Power Apps visual in Power BI not working

[Vasek00005]

Hi,

I have a simple Power Apps visual in Power BI. The app is connected to SharePoint list and displays it. So in Power BI I should see a data from SharePoint displayed through a Power Apps visual.

It works for me, in PBI Desktop or published in PBI Service. However, my coleague cannot see the data. She has the same permitions I have. She is able to see the SharePoint itself and edit items there. She can open the PBI report but the visual doesn't display any SharePoint data there (however, all the static data of the app are visible).

Where is the problem?
I tried to solve it with ChatGPT but it suggests only to force other user to authorize the connection in the Power Apps first (send them a link) and then open the PBI report. But 1) I cannot find any real discussion about that (all the links provided by ChatGPT are not valid or are about different topics) and 2) it does not seem to be a solution for me - the report is meant to be used by ordinary people (like our management) of our company who have no idea what Power Apps are - I cannot ask all these people to authorize the connection in an enviroment they are not used to.

I believe the problem - or the solution - is somewhere else.

Any idea?
Many thanks,
Vašek

[Vasek00005]

Hi,

thank you all for your help. I try to use it and write you back if it was successful.

Vašek

[BhavinVyas3003]

• Share the Power App with your colleague via Power Apps → Share → Add user with "Can use" permission.

• In Power Apps, go to Data > Connections, and share the SharePoint connection with the same user.

• Ensure the Power BI report and Power App are in the same environment.

• (Optional) Use an Azure AD group to share the app and connection with all users at once.

[Vasek00005 · Accepted solution]

Hi guys,

again, thank you all for your help. Finally, it showed up that the problem was somewhere else. That's why I cannot tell which of your answer solved my problem, as the problem was different then I described.

The problem was in a language version of Power Apps. I use the czech version (cannot force browser to be in english for some reason) but my coleague user english version. And Power Apps has different approach to name of aggregation. The column from Power BI was aggregated and czech naming was used for it instead of "Sum of..." And that didn't work for my coleague which I falsely evaluated as problem of connection (as she was not able to see any connected data). No, it was a problem of bad naming of a column that was used to filter Sharepoint table.

Feel bad about it. Sorry that I misled you.

Vašek

[v-nmadadi-msft]

Hi @Vasek00005 

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply or accept your own reply as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who may come across this post in the future

Thank you.

[Poojara_D12]

Hi @Vasek00005 

The issue you're experiencing with the Power Apps visual in Power BI, where it displays SharePoint data for you but not for your colleague—even though they have identical SharePoint permissions—most likely stems from how Power Apps handles data source authentication per user, especially within embedded contexts like Power BI. While your colleague can access and edit the SharePoint list directly, Power Apps still requires that each user consent to using the SharePoint connection within the app’s context. This is a one-time authentication step that Power Apps enforces for security, even if the app is embedded in Power BI.

What’s happening behind the scenes is that the Power Apps visual runs in the context of the logged-in Power BI user, and if that user hasn't previously granted consent for Power Apps to access SharePoint on their behalf, the app fails to load data—even though static content within the app appears. Unfortunately, this is a known limitation, and while Microsoft documentation is sparse on this specific embedded scenario, the suggested workaround is often to have the user open the standalone Power App once (via a shared link), which triggers the authentication and consent process for SharePoint. After that, the embedded app in Power BI should work seamlessly.

For broader deployment to non-technical users like management, the best practice is to pre-authenticate the app using service principals, or redesign the experience to avoid embedded visuals where user consent is a bottleneck. Currently, though, there is no fully seamless way to skip this per-user authorization step unless your organization leverages Azure AD Conditional Access and consent policies to pre-consent access for all users—something your IT admin can configure at the tenant level.

[SamsonTruong]

Hi @Vasek00005 ,

It appears that you will need to authorize/share the app with the user in Power Apps first. This is a documented limitation in Microsoft's official documentation for the Power Apps visual for Power BI: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/canvas-apps/powerapps-custom-visual#limitations-o...

If this helped, please mark it as the solution so others can benefit too. And if you found it useful, kudos are always appreciated.

Thanks,

Samson

[Vasek00005]

Hi Samson,

many thanks for your help. Just to clafiry - you mean to share the app from Power Apps (simply share) or send a link to the user so they open the app and sign in?
Vašek

[SamsonTruong]

Hi @Vasek00005 , you would just need to share the app. Here is documentation from Microsoft on how you can share the app: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/canvas-apps/share-app#share-an-app-from-power-app...

Please let me know if the visual works after sharing the app.