--- title: "Power BI" slug: "power-bi" description: "Learn how to connect your data to Power BI with Dataddo. Get instructions on how to configure the connection for personal & shared dashboards and troubleshoot." updated: 2023-11-20T09:22:52Z published: 2023-11-20T09:22:52Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dataddo.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Power BI **Power BI** is a business intelligence and data visualization tool provided by Microsoft. It allows users to connect to various data sources, transform and model data, and create interactive visualizations and reports. ## Power BI implementation Cheat Sheet Using Dataddo direct connection to Power BI might not be an optimal solution for all the cases; e.g. when you need to work with large volumes of data with >100K rows per flow or you need to perform complex SQL transformations. Check the table below to find the optimal implementation for your specific case. | Use case | Solution | | --- | --- | | Personal Dashboard | Configure [connection for Personal Dashboard](/docs/power-bi#personal-power-bi-dashboard). | | Personal Dashboard with automatic refresh | Configure [connection for Personal Dashboard](/docs/power-bi#personal-power-bi-dashboard) with [On-premises Data Gateway](/docs/power-bi#configure-an-onpremises-data-gateway). | | Shared Dashboard with automatic refresh | Configure [connection for Shared Dashboard](/docs/power-bi#shared-power-bi-dashboard). Make sure to configure automatic refresh. | | Shared Dashboard with large volumes of data | Use [Azure Blob Storage](/docs/azure-blob-storage) (or any other data lake) as your flow destination with CSV as output format. Then use Power BI native connection to Azure Blob Storage. | | Shared Dashboard with complex data (SQL transformations needed) | Use database such as Azure SQL or Azure Synapse as your flow destination (each flow will represent a single DB table). Then use Power BI native connection to the chosen database. | --- ## Create a New Data Flow to Power BI in Dataddo 1. Navigate to **Flows** and click on [**Create Flow**](https://app.dataddo.com/flow/new). 2. Click on **Connect Your Data** to add your ***sources***. Here, you can [blend](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-blending) or [union](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-union) your data. 3. Click on **Connect Your Data Destination** and navigate to the **Dashboarding Apps** tab to add your destination. 4. Check the **Data Preview** to see if your data is correct. 5. **Name** your flow and click on **Create Flow**. A window with configuration details will pop up. Follow the instructions to finish the setup **in your dashboarding app**. If you need to revisit the configuration details, simply go to the [**Flows**](https://app.dataddo.com/flows) tab and click on the **power outlet** icon. **DATADDO TIP** Leave the window with configuration details in Dataddo open. If you can't find it, check this information again by clicking on power plug button with **Connection Details**. Once your flow is set up in Dataddo, you will be presented with two options - [**Personal Power BI Dashboard**](/docs/power-bi#personal-power-bi-dashboard): For [cases](/docs/power-bi#power-bi-implementation-cheat-sheet) when you **not** planning sharing your Power BI Dashboard via Power BI Online. - [**Shared Power BI Dashboard**](/docs/power-bi#shared-power-bi-dashboard): Recommended if you plan to share your report or dashboard via the PowerBI Online Service. ## Personal Power BI Dashboard **ADMIN RIGHTS REQUIRED** Make sure you have **admin** rights on your Windows device, if not, please configure [connection for **shared** dashboard](/docs/power-bi#shared-power-bi-dashboard) instead. 1. In the configuration window in Dataddo, navigate to the **PowerBI Personal Dashboard** tab and click on **download the Dataddo Power BI Connector installer** appropriate for you Windows version. - [Download the x64 installer](https://ddo-prod-service-static-content-s3.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/installers/dataddo-power-bi-installer-x64.zip) - [Download the x86 installer](https://ddo-prod-service-static-content-s3.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/installers/dataddo-power-bi-installer-x86.zip) 2. Extract the content of the downloaded zip file and open the **Installer.exe** file. 3. The terminal window will appear when the installation runs. Press **enter** to exit. The connector is now installed on your computer. 4. Open Power BI Desktop and under **Get data**, choose **Dataddo (Beta)** from the list of apps, and click on **Connect**. 5. Insert the **API key** from Dataddo (your flow's connetion details window) and click on **Connect** again. **DATADDO TIP** If you cannot see the **Dataddo (Beta)** connector in the list, please reinstall your Power BI. [Video](https://cdn.document360.io/084ed225-3f99-4644-a2da-39ca0cd5ef45/Images/Documentation/PowerBI%20desktop%20setup-%20file%20download.mp4) ### Configure an On-Premises Data Gateway Dataddo supports using **on-premises data gateway** in personal mode for **automatic data refresh**. #### Download and Instal On-Premises Data Gateway You can download on-premises data gateway from [Microsoft's official website](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53127). #### Gateway configuration After installation, enable using Dataddo connector by selecting **Connectors** in the on-premises data gateway app. In **Custom data connectors**, under **Load custom data connectors from folder**, browse to and select a folder that the user running the gateway service can access. The default user is **NT SERVICE\PBIEgwService**. The gateway will automatically load the custom connector files to that folder, and they appear in the list of data connectors. ## Shared Power BI Dashboard 1. In you Power BI Desktop, click on **Get data** and select **Web**. 2. Click on **Advanced**. 3. Insert the **URL Path** from the configuration window in Dataddo to the **URL Parts** section in Power BI. The value will be the following format: `https://api.dataddo.com/v1.0/get/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0201b4f3?type=csv`. 