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Power BI – Get Data from Files

Power BI - Get Data from Files

Get data from files for Power BI

In Power BI, you can connect to or import data and reports from three types of files.

  • Microsoft Excel (.xlsx or .xlsm)
  • Power BI Desktop (.pbix)
  • Comma Separated Value (.csv)

get data from a file

To utilize Power BI effectively, you need a dataset to explore the data. However, in order to have a dataset, you must first obtain the data. In this article, we’ll concentrate on gathering data from files. 

To better comprehend the significance of datasets and how we collect data, let’s draw a comparison to an automobile. Imagine yourself seated in a car looking at the dashboard, which is similar to observing a dashboard in Power BI. The dashboard displays various aspects of your car’s performance, such as the engine revving speed, temperature, gear, and speed, among others.

In Power BI, the dataset serves as the engine of your car, providing the data, metrics, and information that is shown in your Power BI dashboard. Just like your car’s engine requires fuel to operate, the dataset in Power BI also requires data as its fuel. To feed data to your dataset, you need a fuel tank, which can be a Power BI Desktop file, an Excel workbook file, or a .CSV file.

Furthermore, to obtain the necessary data for our Power BI Desktop, Excel, or .CSV file, we need to source it from another data source. This data can be manually entered as rows in an Excel workbook or .CSV file, or we can connect to an external data source to extract and load it into our file. After gathering data in a file format, we can import it into Power BI as a dataset.

Location of saved file

Where you save your file makes a difference.

Local – When you store your file on your computer or elsewhere in your organization, you can import it into Power BI. However, your file will still be stored on your local drive, and only a new dataset will be created in your Power BI site. The data and, in some cases, the data model will be loaded into the dataset. Any reports that are included in the file will also be displayed under Reports in your Power BI site.

OneDrive – Business OneDrive for Business is the most efficient way to keep your Excel, Power BI Desktop, or .CSV file and your dataset, reports, and dashboards in Power BI synchronized, provided that you use the same account for both. Since both OneDrive and Power BI are cloud-based, Power BI connects to your OneDrive file approximately every hour to check for any changes. If there are any changes, your dataset, reports, and dashboards in Power BI are updated automatically.

OneDrive – Personal – If you store your files on your personal OneDrive account, you can still enjoy most of the advantages offered by OneDrive for Business. However, there is one key difference. When you initially connect to your file (using Get Data > Files > OneDrive – Personal), you will have to sign in to your OneDrive using your Microsoft account, which is usually different from your Power BI account. To ensure that Power BI can connect to your file approximately every hour and maintain synchronization, select the Keep me signed in option when logging in to your OneDrive account.

SharePoint Team-Sites – Storing your Power BI Desktop files in SharePoint – Team Sites is quite similar to saving them in OneDrive for Business. The main difference lies in the way you connect to the file in Power BI. You have the option to specify a URL or connect to the root folder.