule.
3. In the Table filter DAX expression box, enter the DAX expressions. This expression returns a value of true or false.

Considerations:

1. You can't assign users to a role within Power BI Desktop. You assign them in the Power BI service. You can enable dynamic security within Power BI Desktop by making use of the username() or userprincipalname() DAX functions and having the proper relationships configured.
2. If you defined roles and rules within the Power BI service, you need to recreate those roles within Power BI Desktop and publish the report to the service.

For further information about RLS, you can refer the following Microsoft documents that could help you:

1. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/desktop-rls
2. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-admin-rls

Best Regards,

Yingjie Li

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[edhans]

No. The desktop app is a developer app and gives full access to the data. It isn't meant to be a distribution model with any type of security.