Power BI Auto-Refresh for Published Workspaces

Question

Hello. Is there a way for published workspaces to be scheduled for refresh at a certain period? At the moment, I am able to edit the excel (data source) and data will be updated on the Power BI Desktop after a refresh. However, I am required to select Publish & overwrite the published workspace to see the changes on Sharepoint.

Answer 1

@Hakim Hamid

Yes, you can schedule refreshes for datasets in the Power BI Service so that you don’t have to manually publish and overwrite your workspace every time your source data changes. However, there are a few key points to consider:

1. Data Source Type and Location:

 • If your Excel file is stored on SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business, Power BI can use a live connection to your file. In these cases, temporary “auto-refresh” options may be available (such as a one‐hour refresh cycle on OneDrive files), but the most reliable method is to set up a scheduled refresh on the dataset in the Power BI Service.

 • If your Excel file is stored locally or on another cloud service, you might need to configure an on‐premises data gateway to support scheduled refreshes.

2. Scheduled Refresh Setup in Power BI Service:

 • Sign in to your Power BI Service account.

 • Navigate to the workspace containing your dataset.

 • Click the “Settings” (the gear icon) for your dataset.

 • Under “Scheduled refresh,” configure the refresh frequency and time(s) that suit your needs.

 • Save your settings.

After setting this up, Power BI will attempt to refresh the dataset automatically based on the schedule configured.

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