Sharing Power BI report - Access denied

Instead of playing with access at the report level, there are two better approaches

Move the report in another workspace and give read access to this workspace to the users

Or the best way, would be to create an app in Power BI services to manage the access in the app instead of workspace or report

You can find more information about app under the following link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/consumer/end-user-apps

Hi ExcelKnut,

In Power BI:

• A report and its dataset are two separate objects.
• Sharing the report (or dashboard) doesn’t automatically give users access to the underlying dataset.
• When your users open the report, Power BI tries to query the dataset — and if they don’t have Read permission on that dataset, you see the “Access denied” error.

So even though you’ve shared the report or the app, they still can’t query the data model.

1. Publish the report to a shared workspace

Make sure you’ve published the .pbix from Desktop to a workspace that is not My Workspace.

🟢 Use a workspace under Workspaces → [Your Workspace Name]

🔴 Avoid My Workspace — reports shared from there are not accessible to others.

2. Give users access to the dataset

From the Power BI Service:

1. Go to your workspace.

2. Open the Datasets + Dataflows tab.

3. Find your dataset → click the ellipsis (…) → Manage permissions.

4. Add your users or security group with at least Viewer or Build permissions.

💡 Tip: It’s best to grant access via Azure AD group, not individuals, for easier management.

3. Share the report or publish it as an App

You have two main ways to distribute the report:

Option A – Share directly

• Open the report → click Share.

• Add users or groups → ensure “Share the underlying dataset” is checked.

• This will automatically grant dataset permissions.

Option B – Publish as an App (recommended for 50+ users)

1. In your workspace → click Publish App.

2. Configure which reports/dashboards to include.

3. In the Permissions tab, add users or groups who need access.

4. Once published, share the App link.

This ensures that both the report and dataset permissions are correctly applied in one step.

Documentations : 

- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-share-dashboards

- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-datasets-build-permissions

- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/service-create-distribute-apps

Hope it can help you ! 

Best regards,

Antoine