What are the limitation faced by external guest user sharing report from Pro Workspace

[pallavi_r]

Hi All, 

I have a report in my shared workspace and I have power bi pro license. And external guest users have Pro License. There is no premium capacity. I send an invite to external guest user added through Microsoft Entra. I would like give them maximum level of priviledge in terms of contribution for reports.

I would like to know what are the limitation, challenges when we share a report from Pro Shared workspace (Not premium) with external tenant.

Limitation or challenges faced by external users, such as sharing capability, refresh capability, workspace access to external users, downloading etc.

Thanks,

Pallavi

[rohit1991]

Hi @pallavi_r ,

When sharing a Power BI report from a Pro workspace with external guest users who also have a Pro license but without Premium capacity, several limitations apply. External users can be added via Microsoft Entra (Azure AD B2B) but have restricted permissions, meaning they cannot reshare reports, modify datasets, schedule refreshes, or create content within the workspace. Additionally, workspace access is limited, and external users cannot download PBIX files or use certain cross-tenant sharing features.

They can only view and interact with the report but do not have full contributor-level privileges like internal users. If full collaboration is required, the best approach is to assign them an internal account or upgrade to Power BI Premium per User (PPU) or Premium capacity, which offers more flexibility for external sharing and editing capabilities.

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[pallavi_r]

Hi @rohit1991 

Thanks for you reply.

1. Can we add external users to Pro shared workspace?

2. Can external users refresh power bi report on demand?

3. What extra advantage and capability is there for external user which is missing in Pro workspace if we report reside in premium capacity workspace?

Thanks,

Pallavi

[v-saisrao-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @pallavi_r,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community. 

Thank you for your detailed questions. Here’s a summary of the capabilities and limitations when sharing reports with external users in a Pro workspace versus a Premium capacity workspace: 

Can we add external users to Pro shared workspace? 

• Yes, external users can be added through Microsoft Entra (Azure AD B2B). However, they can only be assigned the Viewer role, which restricts their ability to edit, create, or publish content. 

Can external users refresh power bi report on demand? 

• External users are not permitted to refresh reports on demand in a Pro workspace. This functionality is limited to workspace members with Admin, Member, or Contributor roles. 

What extra advantage and capability is there for external user which is missing in Pro workspace if we report reside in premium capacity workspace? 

• When reports are hosted in a Premium capacity workspace, external users gain the ability to access content without needing a Pro license, which is required for Pro workspaces. Additionally, Premium provides features like larger dataset support, faster refresh rates, and more advanced AI capabilities. These advantages make it easier to share reports with external stakeholders while ensuring optimal performance and scalability.

Kindly refer to the link below for further details:

Distribute content to external guest users with Microsoft Entra B2B - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

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Thank you.  

[pallavi_r]

Hi @v-saisrao-msft ,

Thank you so much for reply. 

Just a quick question as I am getting this doubt, if we can add external user with pro license as viewer for workspace, why can't we add them as member or contributer. Will there be any error or restriction while providing workspace access to external member as contributor or member?

Or Do we need any special tenant setting to add ext user in workspace as member or contributor.

Thanks,

Pallavi

[v-saisrao-msft]

Hi @pallavi_r,

Thank you for your question! 

In a Power BI Pro workspace, external users added via Microsoft Entra B2B are restricted to the Viewer role due to cross-tenant limitations. As a result, they can view and interact with reports but cannot be assigned Member or Contributor roles to edit, refresh, or create content. This is a built-in security and governance restriction in Power BI Pro workspaces to protect data and prevent cross-tenant modifications. Microsoft Entra B2B users from a different tenant are restricted from being workspace admins, members, or contributors unless specific conditions are met. 

If this post helps, then please give us ‘Kudos’ and consider Accept it as a solution to help the other members find it more quickly.  

Thank you.  

[powerbidev123]

Hi @pallavi_r , External users must have a Power BI Pro license in their own tenant to view shared content. If they don’t have a Pro license, they will not be able to access the report unless your organization purchases Power BI Premium capacity (P1 or higher) or assigns them a Power BI Pro license.

External users cannot be assigned roles like Admin, Member, or Contributor in the Pro-shared workspace. They can only be Viewers with limited access. Since external users can’t be workspace members, they cannot edit reports, create new content, or publish reports in your workspace.