Exchange Shared Mailbox Connection

[BlueMinnowBPS]

I have a Exchange shared mailbox. I am able to connect to it on Power BI Desktop but when I publish the report and try to create the connection on the Power BI service, it won't work and there's no options to change any configurations. For the email addresss I put the shared mailbox address,, and for the authentication, I put my own upn credentials. Seems kind of silly I can do it on desktop but not on the service.

Does anyone know if I'm missing something? or it's just not an implemented ability of Power BI Service?

[v-achippa]

Hi @BlueMinnowBPS,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.

Thank you @jaineshp for the prompt response. 

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided by the user for the issue worked? or let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

[v-achippa]

Hi @BlueMinnowBPS,

We wanted to kindly follow up to check if the solution provided by the user for the issue worked? or let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

[jaineshp · Accepted solution]

Hey @BlueMinnowBPS,

Based on your screenshot and description, this is a known limitation with Exchange shared mailboxes in Power BI Service.

• Power BI Desktop supports Exchange shared mailboxes with personal credentials
• Power BI Service doesn't properly handle this authentication scenario
• The service connection dialog lacks the flexibility needed for shared mailbox access

Possible Approach:

• Create Service Account
  • Ask your Exchange admin to create a new user account (e.g., powerbi-service@company.com)
  • Don't assign expensive licenses - basic Exchange Online Plan 1 is sufficient
• Grant Mailbox Permissions
  • Admin grants the service account "Full Access" permissions to your shared mailbox
  • Command: Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "shared-mailbox@company.com" -User "powerbi-service@company.com" -AccessRights FullAccess
• Power BI Service Configuration
  • Email Address: Use the service account email (powerbi-service@company.com)
  • Authentication: Use the service account credentials
  • Connection Type: Keep as OAuth2 or Basic (depending on your org settings)
• Data Source Settings
  • In the service account's mailbox settings, add the shared mailbox as an additional mailbox
  • The service account will now have access to both its own mailbox and the shared mailbox data

This method eliminates the shared mailbox authentication complexity by using a properly permissioned regular account instead.

Fixed? ✓ Mark it • Share it • Help others!

Best Regards,
Jainesh Poojara | Power BI Developer

[BlueMinnowBPS]

Okay, good to know it's a known limitation. Quite nonsensical of microsoft to have it work on Desktop but not on the Service. I will try your suggested method and reach out to IT.