Forum Discussion
Refresh Excel based Reports of Semantic Model - Viewer/ Read Access Permissions
Hi henry_gonsalves ,
Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.
In Power BI, when using import mode and Excel reports connected to a Power BI dataset, there are a few key things to note regarding Viewer access and refresh ability:
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Viewers cannot refresh imported data in Excel unless they have Build permission on the dataset.
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Even if a scheduled refresh is set up in the Power BI Service, Excel files connected via import mode do not auto-refresh; they contain a static snapshot unless refreshed manually.
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In Excel, the Refresh button works only if the user has permission to access the data source i.e Power BI dataset.
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Without Build permissions, Excel will throw an error when a Viewer tries to refresh the connection.
- To allow users to refresh the dataset in Excel, ensure they are granted Build permissions on the dataset. This is required whether they are connecting through Analyze in Excel or through a live connection
Regards,
Chaithanya.
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Hi henry_gonsalves ,
Just to clarify, if you want users to open an Excel file that’s connected to a Power BI dataset and actually refresh the data (using the Refresh button in Excel), they have to have Build permission on the dataset. If they only have Read or Viewer permission, they’ll be able to see the last saved data in the file, but they won’t be able to refresh, it’ll give a permissions error.
This applies whether you’re using Premium or Pro workspaces, and there isn’t a workaround at the moment. So for any scenario where viewers need to refresh Excel reports connected to a semantic model, make sure they have Build permission on the dataset.
Thank you, this seems to be the functionality I need: Builders can build and Viewers can view them.
I just wanted to make sure that viewers would be able to read reports produced in Excel using the dataset and could refresh them themselves without needing Build permissions too. So if the report has a scheduled refresh on import mode, I assume the Viewers would be to click Refresh in Excel as per other data sources and pivot tables to get the latest data that's in the service?
Many thanks
Hi henry_gonsalves ,
Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.
In Power BI, when using import mode and Excel reports connected to a Power BI dataset, there are a few key things to note regarding Viewer access and refresh ability:
-
Viewers cannot refresh imported data in Excel unless they have Build permission on the dataset.
-
Even if a scheduled refresh is set up in the Power BI Service, Excel files connected via import mode do not auto-refresh; they contain a static snapshot unless refreshed manually.
-
In Excel, the Refresh button works only if the user has permission to access the data source i.e Power BI dataset.
-
Without Build permissions, Excel will throw an error when a Viewer tries to refresh the connection.
- To allow users to refresh the dataset in Excel, ensure they are granted Build permissions on the dataset. This is required whether they are connecting through Analyze in Excel or through a live connection
Regards,
Chaithanya.
Hi v-kathullac ,
If I create an Excel Pivot table from a composite model that is made from import + directlake mode tables, are the directlake fields referenced in the Excel Pivot table refreshed/have a live connection to the data, or is that also a snapshot as well until refreshed manually?
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