Issues connecting to semantic models in Excel for a group of users

[JP8991]

Hey all,

Can I have some help please understanding why a set of users cannot search for semantic models in Excel despite the fact they have acccess to do so.

• Users reside in a security group called PBI Data Access
• PBI Data Access have a Power BI Premium per User license (this is about to be removed as we have moved to Power BI Capacity).
• PBI Data Access has access as an Audience to a selection of reports in an App.
• PBI Data Access has build access to each of the semantic models in the App.
• I have tried removing all stored credentials from Data Source Settings in the hope this would force a reauthentication, but it has not worked.

Audience Screenshot

Manage Permissions Screenshot

However my users are currently getting this message in their desktop Excel program:

If I send them a file with a connection already created to a particular semantic model, they can refresh it without an issue.

Thanks in advance.

[JP8991]

@v-weiyan1-msft thanks for the reply much appeciated.

I can confirm my user has the latest version of Microsoft 365 and that the following settings are enabled for the entire organisation in the Admin Centre:

The issue has to be something else, would be great if you could provide some more assistance.

[v-weiyan1-msft]

Hi @JP8991 ,

Based on your description, please check if the user has installed the latest update of Excel as older versions may not support all the features of Power BI. If possible, test with Excel for the web to see if the issue persists there.

Furthermore, "Analyze in Excel" can be turned off by Your organization’s Power BI administrator in which case it will not be available even if you have build rights.

For more you may refer to:

Create Excel workbooks with refreshable Power BI data - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards,
Yulia Yan

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