Refresh a dataset created from an Excel

workbook on OneDrive or SharePoint

Online
Article • 01/09/2023

You can import Excel workbooks from your local machine, or from cloud storage such as
OneDrive for work or school or SharePoint Online. This article explores the advantages of
using cloud storage for your Excel files. For more information about how to import Excel files
into Power BI, see Get data from Excel workbook files.

What are the advantages?

When you import files from OneDrive, or SharePoint Online, it ensures the work you’re
doing in Excel stays in sync with the Power BI service. Any data that you’ve loaded into your
file’s model then updates in the dataset. Any reports you’ve created in the file load into
Reports in Power BI. If you make and save changes to your file on OneDrive or SharePoint
Online, Power BI shows the updates to those changes. For example, if you add new measures,
change column names, or edit visualizations, Power BI reflects the changes. Your changes
typically update within an hour after you've saved them.

When you import an Excel workbook from your personal OneDrive, any data in the
workbook loads into a new dataset in Power BI. For example, tables in worksheets, data
loaded into the Excel data model, and the structure of the data model goes into a new
dataset. Power BI automatically connects to the workbook on OneDrive, or SharePoint Online,
approximately every hour to check for updates. If the workbook changed, Power BI refreshes
the dataset and reports in the Power BI service.
You can refresh the dataset in the Power BI service. When you manually refresh or schedule a
refresh on the dataset, Power BI connects directly to the external data sources to query for
any updated data. It then loads updated data into the dataset. Refreshing a dataset from
within Power BI doesn't refresh the data in the workbook on OneDrive or SharePoint Online.

What’s supported?
Power BI supports the Refresh Now and Schedule Refresh options for datasets that meet
the following conditions:
The datasets are created from Power BI Desktop files that are imported from a local
drive.
Get data or Power Query Editor in Power BI is used to connect to and load the data.
The data is from a source that's described in one of the following sections.

Power BI gateway - personal

All online data sources shown in Power BI Desktop’s Get data and Power Query Editor.
All on-premises data sources shown in Power BI Desktop’s Get data and Power Query
Editor except for Hadoop file (HDFS) and Microsoft Exchange.

On-premises data gateway

On-premises data gateway supports refresh for the following data sources:
Analysis Services Tabular
Analysis Services Multidimensional
SQL Server
SAP HANA
Oracle
Teradata
File
Folder
SharePoint list (on-premises)
Web
OData
IBM DB2
MySQL
Sybase
SAP BW
IBM Informix Database
ODBC

７ Note
 A gateway must be installed and running in order for Power BI to connect to on-
premises data sources and refresh the dataset.

OneDrive or OneDrive for work or school. What’s

the difference?
If you have both a personal OneDrive and OneDrive for work or school, it’s recommended
you keep files you want to import in OneDrive for work or school. Here’s why: You likely use
two different accounts to sign in and access your files.

In Power BI, connecting to OneDrive for work or school is typically seamless because you
likely use the same account to sign in to Power BI as OneDrive for work or school. But with
personal OneDrive, it's more common to sign in with a different Microsoft account .

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When you sign in to OneDrive for work or school with your Microsoft account, select Keep
me signed in. Power BI can then synchronize any updates you make in the file in Power BI
Desktop with datasets in Power BI.

If your Microsoft account credentials change, edits to your file on OneDrive can't synchronize
with the dataset or reports in Power BI. You need to reconnect and import the file again from
your personal OneDrive.

Options for connecting to an Excel file

When you connect to an Excel workbook in OneDrive for work or school, or SharePoint
Online, you have two options on how to get what’s in your workbook into Power BI.
Import Excel data into Power BI – When you import an Excel workbook from your
OneDrive for work or school or SharePoint Online, it works as described previously.
Connect, manage, and view Excel in Power BI – When using this option, you create a
connection from Power BI right to your workbook on OneDrive for work or school or
SharePoint Online.

When you connect to an Excel workbook this way, a dataset isn't created in Power BI. But the
workbook appears in the Power BI service under Reports with an Excel icon next to the name.
Unlike with Excel Online, when you connect to your workbook from Power BI, if your
workbook has connections to external data sources that load data into the Excel data model,
you can set up a refresh schedule.

When you set up a refresh schedule this way, the only difference is refreshed data goes into
the workbook’s data model on OneDrive, or SharePoint Online, rather than a dataset in
Power BI.

How do I make sure data is loaded to the Excel

data model?
When you use Power Query (Get & Transform Data in Excel 2016) to connect to a data
source, you have several options of where to load the data. To ensure that you load data into
the data model, you must select the Add this data to the Data Model option in the Import
Data dialog box.

1. In Excel, select Data > Get Data and select where you want your data to come from. In
this example, the data loads from an Excel workbook file.

2. In the file browser window, locate and select your data file and then select Import.

3. In Navigator, select your file and choose Load To… .

 Or, in Excel, select Data > Get Data > Launch Power Query Editor to open the Query
Editor. There you can select Close & Load To….

4. Then, in Import Data, be sure to select Add this data to the Data Model and select OK.
What if I use Get External Data in Power Pivot?
No problem. Whenever you use Power Pivot to connect to and query data from an on-
premises or online data source, the data automatically loads to the data model.

How do I schedule a refresh?

When you set up a refresh schedule, Power BI connects directly to the data sources by using
connection information and credentials in the dataset to query for updated data. It then loads
the updated data into the dataset. Any visualizations in reports and dashboards based on that
dataset in the Power BI service also update.
For more information about how to set up a scheduled refresh, see Configure scheduled
refresh.

When things go wrong

When things go wrong, it’s usually because Power BI can’t sign in to data sources. Or it's
because the dataset connects to an on-premises data source and the gateway is offline. Be
sure Power BI can sign in to data sources. If a password you use to sign in to a data source
changes, or Power BI is signed out from a data source, be sure to sign in to your data sources
again in Data Source Credentials.
Be sure to leave the Send refresh failure notification email to me setting selected. You want
to know right away if a scheduled refresh fails.
Important notes
Refresh isn't supported for OData feeds connected to and queried from Power Pivot. When
using an OData feed as a data source, use Power Query.

Troubleshooting
Sometimes refreshing data might not go as expected. Typically, problems with refreshing are
an issue with the data gateway. For tools, tips, and known issues, see the following articles
about troubleshooting the gateway.

Troubleshoot the on-premises data gateway

Troubleshoot the Power BI gateway - personal

More questions? Try the Power BI Community .