CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powerbipowerbi-desktop
Iam Riz
Iam Riz

Reputation: 127

Is there a workaround for Power BI Desktop to automatically refresh data without publishing pbix to Power BI Service?

Is there still no way for Power BI Desktop to automatically refresh data without publishing pbix to Power BI Service? Due to threat of private information leakage, we want to maintain our data only via Power BI Desktop (not using Power BI Service first). We have been looking for ways on how to work around the automatic refresh in PBI Desktop for over a day already but all pointing us to publishing pbix to Power BI Service, which will allow us to schedule the refresh after.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 9213

Answers (3)

Robert McCulloch
Robert McCulloch

Reputation: 1

You can automate refresh Power BI using Power Automate Desktop (free version) as a UI desktop click. Just record. That's how I do it.

Having said that, you can't schedule it unless you get a paid account which I think is $20.

This is all about doing everything in Microsoft's cloud and Microsoft getting revenue. Microsoft has some wonderful apps out there. They are also really good at abandoning any product if it doesn't meet their revenue hopes - no matter how wonderful the app is. Access 2013 Sharepoint Apps would me a good example. Pretty sure Microsoft was surprised at how quickly the adoption happened and didn't like seeing the resource use.

SSRS is probably the best option for you to be honest. Only place where you will be completely unlimited and you have control.

Upvotes: 0

Andrey Nikolov
Andrey Nikolov

Reputation: 13440

There is no supported way to do this. The easiest workaround is to teach your users to click on Refresh button. Second easiest thing could be to use DirectQuery instead of import mode.

There are some attempts for workarounds from the community, but you should use them with caution:

But leaving workarounds aside, Power BI is compliant with a lot of security standards. Data leaks of data from the cloud in most (all?) of the cases will be caused by a human factors, which is also possible with on-premise data. But if it is a no-go for your organisation, then either use Power BI Server on-premise, or another reporting tool (e.g. SSRS).

Upvotes: 3

Murray Foxcroft
Murray Foxcroft

Reputation: 13745

There is no way to automate the refresh in PowerBI desktop. You have to manually click the refresh button. Many organisations trust PowerBI Service with their data. However, in the case that you have some serious data residence restrictions, then you can deploy PowerBI Report Server on premises and publish to this without your data leaving your network.

Upvotes: 1

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