Forum Discussion

whocares61's avatar
whocares61
Regular Visitor
2 years ago

The process cannot access the file because it is being used

So you are telling me that it's not possible to REFRESH the data in PowerBI Desktop when it's open in Excel? So I have to close the excel file every time I make a change, refresh, then open it again...
Need Help
Kedar_Pande's avatar
Kedar_Pande
Icon for Super User rankSuper User
2 years ago

Yes, that's correct. In Power BI Desktop, you cannot refresh data from an Excel file that is currently open. When the Excel file is open, it locks the file, preventing any other application, including Power BI, from accessing it. This is why you see the message, "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."

whocares61's avatar
whocares61
Regular Visitor
2 years ago

How are you supposed to build the report on PowerBI Desktop then?

Aren't you gonna build something, then see oh I need to add this also, so you make adjustments in the excel file, refresh, then adjustment again.. so every time you close the excel and then refresh, then you need another adjustment, then open the excel, make adjustment, close excel, refresh. This sounds like hell.

In my specific case it's a huge excel file that loads about 1 minute..