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 anyone else who happens upon this thread!
I noticed an issue when using a URL that goes any further than the root SharePoint site (ie., no folders). I was succesfully able to access the files needed through SharePoint, though!
When you create the SharePoint Folder connection it clearly says "Site URL".
If you refer to v-mdharahman's response, you'll clearly see the suggestion to input the URL including folders to get to the precise location needed. I was clearly expressing that, for myself, whenever I entered a site URL that included anything beyond the root site (ie., a folder), Power BI would not connect properly.
Their advice is sub-optimal. While it will work, a Web connection will be inferior to a SharePoint Folder connection. You will end up with separate connections per file, and with OAuth re-authentication issues.