4. Under the **HTTP Request Parameters** section: 1. Type **Authorization** to what appears as **selection box**. 2. Insert the value of the authorization header. The value will be in the following format `Bearer aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa744609253455d7ec3081e84c708e4d93a16548275382da40`. 5. Click on **OK**, and then **Connect**. 6. Under the **Home** tab, click on **Publish** and select which workspace you want to publish your dashboard to. ![Power BI - Shared Dashboard config](https://cdn.document360.io/084ed225-3f99-4644-a2da-39ca0cd5ef45/Images/Documentation/Power%20BI%20-%20Shared%20Dashboard%20config.png) If you want to share your report with others, please continue with the [setup for report sharing](/docs/power-bi#sharing-report-via-power-bi-online-service) below. ### Share Report via Power BI Online Service **WARNING** Dashboard sharing will **not** work if you are connecting via **installed desktop plugin**. **Schedule an automatic refresh** to make sure your coworkers have accurate and fresh data. 1. Under the **My workspace** tab on the Power BI website, click on the **Schedule refresh** button next to your **dataset**. 2. Due to an error message stating that the **credentials are invalid**, you will be redirected to the **Datasets Settings** page. Under the **Data Source Credentials** section, click on **Edit credentials**. 3. Check the **Skip test connection** option (other fields can stay unchanged) as it causes for the error message to pop up and confirm by clicking on **Sign in**. 4. Go back to the list of your workspaces and click again on the **Schedule Refresh** button next to your dataset. Under the **Refresh** section, schedule your refresh schedule. ![Power BI - Schedule Refresh Edit Credentials and Skip Test](https://cdn.document360.io/084ed225-3f99-4644-a2da-39ca0cd5ef45/Images/Documentation/Power%20BI%20-%20Schedule%20Refresh%20Edit%20Credentials%20and%20Skip%20Test.png) --- ## Limitations There's a limit to how much data you can send to Power BI at once. **DATADDO TIP** Before sending your data to Power BI, check the number of your rows by previewing your data. Click on the three dots next to your source or flow and select **Data Preview**. The following list applies to the **full Power BI service**: - **Dataset size limit**: There's a 1 GB limit for datasets stored in **Shared capacities** in the Power BI service. If you need larger datasets, you can use Power BI Premium. - **Distinct values in a column**: When caching data in a **Power BI dataset** (sometimes called 'Import' mode), there is a 1 999 999 997 limit on the number of distinct values that can be stored in a column. - **Row limit**: When using **DirectQuery**, Power BI imposes a limit on the query results that are sent to your underlying data source. If the query sent to the data source returns **more than 1 million rows**, Power BI will return an error and the query fails. Your underlying data can still contain more than 1 million rows. You're unlikely to run into this limit as most reports aggregate the data into smaller sets of results. - **Column limit**: The maximum number of columns allowed in a dataset, across all tables in the dataset, is **16 000 columns**. This limit applies to the Power BI service and to datasets used in **Power BI Desktop**. Power BI tracks the number of columns and tables in the dataset in this way, which means the maximum number of columns is **16 000 minus one** for each table in the dataset. - **Data source limit per user**: The maximum **number of data sources allowed per user is 1 000**. This limit applies to Power BI service only. Specific features will have their **own limitations**. ### How to Avoid Limitations? There are two ways to avoid the above-mentioned limitations. 1. **Limit the amount of data**. It is also possible the amount is too large due to incorrectly configured [snapshotting settings](/docs/extraction#extraction-frequency). 2. Connect the data to a **data warehouse** first, and then to Power BI. Use a **database** like [Google Sheets](/docs/google-sheets-destination) or opt for a data **warehouse** for more of a long-term solution, e.g. [Azure Blob Storage](/docs/azure-blob-storage). --- ## Troubleshooting ### Dataddo Power BI Connector Is Not Showing In Power BI If you cannot see the connector in the list of apps, please reinstall your Power BI. There is not needed to reinstall the plugin as well. ### Unable to Install the Dataddo Power BI Plugin In case your device does not allow you to install the Dataddo Power BI plugin, proceed [configuring a connection for a shared dashboard](/docs/power-bi#configuring-the-connection-for-shared-dashboard) instead. As no installation is needed, this method is guaranteed to work. ### Cannot Refresh or Connect Data If an error message regarding a **failed update of the data source pops up**, go back to configuration to check the **Skip test connection** box, and confirm with **Sign in**. ![Power BI - Schedule Refresh Edit Credentials and Skip Test](https://cdn.document360.io/084ed225-3f99-4644-a2da-39ca0cd5ef45/Images/Documentation/Power%20BI%20-%20Schedule%20Refresh%20Edit%20Credentials%20and%20Skip%20Test.png) ### Power BI Unexpected Line Breaks In some cases, your data in Power BI might be pushed into another column instead of simply showing **null** values. This happens when your data contains, for example, descriptions or other **written content** which is why some characters can be then interpreted as **line breaks** by Power BI. To avoid this, when connecting Dataddo to Power BI, choose **Ignore quoted line breaks** for line breaks. ![Power BI - Comma-Separated Values](https://cdn.document360.io/084ed225-3f99-4644-a2da-39ca0cd5ef45/Images/Documentation/Power%20BI%20-%20Comma-Separated%20Values.png) ## Related Articles - [Direct Connection to Dashboarding Apps](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/simple-data-integration-to-dashboards) - [Data Backfilling to Dashboarding Apps](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-backfilling-to-dashboarding-apps) - [Data Transformations](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-transformations) - [Data Quality Watcher](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-quality-watcher)