Is it possible to override an existing report when publishing a power BI report from desktop?

[alexbjorlig]

When I select the "Publish" button in Power BI, I can choose a workspace.

But I was wondering if it's possible to override an already published report?

I noticed that this actually happens sometimes, when making edits and then publishing again (i.e. there is not created a  new report, but the already published report is overridden).

Thanks for the help - trying to set up a dev/prod flow, and choosing to override an existing application could be useful here  🙂

[Greg_Deckler]

Yes, you can overwrite a published report. Do it all the time. 

[alexbjorlig]

Ok - good.

Is it controlled by the name of the report then?

[ranbeermakin · Accepted solution]

Short answer yes. Controlled by the name.

Long answer - create a model first using Power BI Desktop and publish in a workspace. Use this model to create reports using Get Data->Power BI datasets.

This way if you need to update the model you can do it silently in the background without changing the report (the visuals).

[v-shex-msft]

HI  @alexbjorlig,

Power bi not only checks the report name but also compares the difference between these contents.BTW, power bi service will generate report id for published reports, they will also be used to compare with published contents)

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng