How to visualise the most downloaded/accessed files in a sharepoint library?

[PowerAutomater]

I have a sharpepoint library setup and I thought it would be useful to use the integrate feature to create a chart that shows which files in the library are being downloaded or accessed the most. I can't find a column to add for this stat in the library itself, so I thought perhaps there would be some way to calculate or look this up via Power BI. Is this possible at all?

[ribisht17 · Accepted solution]

HI @PowerAutomater 

Yes, it's possible to analyze file access statistics from a SharePoint library using Power BI, but it requires some setup. SharePoint itself doesn't provide a direct column for tracking file downloads or access within the library view. However, you can use audit logs or site usage data to gather this information and then visualize it in Power BI.

Here’s a general approach:

1. Enable Audit Logs: In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, enable audit logging for your SharePoint site. This will track user activities, including file access and downloads.

2. Export Audit Data: Navigate to the Security & Compliance Center in Microsoft 365 and export the audit logs for your SharePoint site. You can filter the logs to focus on file access events.

3. Prepare Data for Power BI: Use Power Query in Power BI to clean and transform the exported audit data. You can filter, sort, and aggregate the data to focus on metrics like the number of accesses per file.

4. Create Visualizations: Once the data is ready, you can create charts or dashboards in Power BI to visualize file access statistics.

If you're unfamiliar with audit logs or Power Query, there are helpful guides available online, such as this one that explains how to use Power BI for SharePoint analytics. You might also explore PowerShell scripts to automate the process of retrieving audit data, as described here.

Regards,

Ritesh

Community Champion

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[Akash_Varuna]

Hi @PowerAutomater Yes, it is possible to visualize the most accessed/downloaded files in a SharePoint library. Enable Audit Logging in the SharePoint admin center to track file activities. Extract the audit logs from the Microsoft 365 Compliance Center or via PowerShell, and load this data into Power BI. Then, create charts to display file names and their respective access/download counts for clear insights.
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