Power BI Pro unable to refresh data from the excel source file

[stevencheung_bm]

Having a serious problem, under the Power BI Pro license, my online report uable to get refresh to the data semantic model which linking to the excel source file saved in my onedrive. It impact a lot as just a few data need to update. I'm not sure what happen, is it due to not frequently keep update, or some data inserted into the original file?

It was mostly appears when I open and insert new data to the source file. then the connection of the datasource will be broken, then unable to connect again.  So trouble...!

Below are the message:

Something went wrong

Refresh failed because this semantic model requires a gateway. Please select a gateway from semantic model settings.

Please try again later or contact support. If you contact support, please provide these details.

• xxxxx
• TimeTue May 13 2025 17:47:18 GMT+0800 (Hong Kong Standard Time)
• Service version13.0.25874.41
• Client version2505.1.24125-train
• Cluster URIhttps://wabi-east-asia-b-primary-redirect.analysis.windows.net/

[v-karpurapud · Accepted solution]

Hi @stevencheung_bm 

Welcome to the Microsoft Fabric Forum,

As correctly noted by @andrewsommer , while your Excel file is in OneDrive (accessible via a SharePoint URL), Power BI is interpreting the data source as a Web connection through the Web.Contents() function in Power Query. This method requires an on-premises data gateway when the report is published to the Power BI Service.

To avoid needing a gateway, Power BI must establish a cloud-native connection. This can be done using either the SharePoint connector (SharePoint.Contents()) or the native OneDrive for Business integration, both of which authenticate directly to the cloud and do not require a gateway.

It's likely that the data refresh initially worked because Power BI Desktop can handle local and web connections without needing a gateway. However, once deployed to the Power BI Service, refreshes fail unless the data source is accessible via a supported cloud connector.

If this information helps resolve your issue, kindly consider marking this response as the Accepted Solution, as it may assist other community members facing similar challenges.

Thank you for being part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.

[v-karpurapud · Accepted solution]

Hi @stevencheung_bm 

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you'd like to discuss this further. If this answers your question, please Accept it as a solution and give it a 'Kudos' so others can find it easily.

Thank you.

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @stevencheung_bm 

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.

[v-karpurapud]

Hi @stevencheung_bm 

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[stevencheung_bm]

it can't resolves, I don't know why sometimes not work...
When I have update or adding new columns in excel source file, the data model cannot be updated. 
The only way I can do, is to download all set of reports to Desktop Version, then change the data source, the import back to system..    so unconvenient !!

[v-karpurapud · Accepted solution]

Hi @stevencheung_bm 

Welcome to the Microsoft Fabric Forum,

As correctly noted by @andrewsommer , while your Excel file is in OneDrive (accessible via a SharePoint URL), Power BI is interpreting the data source as a Web connection through the Web.Contents() function in Power Query. This method requires an on-premises data gateway when the report is published to the Power BI Service.

To avoid needing a gateway, Power BI must establish a cloud-native connection. This can be done using either the SharePoint connector (SharePoint.Contents()) or the native OneDrive for Business integration, both of which authenticate directly to the cloud and do not require a gateway.

It's likely that the data refresh initially worked because Power BI Desktop can handle local and web connections without needing a gateway. However, once deployed to the Power BI Service, refreshes fail unless the data source is accessible via a supported cloud connector.

If this information helps resolve your issue, kindly consider marking this response as the Accepted Solution, as it may assist other community members facing similar challenges.

Thank you for being part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.

[stevencheung_bm]

thank you so much Andrew for the reply. 
I found the cloud connection of the semantic model datasource path is somthing like: 
Web{"url":"https://xxxxxxx.my.sharepoint.com/personal/xxxxxxxxxxx/Documents/PowerBI/DataSource/xxxxxx.xlsx"}

This is the original path that when I create the report. I just simply choose this data as file source while I create a new report, then it auto become a data semantic model in Power BI.  In the first few day when I developing the report, any update of data in source file can be sync/refresh when I press "refresh",  just recently when I go to the original file, insert some data row, then it becomes unable to refresh.    Not sure is that someting wrong that I made.

[andrewsommer]

If your excel file is in OneDrive and you are using auto-sync (cloud connection) you won’t need a gateway.  Given that your error specifies a gateway I would assume you are getting your excel file through a local path or Web.Contents or something like it that requires a gateway.

Check your Power Query source path:

• If it looks like: https://orgname-my.sharepoint.com/... > cloud-connected
• If it looks like: C:\Users\... or Web.Contents from file:// > local path

If it's the latter, Power BI Service cannot access it unless you configure a gateway.

Please mark this post as a solution if it helps you. Appreciate Kudos.