Automation of Excel generation from Power BI

[J_S_A]

Hi,

I have a visual table created in a Power BI Report in Power BI Desktop. I would need to export this table to Excel daily and save it in Sharepoint.
Is there any way to achieve this in an automated way?

Thanks.

[v-agajavelly]

Hi @J_S_A ,

Just checking in one last time haven’t seen you back in a while. As per the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum guidelines, we’ll go ahead and close this thread for now. If your issue has already been resolved, that’s great to hear. But if you still need help down the line whether it’s with the Paginated Reports + Power Automate approachto create a new post anytime. The community is always here to support you.

Regards,
Akhil.

[v-agajavelly]

Hi @J_S_A ,

Just looping back here a big thanks to @Olufemi7  for taking the time to share such detailed and practical solutions really appreciate the clarity and step-by-step breakdown.

@J_S_A did you get a chance to try out the approach he explained? It’s great that both manual and fully automated (no-code) options were covered for Windows and Mac. Let us know if it worked for you or if you need help with any step.

Regards,
Akhil.

[Olufemi7]

Automating Excel Generation from Power BI (Without Premium)

Hi @J_S_A , 

I had a similar need  exporting a visual table from a Power BI report daily to Excel and saving it to SharePoint and I found a practical solution using Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, and Power Automate, all without needing Power BI Premium or PPU.

 Here’s how I achieved it (No Code Required):

1. Export the Visual Table to Excel

• First, I manually exported the visual table from Power BI Service to Excel.
• I saved the file in a SharePoint document library.

2. Automate the Daily Email with Power Automate

• I created a Scheduled Flow in Power Automate:
• Trigger: Recurrence (daily at a set time).
• Action 1: Get file content using path from SharePoint.
• Site Address: Your SharePoint site.
• File Path: /Shared Documents/YourFile.xlsx
• Action 2: Send an email (V2) via Outlook.
• Attach the Excel file.
• Customize subject and body.

This setup sends the Excel file automatically every day via Outlook and keeps it stored in SharePoint.

Benefits

• No need for Premium or PPU.
• No coding required.
• Fully automated using Microsoft 365 tools.

Let me know if you'd like a step-by-step guide, happy to share what worked for me!

[Olufemi7]

Thank you so much for the kind feedback

I truly appreciate it!

I am glad the step-by-step walkthroughs were helpful, and it's great to see interest in both the manual and no-code options across Windows and Mac.

@J_S_A  feel free to let me know if you had a chance to try it out or if you'd like help with any of the steps.

Always happy to support fellow community members and dive deeper where needed.

Thank you again for the thoughtful mention!

[Olufemi7]

Outlook Template + Task Scheduler (No Code, Manual Send)
Works on both Windows and Mac (manual send, low setup required)

Hi @J_S_A,

Yes, there's a lightweight, no-code method I’ve personally tested to export a Power BI table daily to Excel and have it open in a pre-filled email, ready to send to SharePoint or a distribution list. You’ll only need to click Send—everything else is automated.

🖥️ Windows Setup

1. Export Table to Excel CSV (manual or Power Automate Desktop)
From Power BI Desktop:

• Export visual as CSV or use Power Automate Desktop to extract and save the table daily to a local folder like C:\Reports\DailyReport.csv.

  2. Create Outlook Email Template

  • Open Outlook → New Email
  • Attach your CSV (from C:\Reports\DailyReport.csv)
  • Add subject/body
  • Go to File > Save As > Outlook Template (.oft)
  • Save it as DailyReport.oft in the same folder.

    3. Automate Launch with Task Scheduler

    • Open Task Scheduler > Create Basic Task
    • Name: Open Daily Email
    • Trigger: Daily → Choose preferred time
    • Action: Start a Program
      • Program/script: outlook.exe
      • Add arguments: /t "C:\Reports\DailyReport.oft" (quotes included)
      • Finish and test.

        At your scheduled time, Outlook opens the email with the CSV attached—just click Send.

         Mac Setup

        1. Export Table to Excel (manually or via OneDrive sync)

        • Use Power BI Desktop to export your table and save as CSV (e.g., /Users/YourName/Documents/DailyReport.csv)

          2. Create Apple Mail Template

          • Open Mail.app → New Message
          • Fill in To/Subject/Body and attach the CSV
          • Go to File > Save as Template (this creates a reusable .emltpl file)

            3. Automate Email Launch with Calendar App

            • Open Automator → New Calendar Alarm
            • Action: Open File → Select your .emltpl template
            • Save and name the calendar alarm (e.g., "Daily Email Alert")
            • In Calendar, adjust the time it should run daily

               At the set time, your pre-filled Mail message will open with the attachment—click Send.

              Let me know if you’d like a fully automated version using Power Automate  instead. For power Automate it must be Power Automate for Business (Pro)
              Hope this helps!
              
              
              

              

[v-agajavelly]

Hi @J_S_A ,

Just checking in one last time were you able to try the Paginated Reports + Power Automate approach? Would love to know if it worked for you or if you’re still exploring options. Always happy to help if anything’s still unclear.

Regards,
Akhil.

[v-agajavelly]

Hi @J_S_A ,

Just checking in did you get a chance to try out any of the solutions shared above, especially the one with Paginated Reports + Power Automate for exporting to Excel and saving it in SharePoint?

The step-by-step from @Olufemi7 is super clean and no-code, so if your setup includes Power BI Premium or PPU, it should work out of the box.

