Ownership of Power BI Reports (Embedded in Public Website) – What Happens When Original Owner Leaves

[Rafaela07]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for guidance regarding ownership transfer of Power BI reports in Microsoft Fabric.

I’m currently in the process of leaving my company, and we are transitioning ownership of assets to a service account that we created specifically for long-term continuity.

So far, I’ve been able to successfully take over ownership of Lakehouses, Semantic models, Notebooks, Data pipelines etc.

However, I’ve noticed that Power BI reports do not seem to have a “Take Over” ownership option, unlike previously mentioned items.

From what I understand users with edit permissions in the workspace can edit the associated report. However, the report itself still appears to remain owned by the original creator.

My main concern is that these reports are embedded in a public website.

What happens when my user account is disabled or deleted and the original report owner no longer exists in the tenant?

Specifically:

• Will the embedded report continue functioning normally?

• Could it break due to ownership dependency?

• Is there a recommended best practice for transferring report ownership in embedded/public scenarios?

• Is there an official governance approach recommended by Microsoft for this situation?

We want to avoid any service disruption once my account is deactivated.

If anyone has dealt with a similar transition, I’d really appreciate your insight.

Thanks in advance!

[Olufemi7]

Hello @Rafaela07, 

Here’s how this works for Power BI reports embedded in public websites:

Will the embedded report continue functioning normally?

• Secure/authenticated embeds continue to work as long as the workspace permissions remain correct and a service or team account is a workspace admin.

Could it break due to ownership dependency?

• Publish to web (public) embeds are tied to the original creator’s account. If that account is disabled or deleted without reassigning the embed code, the public links can stop working.

Is there a recommended best practice for transferring report ownership in embedded/public scenarios?

• Move reports to shared workspaces (avoid personal workspaces).
• Make a service account a workspace admin.
• Reassign public embed codes to the service or team account via the Power BI admin portal.
• Ensure all dataset credentials are not tied to your personal account.

Is there an official governance approach recommended by Microsoft for this situation?

• Microsoft’s guidance is to manage embed codes through the Power BI admin portal and use service or team accounts for all critical artifacts. (Microsoft Docs – Embed code management)

Avoiding service disruption:

• Following the steps above ensures public or embedded reports remain functional after your account is deactivated.

Community insight:

 • As noted in the Microsoft Fabric Community, report “ownership” isn’t technically required for access, but public embed codes are tied to the original publisher account. (community discussion)

[Rafaela07]

Hi @Olufemi7 !

First of all thank you very much for the response!
Just a clarification.
The way that we embed these reports are not throught publish to web, yet we use Power BI Embedded - App Owns Data scenario and the authentication is performed with service principal.
In this scenario, the removal of the original creator's account can still cause problems regarding the reports function?

Thank you in advance!

[Olufemi7 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Rafaela07,

In the Power BI Embedded – App Owns Data scenario using a service principal, the embedded reports are not dependent on the original creator’s account. As long as:

1. The service principal has the necessary workspace permissions (Admin or Member with edit rights).
2. All datasets and data sources use service accounts or stored credentials, not personal credentials.
3. Reports are deployed in shared workspaces, not personal “My Workspace” accounts.

Then, disabling or deleting the original user account will not break the reports. The service principal handles authentication and access, so ownership of the original report doesn’t matter.

Official Microsoft documentation:

• Embed Power BI content using a service principal – Microsoft Learn
• Embed for your customers (App Owns Data scenario) – Microsoft Learn

Following this setup is the recommended best practice to ensure continuous access and avoid service disruption.