Forum Discussion
Excel Power Query / Analysis Services authentication fails after reopening workbook
Hi BIscoverer ,
Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.
This matches a token reuse issue where Excel holds onto an invalid Entra token and doesn’t trigger a fresh sign-in, which is why clearing credentials only works temporarily. Since the XMLA (Analysis Services) connection works reliably across sessions while the Power Query import path does not, this points to a connector-specific limitation or bug rather than expected SSO behavior. If token persistence were inherently unsupported, the XMLA connection would fail the same way but it doesn’t.
Given you’re on Monthly Enterprise Channel, this is likely tied to the Excel build and how the SSAS connector in Power Query handles modern auth/token refresh. In practice, the only stable workarounds today are using the XMLA path where possible or continuing with credential reset / full Office re-auth cycles.
At this point, it’s worth raising a Microsoft Support ticket so they can confirm if this is a known issue or build-specific limitation and advise on a fix or timeline: How to create a Fabric and Power BI Support ticket - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
Community Support Team.
Hi v-menakakota,
Thank you, this is the clearest diagnosis I have received so far and matches exactly what I'm seeing.
I have an update that further supports the build-specific theory: a colleague on the same Monthly Enterprise Channel but on Version 2602 (Build 19725.20170) has no issues with the same AAS model. Credentials persist and refresh works reliably after reopening the workbook.
Since my organization manages updates centrally, I'm waiting for the 2602 update to come through and will confirm whether it resolves the issue.
Regarding the support ticket, thanks, I will consider raising one, especially if the 2602 update doesn't resolve it. It would be useful to get confirmation from Microsoft on whether this was a known regression and what specifically was fixed.
Hi BIscoverer ,
Could you please confirm if the issue has been resolved after raising a support case? If a solution has been found, it would be greatly appreciated if you could share your insights with the community. This would be helpful for other members who may encounter similar issues.
Thank you for your understanding and assistance.
Best Regards,
Community Support Team.Hi v-menakakota,
I have a significant update. I've since been updated to Version 2602 (Build 19725.20170), which is the same version my colleague is on. The issue persists for me, but not for him. To isolate further, we ran a test: my colleague logged into my laptop with his account and tried to refresh the same workbook (shared via OneDrive). He experienced the exact same failure: credentials work after manually re-entering them, but the token doesn't persist across sessions. On his own laptop, the same file refreshes without any issues.
This confirms the problem is machine-specific, not tied to user profile, Excel version, file, or AAS configuration.
Could you recommend additional steps on how to resolve this?
