OData Error with Power BI and Excel 365

[daisy_fong]

Hi Power BI beginner here.  When I try to pull data from an OData feed, I get an error.  There was a similar post from 2016 about this same error: Details: "We couldn't parse OData response result. Error: A missing or empty content type header was found when trying to read a message. The content type header is required." 
The recommended solution was to clear the cache, which I've tried, but I and another colleague are still getting the same error.   Does anyone have any ideas on what is causing the issue and how to resolve it?

[v-jiewu-msft]

Hi @daisy_fong ,

If I understand correctly, the issue is that you encountered the error when pulling data from an OData feed. Please try the following methods and check if they can solve your problem:

1.Ensure that the OData feed URL is correct and accessible.

2.Try using a different browser to access the OData feed.

3.Check if there are any firewalls or security settings that might be blocking the connection.

4.Make sure that the content type header is set correctly in the response from the OData feed.

5.Visit the service provider’s website to check if there are any known issues that could affect the OData feed.

Best Regards,

Wisdom Wu

[daisy_fong]

Hi Wisdom.  Thanks for the reply.  Can you elaborate more on suggestion #4?  I also want to mention that a collaborator who does not have Power BI is able to access data through the ODate feed URL in Excel 2016.  My colleague who does have Power BI desktop is able to access data from the same OData feed URL that I've been using.

[daisy_fong · Accepted solution]

Update: The error message I was getting in both Power BI Desktop and Excel 365 was related to issues with the data source, specifically errors in multiple OData tables (e.g., a hashtag or slash in column headings, duplicate column names, formatting).  I used Excel to help with troubleshooting.  Once I cleaned up all the columns in question from multiple OData tables, cleared saved data source global permissions and created new ones (had to do this several times), and rebooted my computer, I was finally able to access the OData feed.  It doesn't explain why my colleague was able to use the same OData feed URL from the start and not see the same error, ""We couldn't parse OData response result. Error: A missing or empty content type header was found when trying to read a message. The content type header is required." I suspect this could have been related to corrupted data source global permissions.