How to hide certains datasets from Excel and/or other client tools?

[Gianf]

Hi all, 

My customer's users access a series of reports only via App; of course  they have read acces to the underying semantic model(s), otherwise they cannot read the data. 
 
Now the customer wants give the users te ability to query via Excel  only a specific dataset, and does not want the other datasets in the workspace to show in the dataset list in Excel. Is there any way to accomplish this? 

Thanks in advance, 

Gianfranco 

[Jonvoge · Accepted solution]

Hi Gianfranco

You need to give the users's Build Permission on the specific semantic models that you want them to query from Excel: Build permission for shared semantic models - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

The key in your case would be to ensure that this Build Permission is granted only on the specific Semantic Models. This means you should avoid granting users Member/Contributor roles in workspaces, and avoid granting Build Permissions through your Workspace App.

Instead, you want to go into the Permission settings of the specific model, and assign build permissions there.

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[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Gianf,

We are following up to see if your query has been resolved. Should you have identified a solution, we kindly request you to share it with the community to assist others facing similar issues.

If our response was helpful, please mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos, as this helps the broader community.

Thank you.

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Gianf,

We sincerely appreciate your valuable update. Kindly keep us informed regarding the issue.

Thank you.

[Gianf]

Hi all, 

Thank you for all answers! I apologize for my late reply, but I am still waiting for the user to perform their checks - I cannot try it myself because I am workspace administrator and therefore I have full permissions on everything. Unfortunately I don't have a less-privileged test account, so I have to wait for the user to check. 

Please stay tuned...

[Poojara_D12 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Gianf 

In Power BI, when users have access to a workspace’s semantic models, they can see all available datasets in the "Get Data" experience in Excel. Since your customer wants users to query only a specific dataset while preventing visibility of others, the best approach is to manage permissions at the dataset level. One way to achieve this is by granting "Build" permission only on the specific dataset that users should access while ensuring that they do not have any direct access to the workspace or other datasets. You can do this by going to the dataset settings in Power BI Service, selecting "Manage Permissions," and explicitly defining access for the intended users. Additionally, consider using a separate workspace for the specific dataset that should be available in Excel while keeping other datasets restricted in a different workspace. This way, users can access the designated dataset without exposure to others. However, since Apps do not provide dataset-level security controls for Excel access, direct permission management on datasets remains the most effective solution.

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Gianf,

We are following up to see if your query has been resolved. Should you have identified a solution, we kindly request you to share it with the community to assist others facing similar issues.

If our response was helpful, please mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos, as this helps the broader community.

Thank you.

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Gianf,

We wanted to check in regarding your query, as we have not heard back from you. If you have resolved the issue, sharing the solution with the community would be greatly appreciated and could help others encountering similar challenges.

If you found our response useful, kindly mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos to guide other members.

Thank you.

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Hi Gianf,

We have not received a response from you regarding the query and were following up to check if you have found a resolution. If you have identified a solution, we kindly request you to share it with the community, as it may be helpful to others facing a similar issue.

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

Thank you.

[v-pnaroju-msft]

Thank you, @Jonvoge, for your response.

Hi @Gianf,

We sincerely appreciate your inquiry on the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

In addition to the response provided by @Jonvoge, we kindly request you to consider the following alternative methods that may help resolve the issue:

1. Create separate Power BI apps for different user groups, ensuring that each app includes only the relevant datasets. Users will only be able to access the datasets included in the app assigned to them.
2. If the datasets are derived from dataflows, you may create separate dataflows for different user groups and grant access exclusively to the relevant dataflows.

If you find our response helpful, we kindly request you to mark it as the accepted solution and provide kudos. This will assist other community members encountering similar queries.

Thank you.

[Jonvoge · Accepted solution]

Hi Gianfranco

You need to give the users's Build Permission on the specific semantic models that you want them to query from Excel: Build permission for shared semantic models - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

The key in your case would be to ensure that this Build Permission is granted only on the specific Semantic Models. This means you should avoid granting users Member/Contributor roles in workspaces, and avoid granting Build Permissions through your Workspace App.

Instead, you want to go into the Permission settings of the specific model, and assign build permissions there.

_____________________________________________________
I hope my comment was helpful.
If your question was answered, please mark your post as 'Solved' and consider giving me a 'Thumbs Up'.
Find me on LinkedIn, Sessionize, or my blog Downhill Data