Forum Discussion
Power BI 'Act As functionality'
Hi DebbieE
Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.Power BI does not have an equivalent to OBIEE’s Act As / Proxy functionality. In Power BI (including Premium and Fabric), all security is always evaluated against the signed-in Entra ID identity and that identity cannot be temporarily overridden. This is a hard architectural boundary. There is no supported way for a user to impersonate another user, either to see more data or to see less data, while remaining logged in as themselves.
As a result, organizations needing OBIEE-style proxy behavior use external workarounds. The most common method is to create dedicated test or audit accounts that match a real user’s security settings, allowing admins or executives to sign in for validation or troubleshooting. Another approach is to temporarily change security group membership in a controlled and auditable manner. Currently, Power BI does not provide a built-in, user-driven “act as” feature.
Best Regards,Microsoft Fabric Community Support Team
Power BI security is always evaluated as the signed-in identity. You cannot temporarily “impersonate” another user and see the report as them while keeping your own login, the way OBIEE’s Proxy / Act As works. The closest option that exist in Fabric environment is “View as” option.
How to use "View as" in Power BI Desktop:
Go to Model view or Report view
Click View as (top ribbon)
Select:
one or more roles OR
“Other user”
Click OK
How to use “View as” in Power BI Service:
Open the report
Top menu → View as
Select one or more roles
Apply
How to use "View as" in Power BI Desktop:
Go to Model view or Report view
Click View as (top ribbon)
Select:
one or more roles OR
“Other user”
Click OK
isnt this for a developer checking that the RLS is working? Not for users in Reports?
How to use “View as” in Power BI Service:
Open the report
Top menu → View as
Select one or more roles
Apply
Again, I dont think you can just do this is you are a user witjh specific security in place and someone wants you to view as them with for example no security in place? this again would be for a developer wouldnt it? so doesnt fit?