Forum Discussion
Linking to SharePoint, NOT OneDrive
Hi cwindsor,
This is a general misunderstanding because OneDrive and SharePoint may appear and act the same way when users navigate through files, but the method of connection does make a significant difference for collaboration.
To ensure that your Excel file is linked through SharePoint (not your own OneDrive) you can go to your sharePoint site in a web browser then go to the document library where the Excel file is located. Now open up the file menu (… or right-click) on the Excel file and select "Copy link". Ensure the link you copy begins with "https://[yourdomain].sharepoint.com/sites/.".
If it begins with "https://[yourdomain]-my.sharepoint.com/personal/.", that's OneDrive.Now in PowerBI Desktop, navigate to Home -> Get Data -> Web and enter the SharePoint file link here. If the link is a "sharing" link with parameters (?e=., etc.), make it clean so that it will end in .xlsx and resemble something like "https://yourdomain.sharepoint.com/sites/YourSite/Shared%20Documents
/FolderName/YourFile.xlsx".
When it asks, select "Organizational Account" and log in if necessary. Power BI will now connect via the SharePoint path, and anyone who can access the SharePoint site and the Power BI file will also be able to refresh or update the connection (if they have the proper permissions).Best Regards,
Hammad.
For all intents and purposes SharePoint and OneDrive are the same thing when you want to connect to document libraries. The only difference is the URL that includes things like "me" and/or "personal" for OneDrive but includes the site name for SharePoint.
So - use the correct URL and you'll be good.
Hi, although this is helpful information, it's not exactly what I'm asking about. Say specifically that I need to connect to an Excel file in SharePoint. When I select New Source > Excel Workbook > [file i want to connect]., it automatically goes through my specific OneDrive rather than the SharePoint link. I need to know how to access that specific file through SharePoint so that all members of that site are also able to transform and refresh the data.
