excel dataflow filepath setup issue

[Gwhiz]

When I try to add a dataflow from an excel file the next button is greyed out and the autorization kind is anonymous which it should be and my only option. I have found through testing that power bi does not allow a letter to be in the beginning of the filepath and I don't understand the criteria they want. My filepath looks like this: C:\Users\Name\Folder\file.xlsx what am I doing wrong? I have already tried deleting the C: and C:\ before the path but it gives me a "path is invalid" message.

[GilbertQ]

Hi there

Would it be possible to store it in OneDrive for Business, then you can access the file via that Copy Path option?

[Gwhiz]

We don't use onedrive but there isn't an option for adding a link for onedrive. I tried adding the onedrive link to the excel option but I am getting error messages and same with adding the link to the sharepoint option.

[GilbertQ]

Hi there,

I would need to then try it out myself and see why it is not working.

Another question is your Gateway available to you?

If you are connecting to a local file, you would need to use the Gateway in order to connect to the local file?

[Gwhiz]

This would bring me back to original problem where pasting in the local file path ex: C:\Users\Name\Folder\file.xlsx gives me no option to choose a gateway or authentication method. I assume I need to set up a gateway?

[GilbertQ · Accepted solution]

Hi there

Yes I totally forgot because dataflows are a cloud based service, if you are connecting to any file that is not cloud sourced, you would need the Gateway to connect to the file.