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As noble as it is to share Excel files in online sources, there is no standardized Power BI Desktop Data Connector for Excel Online sources. In Dataflows using Power Query Online<\/a>, you can insert a URL as the source for Excel workbooks. However, the only option in Power BI Desktop is the native \u201cExcel Workbook\u201d connector which points to a file location on a local machine.<\/p>\n In Power BI Desktop, we can use one of my favorite Power Query life hacks to connect to Excel Online sources in Power BI Desktop.<\/p>\n A Power Query life hack is using the Power Query interface to provide a rough framework<\/a> for common transformation steps. Sometimes, the standardized transformation options in the Power Query editor simply do not accomplish what you need to transform your data properly.<\/p>\n Every time you click one of the options in the Power Query ribbon or select a New Data Source connector, behind the scenes, the Power Query engine translates the step as a piece of M-code. You can modify the automatically generated code in the formula bar or in the Advanced Editor to suit your exact transformation needs.<\/p>\n Writing custom M statements can be tricky, especially given the complexities of the M-formula language. The sight of a blank Advanced Editor window is enough to strike fear in the heart of any Data Engineer.<\/p>\n By using the Power Query interface as a starting point, you can save time sifting through M-formula documentation for basic transformation steps. Instead, you can devote more time diving into the complexities.<\/p>\n Examples of Clean URLs:<\/p>\n When dealing with sensitive Organizational <\/strong>sources, it is best to change the Privacy Leve<\/a>l to prevent data leakage and adhere to compliance standards.<\/p>\n In Power BI Service<\/strong>, navigate to the destination Workspace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Locate the published Dataset<\/strong>. Click the ellipsis icon > Settings<\/em>.<\/p>\n Now, any time the file is modified online, the changes will be reflected once the report is refreshed. Be aware that working with Excel sources can be challenging in the long run. When using Excel Online sources, always develop a process for source file owners regarding proper maintenance <\/strong>of the source.<\/p>\n Communicate with the file source owners that any time a change is made in the Excel source, <\/strong>Power BI content<\/a> will be impacted downstream.<\/strong> Any time an error occurs in the source, or the file structure changes, Power BI content can fail to refresh.<\/strong><\/p>\n Common behaviors that cause refresh failures are:<\/p>\n Maintaining Excel Online sources can provide better team visibility and facilitate collaboration among teams, as long as proper governance processes <\/strong>are understood and followed by all.<\/p>\n Let our experts at 3Cloud come alongside you and leverage our technical experience to provide guidance on how to apply business intelligence<\/a> in your organization no matter where you are on your analytics journey. Take this adoption assessment<\/a> to score your organization\u2019s Power BI maturity level, or read through our Modern Self-Service Analytics eBook<\/a> to gain a better understanding of the awesome capabilities of Power BI.<\/p>\n Ready to get started today? Check out our Modern Business Intelligence Jumpstart Solution<\/a> or Contact us directly<\/a> today to learn more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a consultant, a common scenario among my clients is storing Excel-based data sources in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":22011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[394,260],"tags":[481,426,273],"class_list":["post-22004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-intelligence","category-data-ai","tag-excel","tag-microsoft","tag-power-bi","topics-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Power Query Life Hacks:<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nHow to Connect to Excel Online Sources in Power BI Desktop<\/h3>\n
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Finishing Touches:<\/h3>\n
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Publish to Power BI Service:<\/h3>\n
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Final Words of Caution:<\/h3>\n
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