new user unable to use power query to read data from a fabric warehouse

[smeetsh]

Hi All,

I have a new user, which i have assigned a 365 premium license (for his office etc), een power bi premium license and a fabric license. I have also assigned him to the groups other users have access to , with regards to using powerquery , to read data from fabric.

When he uses excel to connect to fabric to run a power query, there is an error message that states that the user can not be authenticated.

Things I have tried so far are: removed him from groups and added him, check his licensing (100% correct), updated office, restarted his laptop from scratch?

Does anyone have any other ideas i can try?

[smeetsh · Accepted solution]

I resolved it for one of the two users by opening an existing sheet, which had a powerquery to fabric in it, than it allowed him to log in. It does not make sense to me. Still need to test user no 2

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @smeetsh 

Thank you for the update. It's great to hear that the issue was resolved for one of the users by opening an existing sheet with a Power Query connection to Fabric. That’s an unexpected workaround but helpful to know. Have you had a chance to test the same approach with the second user? If you’ve already tried it, please share the outcome so we can look into it further if needed. If not, we’d appreciate it if you could give it a try and let us know how it goes. We’re here to assist you with the next steps based on the results.

Regards,
Karpurapu D.

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @smeetsh 

We have not yet received a response from you regarding the query and  we are following up to see if you have found a resolution. If you have identified a solution, please share it with the community, as it may assist others facing a similar issue.

If you find the response helpful, kindly mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos, as this will aid other members with similar queries.

Thank You!

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @smeetsh 

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @smeetsh 

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @smeetsh 

Welcome to the Microsoft Fabric Forum.

The authentication error you are encountering when using Power Query  is probably not a licensing issue. It’s more likely tied to permissions or how Excel is handling authentication. First, make sure the user has at least Viewer permissions directly on the Fabric Warehouse item. Being part of a group might not cut it if the permissions aren’t properly inherited. Also, double-check that you’re signed into Excel with the right Azure AD account. Sometimes, cached credentials or a personal Microsoft account can mess things up.

It’s also worth looking into any Conditional Access Policies or security defaults in Microsoft Entra ID that might be blocking Excel or the device you’re using. Things like VPNs, proxies or firewalls could also be getting in the way of authentication. Try testing on a different network or device to see if that helps pinpoint the issue. If Power BI Desktop is working fine but Excel isn’t, it’s likely something specific to Excel’s settings or how it’s handling authentication.

If this information helps resolve your issue, kindly consider marking this response as the Accepted Solution, as it may assist other community members facing similar challenges.

Thank You!
 

[smeetsh]

The groups the user is a member of is the same as other users that can read the data.  This user doesn't even get to the stage where he can select a table in the warehouse. 

I checked for cached credentials, but there were none (not local, not global). He is not on a vpn. His microsoft account, logged into excel,  is the correct one (there are no other office accounts associated with his laptop).

Interestingly enough, when i check his sign in logs, it states that the powerquery log in was succesful. 

The error message is when he tries to log in is:

I am truly stumped.

cheers

Hans

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @smeetsh 

Even if a user is part of a workspace with access, Microsoft Fabric Warehouses require explicit item-level permissions to allow proper connection, especially when accessed via the SQL endpoint. While both Power BI and Excel use OAuth tokens for authentication, Excel’s Power Query can sometimes fail to honor group-based permissions unless the user has been directly assigned a role. This is a known limitation tied to how Fabric handles security at the object level, where SQL-based access is more sensitive to precisely defined roles rather than inherited group permissions.

To resolve this, you should assign the user a role directly on the Fabric Warehouse. In the Fabric portal, navigate to the specific warehouse, click on “More Options”, then select “Permissions”. Use the “Add user” option to grant the user either the Viewer or Member role explicitly and apply the changes. Once this is done, ask the user to try reconnecting via Excel. If additional role-based security, such as Row-Level Security or SQL permissions, is applied within the warehouse, make sure the user is added to the appropriate roles inside the database as well.

If this post helps, kindly mark it as Accepted Solution.


Thank You!

[Cookistador]

Hi @smeetsh 

Can you ask him to check if he is able to access to the data warehouse in the fabric workspace ?

It could help us to check if the issue is comming from the connection with excel or directly from Fabric