Not able to refresh semantic model AND cannot publish to Power BI services from desktop

Hi dszarowski ,

When you create a report in Power BI and connect to an Excel file (e.g., from SharePoint), Import mode is usually the default. This mode loads data into Power BI’s in-memory model, enabling faster reporting.

DirectQuery, on the other hand, means the data is not loaded into Power BI but remains in the source (e.g., SharePoint, SQL Server) and is queried directly when needed. DirectQuery is often used for larger datasets or real-time access.

Although your report may have been created with Import mode, it could have switched to DirectQuery due to IT changes. This could happen if:

• IT modified the permissions or access configurations for the data source. There was a change in how SharePoint or the file you're accessing is being handled (e.g., server-side configurations). Power BI detected that your dataset was large or complex and switched to DirectQuery to optimize performance.

Once you confirm it with them and if the issue still persists, I suggest raising a support case with Microsoft.
To raise the support ticket, please follow the link below:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/support/create-support-ticket

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Thank you.