end user on demand refresh in power bi service

[powerbiexpert22]

can end user who has view permission on power bi report perform on demand refresh in power bi?

[Shahid12523 · Accepted solution]

In Power BI Service, an end user with View permissions cannot perform an on-demand refresh.

• Who can refresh: Only users with Build, Edit, or Admin permissions on the dataset can trigger a manual refresh.
• View-only users can only see the latest cached data and interact with visuals/filters.
•  

Workarounds:

Schedule automatic refreshes for the dataset so viewers always see updated data.

Grant specific users Build permission on the dataset if you want them to trigger refresh manually.

Power BI separates viewing from dataset control, so refresh rights are tied to the dataset, not the report.

[HarishKM]

@powerbiexpert22 Hey,
I will add a Power automate flow in Power BI report and then user can trigger on demand refresh of semantic model without adding them to workspace.

I will use this link for more info - Trigger dataflows and Power BI semantic models sequentially - Power Query | Microsoft Learn

Thank

Harish M

[alish_b]

Ideally, no. You would need elevated permissions (edit on the dataset or Member/Contributor/Admin role in the workspace).

There could be a workaround with Power Apps integration. Basically, you create a button on the report page, which when clicked triggers a Power Automate flow to refresh the dataset (the flow must be configured to run with elevated permissions that is, the person setting up the flow needs to have the necessary dataset refresh permissions and the flow will run under those credentials rather than the end user's permissions).

However, with just 8 refreshes per-day limit on semantic model refreshes on Pro workspace (and only upto 48 in embedded or premium capacity), I wonder if it would be a good idea to give all end users the ability to refresh the dataset.

Hope it helps!

[v-agajavelly]

Hi @powerbiexpert22 ,

Thanks @bhanu_gautam  for your input. The information shared by SuperUser is correct end users with only view permissions cannot perform an on-demand refresh in Power BI Service. Only users with edit permissions on the dataset/report can trigger a manual refresh.

Regards,
Akhil.

[bhanu_gautam]

@powerbiexpert22 

No, an end user who only has view permission on a Power BI report cannot perform an on-demand refresh. Only users with edit permissions on the dataset or report can trigger an on-demand refresh. Viewers can only see the data as it was last refreshed by someone with the appropriate permissions.