Overwrite existing Report and Dataset without re-sharing.

[Jonmcc]

I've built a report that is shared to multiple users and utilizes gateway to update the datasource via DirectQuery.

Typically, I could download the pbix file and open it in PowerBI Desktop, update the report as needed (measures, dashboard elements), and then publish, and this would simply overwrite my existing report and retain the shared permissions.

Just today, I updated my Power BI desktop client before doing the above, and when I published my report, it created a whole new report and dataset.

How do I tell Power BI to overwrite my existing report/dataset manually? In Tableau, I can simply specify the same name and it will ask if I want to overwrite the old one.

Thanks.

[michael-hawker]

Yeah, I agree. This is way too complicated and obtuse to understand. The publish button from Power BI Desktop should just ask if you want to upload this as a new report or overwrite an existing one and then show a list of the reports you administer.

[Anonymous]

HI @Jonmcc ,

Normally power bi service will recognize report name and internal report id and replace old report if published reports meet both two conditions. (if report name duplicate but contents not same, it will create a duplicate name version on power service side)

For your scenario, I think it may be related to power bi service IP changes, you can check support page to know more about these:

Power bi support 

BTW, If you download pbix file and publish it again, did it succeed replace service report files?
Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[Jonmcc · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous I just tried again by downloading the pbix file from our power BI portal, making my changes, and clicking publish. It did NOT succeed in overwriting my old report, and instead just created a new one with the same exact name. So now I have two reports that differ, with the same name. 

Update 2/4: I think I've figured it out. I was not able to overwrite my old report by downloading the pbix from the Reports tab in my Workspace, but I was able to when downloading the pbix from the Datasets tab instead. This might be due to renaming the report from my Power BI Service in the past, so when downloading the pbix file from that tab, it attempts to publish a new dataset with the new name.

I think this should be made easier or more obvious. I'd suggest a publish menu like Tableau's, where you can specify the name/location of the report and it prompts you to overwrite before publishing.