Power Query not working in Excel Online

[JamesDenman]

According to MS, it should be possible to update PQ queries in Excel Online:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-power-query-in-excel-for-the-web-02652946-de70-48d8-8...

However, when I try (open workbook in Excel Online; right-click on results table; select "Refresh") I get the error message "COULDN’T REFRESH DATA Power Query queries in Excel for the Web can’t be refreshed in workbooks saved in a third-party cloud location". (I actually get a similar message in German, but I think the above is the English equivalent).

What I don't understand is: my file is saved in OneDrive. That's a Microsoft service, i.e. NOT a "third-party" cloud location.

This behaviour appears even when the Excel workbook is empty except for a single query "let Source = 3 in Source", i.e. it isn't referencing any other external sources.

I am using a Microsoft 365 Family licence, the current version of Microsoft Edge and Windows 11 Home.

Either the behaviour or the error message is faulty.

Can you please tell me which of them is wrong, and pass the problem on to the developers to fix?

Thanks and best regards,

James Denman

[Anonymous]

Hi @JamesDenman ,

I tested it by logging into OneDrive using my organization account and found that it refreshes properly.

I can't sign in to OneDrive with personal account because of some policy. if possible could you try signing in to OndDrive with your organization account and try again?

Thread on the same topic:

Power Query queries in Excel for the Web can’t be refreshed in - Microsoft Community

Best Regards,
Gao
Community Support Team

If there is any post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution  to help the other members find it more quickly.
If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know. Thanks a lot!

How to get your questions answered quickly --  How to provide sample data in the Power BI Forum -- China Power BI User Group

[JamesDenman]

Hi Gao @Anonymous ,

Thanks for the good test. As described above, I'm using a Microsoft 365 Family licence - that's the only account available to me, so I can't sign in with an "organization account".

Does this mean that Excel Online behaves differently depending on whether the file is saved in a OneDrive location for a user with a non-organization M365 licence vs. a OneDrive location for a user with an organization M365 licence?

Best regards,

James

[Anonymous]

Power Query for Excel on the web only works with data stored in the workbook that you are using on the web. It won't fetch any data not stored in the workbook.

--Nate

[JamesDenman]

Hi Nate,

Thanks for your quick answer.

I'm not fetching any data not stored in the workbook. As stated above, my M query is literally only "let Source = 3 in Source" (note the absence of external references), and still it won't work.

Any other ideas?

Best,

James

[foodd]

Hello @JamesDenman ,

Issues

If you have found a true bug or issue, you can make a post to the forum to let others know (and that would be very nice of you to do so). But if you want to get it fixed, you should post it in the Issues/Ideas (it varies) area of the community. Specifically, you should post it here:

Power BI - https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Issues/idb-p/Issues
PowerAutomate - https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/I-Found-A-Bug/bd-p/BugFound
PowerApps - https://ideas.powerapps.com


Ideas

If you have a new idea for functionality or how something should work, you can certainly start a thread on the community to solicit feedback on your idea, but you should also post the idea in the ideas section of the website and solicit others to vote on your idea. The development teams use the Ideas area of the communities to build their development pipeline and a significant amount of weight is placed on Ideas that have lots of votes versus those that do not. The ideas areas of the communities are here:

Power BI - https://ideas.powerbi.com
PowerAutomate - https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Flow-Ideas/idb-p/FlowIdeas
PowerApps - https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/PowerApps-Ideas/idb-p/PowerAppsIdeas

If your requirement is solved, please make THIS ANSWER a SOLUTION ✔️ and help other users find the solution quickly. Please hit the LIKE 👍 button if this comment helps you.  Proud to be a Super User!

[JamesDenman]

@foodd , thanks for your quick response. I've posted it as an issue (in fact the only option I could find was to post as an "idea", I hope that's what you meant).

Can you tell me, though, whether this is the behaviour intended by Microsoft, and how I can get PQ queries to refresh in Excel Online?

Thanks and best regards,

James