Object reference not set to an instance of an object

[bmcintyre]

There have been other "ideas" about this error message, but I've got a weird situation going on and am hoping someone here is smarter than me and can help figure it out. 

All of my Power BI reports use Excel as the data source. All but one of my reports is refreshing without issue. One report was returning an "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error message. I deleted a certain Excel file from the report that I suspected was the cause of this error message, and I was correct. That report refreshes without any issues now. However, I have reporting needs that require that problem Excel file and whenever I attempt to create a new report, the "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error message returns. 

Thoughts?

[ddevin1]

I'm also getting this error during each refresh attempt.  However, if I refresh each table individually, each refreshes with no error.  Also getting the following message behind the object refrence error:  "Something went wrong/  A Task's exception(s) were not observed either by Waiting on the Task or accessing its Exception property.  As a result, the unobserved exception was rethrown by the finalizer thread."

[ddevin1]

I updated the desktop to the latest April Version: 2.104.941.0  and the error is still occurring, preventing the refresh. 

[ddevin1]

I disabled the 'Power BI Desktop infrastucture update' feature in options as described here - https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Issues/Error-connecting-CSV-file-April-Update/idi-p/2472575 , and the refresh occurred with no error.  The infrastructure feature involves the use of WebView2 which I have been running with no problems until yesterday.   Appears that Webview2 was also updated when I installed the most recent version of Power BI desktop - WebView2 Runtime version 100.0.1185.50 on 4/27/2022.  

[bmcintyre]

Thanks ddevin1! Glad you're now avoiding those errors.

I tried to disable that feature in the new update, but was still getting the error message. I ended up going back to the March 2022 version and that appears to be working. 

[ddevin1]

The error returned..... even with the infrastructure feature disabled.   Looks like I'll need to revert back to the prior desktop version as well.  Thanks for the update.

UPDATE:  I reinstalled the prior month version of Power BI and the refresh works OK even with the infrastructure feature enabled. 

[v-yingjl]

Seems like the version factor of Power BI Desktop which affects this issue and gald to hear that using March version of Power BI Desktop could mitiagte this issue temporarily.

Would investigate on this continuesly when there is any new progress about it

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Yingjie Li

[JoeMama]

Thank you @bmcintyre and @ddevin1!!!!!

I was on the June 2022 Power BI Desktop version and was made to look a complete fool in front of my client as to why I could not import one of their wide, but medium-sized, .csv files.  It was all so standard.

I started mumbling about maybe needing to hit up SQL for the wide, but manageable, data (~13,000 columns), but up until that point I was completely convinced that Power BI would be enough!

Finally I saw your answer!  I uninstalled my June version, and downloaded and installed the March 2022 version (retro versions available here, at the end of each month's blog post:  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/fundamentals/desktop-latest-update-archive?tabs=powerbi-de...)

Everything imported so well!

Thanks!

...now I have to deal with the imported data 

[JulianNoarmenn]

Short answer
Short answer
For anyone having the same problem with Excel files, check the following items:

- Latest version of Power BI Desktop

- Use the beginning of the URL with https

- Update WebView2 to latest version

- Resave spreadsheets that may be corrupted

Long answer
Read here: https://powerbipoint.com/2024/01/02/power-bi-fix-the-error-object-reference-not-set-to-an-instance-o...