How can I delete, as admin, power bi personal group workspaces for sharepointlist folders?

[LorenaCucu]

I assume these are the workspaces created automatically when a user wants a quick report from sharepoint list. How can I clean up and delete these? I tried but can

[v-achippa]

Hi @LorenaCucu,

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 @LorenaCucu,

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 @LorenaCucu,

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

[LorenaCucu]

@jaineshp 

1. I do not have any option in PBI Admin center to delete in bulk. I also see no setting to block creation.

2. I tried powershell by adding myself first and then delete and it did not work - Bad Request.

So I have tried the things mentioned but I am not allowed in any way to delete these apparently. More suggestions?

[jaineshp · Accepted solution]

Hey @LorenaCucu,

I understand the frustration! Those auto-created SharePoint workspaces can be stubborn. Here are some additional approaches to try:

Check Your Admin Rights:

• Verify you have Fabric Administrator or Power BI Administrator role (not just Power BI Pro)
• Some organizations require Global Administrator rights for workspace deletion
• Check if there's a custom security policy blocking deletions

Alternative PowerShell Approach:

• Try using the newer Fabric REST APIs instead of PowerShell cmdlets
• Use Invoke-PowerBIRestMethod with DELETE method directly
• Example: Invoke-PowerBIRestMethod -Url "admin/groups/{workspace-id}" -Method Delete

Governance Settings to Check:

• In Admin Portal → Tenant Settings → "Create workspaces"
• Look for "Users can create workspaces" - this might control the auto-creation
• Check "Export and sharing settings" for any restrictions

Microsoft Support Route:

• If these are truly system-generated and you can't delete them, this might be a known issue
• Create a support ticket mentioning "SharePoint auto-created Power BI workspaces cannot be deleted"
• Include error messages and your admin role details

Workaround for Now:

• Rename problematic workspaces to group them (like "DEPRECATED - [original name]")
• Remove any content/datasets to free up capacity
• This at least organizes them while waiting for a permanent solution

What specific error message are you getting with PowerShell? That might help narrow down the root cause.

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[jaineshp]

Hey @LorenaCucu,

Here are the steps to clean up those auto-created Power BI workspaces:

Admin Portal Method:

• Go to Power BI Admin Portal → Workspaces
• Filter by "Personal" or search for SharePoint-related names
• Select multiple workspaces and use bulk delete option
• Check "Delete permanently" to avoid recovery clutter

PowerShell Route (faster for bulk):

• Use Power BI Management cmdlets
• Get-PowerBIWorkspace to list all workspaces
• Filter by creation pattern or naming convention
• Remove-PowerBIWorkspace for bulk deletion

Quick Tips:

• These workspaces usually have generic names like "SharePointList_[GUID]"
• Export workspace list first as backup
• Some may have dependencies - check for shared datasets
• Consider setting up governance policy to prevent future auto-creation

Did it work? ✔ Give a Kudo • Mark as Solution – help others too!