Power BI Report Server version mismatch – how to work without access to client version?

Hi Nicole_M ,
Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community forum. 

The most reliable and supported solution is to install the exact same Power BI Report Server (PBIRS) Desktop version used by you in your clients machine and recreate the report in that environment.

Due to PBIRS limitations, reports created or saved in a newer version are not backward compatible with older versions. As a result, attempting to open a report built in a later release (e.g., January 2026) in an earlier PBIRS version (e.g., November 2024 / January 2025) will fail.

While rebuilding may seem inconvenient especially without direct access to the client’s environment it remains the only guaranteed method to ensure the report functions correctly on their side.

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.
Thank you

Hi Nicole_M, 

Microsoft removes the download links and hosted files after the support period for a specific version ends. 

I would really look at seeing if you can update the system to be using a modern version of Power BI Report Server. Report Server versions are only supported for one year, so anything older than that no longer get bug fixes or more importantly security updates.