If you're still exploring or hit a snag (like licensing or dataset connectivity), feel free to share happy to brainstorm workarounds or alternative approaches with you.

Would happy to know how it's going on your end.

Regards,
Akhil.

[Olufemi7]

Automate Export of Power BI Table to Excel and Save to SharePoint Daily

Hi everyone,

If you need to export a table from your Power BI report to Excel daily and save it automatically to SharePoint, here's a no-code way to do it using Paginated Reports and Power Automate.

---

What You Need

• A Power BI report with the table you want to export

• Power BI Paginated Reports (requires Premium or Premium Per User)

• Access to Power Automate

• A SharePoint site and folder to store the files

---

Steps

1. Create a Paginated Report

• Use Power BI Report Builder (free tool)

• Connect it to your dataset

• Build a report that shows the same table as your visual

• Publish it to your Power BI workspace

2. Set Up a Scheduled Flow in Power Automate

• Trigger: Recurrence – set it to run daily

• Action 1: Export To File for Paginated Reports

  • Choose your report and export format as Excel

• Action 2: SharePoint – Create File

  • Choose your SharePoint folder

  • Name the file using today’s date (e.g., Report_20250723.xlsx)

  • Use dynamic expressions to avoid overwriting

3. Save and Run the Flow

• Your flow will run on schedule

• The Excel file will be created automatically and saved in SharePoint

---

Notes

• Paginated Reports require Power BI Premium or PPU licensing

• If you're using Pro, you can export the data manually and automate the upload with Power Automate

• This setup uses only built-in tools and no coding needed

---

If anyone wants help building this step-by-step in Power Automate, I’m happy to walk through it.

[v-agajavelly]

Hi @J_S_A ,

Just wanted to check in  were you able to give any of the export options a try, especially using Power Automate or Paginated Reports for getting that Excel output into SharePoint? Would love to hear how it’s going on your end. If you ran into any roadblocks like licensing limitations, or needing a true Excel format without Premium feel free to share. There might be some creative workarounds we can explore together. Just wanted to make sure you’re not stuck and that things are moving forward smoothly.

Regards,
Akhil.

[v-agajavelly]

Hi @J_S_A ,

Yes, it is possible As @BA_Pete said and Thanks for your time solution. To automate exporting a table visual from Power BI and saving it to SharePoint but this can’t be done using Power BI Desktop alone. If you're okay using the Power BI Service, you can set up a daily export of your report (or just the table) and save it as an Excel file to SharePoint.

• Power BI Pro license
• Your report published to Power BI Service
• Access to Power Automate
• SharePoint access (where the Excel file will be saved)
• (Optional but recommended) Power BI Paginated Reports if you need real Excel output

If excel output is a must.

1. Create a Paginated Report (.rdl) using Power BI Report Builder (this allows you to export exactly what you see as an Excel).
2. Publish it to your Power BI workspace.
3. In Power Automate:
• Use the “Export paginated report” action.
• Set the format to Excel.
• Add a “Create file” step to drop it into your SharePoint folder.
4. Set it to run daily using the Recurrence trigger.

This gives you a true Excel with your table, on schedule, saved right to SharePoint.

If paginated reports aren’t available:

• You can use Power Automate to run a DAX query or export dataset rows as CSV, then save it to SharePoint.
• This won’t give you exactly the visual layout, but you’ll get the raw data.
• Another workaround (less ideal) is exporting as PDF or PowerPoint, but Excel won’t be available for regular visuals.

Licensing Tip, if Paginated Reports require Power BI Premium Per User (PPU) or Premium capacity. If that’s not an option, CSV export is the next best fallback.

Regards,
Akhil.

[J_S_A]

Thanks @BA_Pete for your answer!

Just a quick clarification regarding second point:
2) Go to the Optmize tab > Performance Analyzer (PA) > Start Recording > Refresh Visuals.

I guess I'll also need to record the exportation from the visual table to excel, right? as this is the main goal.
So, the process will be:
2) Go to the Optmize tab > Performance Analyzer (PA) > Start Recording > Refresh Visuals > Export data > Save data in the Sharepoint folder

Thanks. 

[BA_Pete]

No. All this step (step 2) is doing is getting you the exact DAX query that PBI uses against the model to create your visual. You then use that DAX query (from step 3) in the Power Automate 'Run DAX Query' step so that Power Automate is querying your model in the Service in the exact same way that the report does.

You then take the results of that query and create a Sharepoint file with it, also in Power Automate.

Pete

[BA_Pete]

Hi @J_S_A ,

Yes, you can do this using Power Automate. Here's a basic outline of what you'll need to do. I won't list the whole lot here as parts of it can be tricky and require local adjustments, and this is a Power Query forum, after all:

1) In PBI Desktop, select the page with the visual you want to export on it.

2) Go to the Optmize tab > Performance Analyzer (PA) > Start Recording > Refresh Visuals.

3) Once your visual has refreshed and create a PA entry in the list, expand the entry and choose Copy DAX Query

4) In Power Automate, use the Run DAX Query action with your copied DAX query against your model in the PBI Service.

5) Complete Power Automate flow to Create File in Sharepoint.

As I said, this is a really rough outline but hopefully gets you started in the right direction.

If you need further details on the Power Automate side, I suggest you ask over on the Power Platform forums, here: Microsoft Power Platform Community Forum Thread

Pete