Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

July 7 - July 17 | Round 2 of the Power BI Dataviz World Championships. Don't miss your chance! Learn more

Reply
PeterElbek
Frequent Visitor

Problem with privacy levels when using PowerQuery in Excel

So, I've built something using PowerQuery in Excel. I've built staging and reshaped tables.

 

I've set the privacy level to be Public saying that it should apply to the whole of the network drive (U:\).

 

My problem occurs when I close the file and ask another user to open the Excel file (.xlsm). When refreshing it's asking me to define the privacy levels again. Very frustrating.

 

I can even reproduce if I get it working on my local PC, save, and then move to my Remote Desktop and access the file from there. 

 

Help? please?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
v-alq-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi, @PeterElbek 

 

I wonder if you have modified the 'Fast Combine' setting as 'Ignore the Privacy levels and potentially improve performance' for each source'. By default, 'Fast Combine' is not enabled.

 

Setting

Description

Combine data according to your Privacy Level settings for each source (on, and the default setting)

Privacy level settings are used to determine the level of isolation between data sources when combining data.

Ignore the Privacy levels and potentially improve performance (off)

Privacy levels are not considered when combining data, however; performance and functionality of the data may increase.

Security Note:  Enabling Fast Combine by selecting Ignore the Privacy levels and potentially improve performance in the Workbook Settings dialog could expose sensitive or confidential data to an unauthorized person. Do not enable Fast Combine unless you are confident that the data source does not contain sensitive or confidential data.

 

For further information, please refer to the document .

 

Best Regards

Allan

 

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

View solution in original post

2 REPLIES 2
v-alq-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi, @PeterElbek 

 

I wonder if you have modified the 'Fast Combine' setting as 'Ignore the Privacy levels and potentially improve performance' for each source'. By default, 'Fast Combine' is not enabled.

 

Setting

Description

Combine data according to your Privacy Level settings for each source (on, and the default setting)

Privacy level settings are used to determine the level of isolation between data sources when combining data.

Ignore the Privacy levels and potentially improve performance (off)

Privacy levels are not considered when combining data, however; performance and functionality of the data may increase.

Security Note:  Enabling Fast Combine by selecting Ignore the Privacy levels and potentially improve performance in the Workbook Settings dialog could expose sensitive or confidential data to an unauthorized person. Do not enable Fast Combine unless you are confident that the data source does not contain sensitive or confidential data.

 

For further information, please refer to the document .

 

Best Regards

Allan

 

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Jimmy801
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hello @PeterElbek 

 

you can deactivating the security check in the options

 

If this post helps or solves your problem, please mark it as solution (to help other users find useful content and to acknowledge the work of users that helped you)
Kudoes are nice too

Have fun

Jimmy

Helpful resources

Announcements
FabCon and SQLCon Barcelona 2026

FabCon & SQLCon – Barcelona 2026

Join us in Barcelona for FabCon and SQLCon, the Fabric, Power BI, SQL, and AI community event. Save €200 with code FABCMTY200.

60 days of Data Days Carousel

Data Days 2026

Join Fabric Data Days 2026: 60 days of free live/on-demand sessions, challenges, study groups, and certification opportunities.

Power BI DataViz World Championships carousel

Power BI DataViz World Championships - June 2026

A new Power BI DataViz World Championship is coming this June! Don't miss out on submitting your entry.