Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Level up your Power BI skills this month - build one visual each week and tell better stories with data! Get started

Reply
Anonymous
Not applicable

Share report

Hi,
I have an Access application on OneDrive.
If I create a PBI report, can I share this report in another OneDrive folder and share it with my customers?
I dont want that my customers can modify data in my application or report, but I would like to create a report that my customers can refresh.
Thanks.

2 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS
Anonymous
Not applicable

@Anonymous What you describe will work. I don't understand the PDF comment as you could only export to PDF in the Service. So the employee is either publishing the report each time to the Service to export to PDF, or taking screen grabs of the Desktop...

View solution in original post

Anonymous
Not applicable

@Anonymous No need to apologize... I wonder if you are missing a piece of information here.

There are two parts to Power BI - the Desktop (which you are using, it is the free download) and the Service (this is the online app)

The Service, is designed to handle all the sharing.

In your scenerio, you could publish your report to the Service (where a copy of the dataset and report is made)

Then create a dashboard to share externally with your client.

The refresh is set up in the Service, and you can schedule that 1x per day, otherwise your employees could go manually refresh the data. The client, would only need to view the report in the Service rather than you sending the actual PBIX files or screenshotting to PDF's.

Or.. they could save the report to PDF from the Service and send that...

 

All of the above, should fall under the "free" license and not require your clients to have a "Pro" license... You would have to verify that though, there are specific rules based on connections etc.

View solution in original post

7 REPLIES 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

@Anonymous The Desktop isn't meant for sharing from the standpoint that it is the authoring tool, not the sharing tool... There really isn't an option to meet your scenario even in the Service. The report author always controls the refresh scheduling... 

Anonymous
Not applicable

@Anonymous thank you for your answer,
Ok, I understand, I change my question.
1. I create the report.
2. I have 2 employees that can use my report (in our shared OneDrive folder). I can install in this 2 PCs another PBI desktop.
3. Employee 1 and 2, refresh and send the report in PDF to their customers (we are a very little organization).

Anonymous
Not applicable

@Anonymous What you describe will work. I don't understand the PDF comment as you could only export to PDF in the Service. So the employee is either publishing the report each time to the Service to export to PDF, or taking screen grabs of the Desktop...

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thank you @Anonymous,

sorry for my mistakes in the description. I'm new with PBI and I don't know exactly what I can do.
I say PDF only because it's a common way to send our reports.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@Anonymous No need to apologize... I wonder if you are missing a piece of information here.

There are two parts to Power BI - the Desktop (which you are using, it is the free download) and the Service (this is the online app)

The Service, is designed to handle all the sharing.

In your scenerio, you could publish your report to the Service (where a copy of the dataset and report is made)

Then create a dashboard to share externally with your client.

The refresh is set up in the Service, and you can schedule that 1x per day, otherwise your employees could go manually refresh the data. The client, would only need to view the report in the Service rather than you sending the actual PBIX files or screenshotting to PDF's.

Or.. they could save the report to PDF from the Service and send that...

 

All of the above, should fall under the "free" license and not require your clients to have a "Pro" license... You would have to verify that though, there are specific rules based on connections etc.

Anonymous
Not applicable

It's my understanding that Microsoft changed the cost model and a Free license can no longer be used to share content. Both the creator and recipient must both have a Pro license. There is also a Premium Node option that eliminates the need for a Pro license to consume content, but it's a bit pricey.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@Anonymous You are correct. The licensing changed mid-last year so the above response from the begining of last year will no longer work. Additionally, there is another option that you don't mention in that you can now cover the cost of your customer with Azure B2B so that you could pay for their Pro license.

Helpful resources

Announcements
April Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - April 2026

Check out the April 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.

Fabric SQL PBI Data Days

Data Days 2026 coming soon!

Sign up to receive a private message when registration opens and key events begin.

New to Fabric survey Carousel

New to Fabric Survey

If you have recently started exploring Fabric, we'd love to hear how it's going. Your feedback can help with product improvements.

Power BI DataViz World Championships carousel

Power BI DataViz World Championships - June 2026

A new Power BI DataViz World Championship is coming this June! Don't miss out on submitting your entry.