Problem with data type from an excel file

[Joretha]

Hi. I am new to BI, although I've already used Power Query. I now try to import a sheet from an Excel file. The file size is 42 MB (I have the free version but that allows you up to 1GB, so this should not be a problem?) and the data in the sheet covers 52 columns and 55871 rows. When I import it, it gives me an error message to say the data was cut because of the size. The upload and modify are blanked out, so I can only choose cancel - and therefore not importing my data into Power BI. Why is this a problem? (the problem, choice options are free translations, my computer is in French)

Also, I could not connect as it does not want to accept my gmail address (and neither my yahoo.fr). I've then used another address that I have that ends .com, even though I don't really want to use this as an option as it is an address I have with a company I do work for from time to time, but MS also does not want to accept this. How on earth am I suppose to connect if they don't accept these addresses? I'm not going to pay for a domain or email address and then afterwards find out they don't even want to accept that! I'm also not sure why I should connect since the screen and functionality of Power BI comes up on my computer, which is why I started to import the data (but perhaps this is the reason for the problem?).

I would very much appreciate assistance!

[KGrice]

Hi @Joretha. Welcome to Power BI. For the time being, the terms of service require an organizational email for Power BI, though there is a community idea you can vote on to help MS change their mind. It has quite a few votes, so you're not the only one who wants to use their personal email, including me.

I'm not sure why you're hitting the import issue. You mention a data type in the title of your post. Is there an error indicating a data type problem? Maybe a field size? As far as I know, the size of your dataset won't cause an issue just loading into Power BI.

[Joretha]

Hi there

Thanks for your response. I have tried with a company .com address but MS does not even accept this. From what I've read this last half an hour, it seems as if I can forget about having any access to Power BI just because they do not accept any of the e-mails, incl a corporate one. I think this is a shame.

I have tried to upload a very small Excel file, just to see what happens. So the connection is the problem - even though it shows the screen for BI, I can't upload any Excel file.

I've gone to post my vote, but it didn't even seem as if it was registered since the total votes remained the same.

[KGrice]

Some companies have turned off the ability to use Power BI with their accounts. Not sure if that is the case for you and why you're having issues with the .com address. I also hope we get the ability to user Power BI as personal users, if nothing else to be able to learn the tool.

For what it's worth, you can check if your votes were attributed to the idea. While logged in at the ideas forum, click your username. You'll be able to see all of the topics you've voted for and how many votes you have assigned to them.

[Joretha]

Thanks. No, it is a NGO who doesn't even know what is Power BI - I'm the one working with data :). But through this NGO I work with several companies, advising them to implement dashboards etc - but how can I go and advise them to use Power BI if I can't even access it myself? I honestly don't understand MS on this, they force me to expolore their competitors' products.

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@Joretha A couple things I'll mention here. First, here is a video that will show you how you can set up a test tenant, and start working with the Power BI Service.

If you just want to get an idea of how things work as it relates to importing data and building reports I would suggest you start with downloading the free Power BI Desktop - this requires no tenant set up (valid email) to get your feet wet.

Make note, that sharing and dashboards do only exist in the Service (app.powerbi.com) - so it may be worth walking through the above video.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

[Joretha]

Thank you for your reply. I did have a look at the video. I've also uninstalled the Power BI Desktop, thinking something went wrong during the installation. I've installed it again, using the MS centre for downloads, this time the English version. Still no luck. The moment I want to import an Excel file, no matter how small, the choice for Load or Edit are blanked out. The only choice I have is cancle. It is an Excel file on my hard drive. I've then reinstalled the Fr version as well - still the same problem. So no matter what - I can't use Power BI Desktop, even though it is suppose to be for free. I honestly don't know what to do & I've wasted a lot of precious time searching for a solution.

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@Joretha Is it just the excel file that you cannot import from? What version of Excel and how large is the file. Take a look here for requirements. Are you able to connect to any other file? For example, could you pull the data from the excel file and put it in a text file to see if you can import? 

[Joretha]

Hi there,

Back from holiday but still stuck with my problem. I can import csv files into Desktop, but i can't import Excel (2016). I've created some small files to check but it either blanks out the choice to load/edit (ie I can only cancel my request to upload an Excel table) or if I can click load, it throws out an error message, saying that the file does not contain requests or a model (rough translation from French). I have tried with Excel data in a table format and without table format, neither works.

I've installed Desktop on another laptop and have the same problem.

I'll be grateful for any suggestions as to what I should do, as I can't find any solution on internet. My files are saved as xlsx

Many thanks

[kcantor]

@Joretha

Have you tried to pull the data into PowerQuery and PowerPivot? They are 'twins' to PowerBI and would give you an idea if the file itself is the issue. the difference is that they live in native Excel.

If you can access it in Power Query (or what ever they call it in Excel 2016) then I would send a ticket and ask @v-qiuyu-msft for some advice.

[Joretha · Accepted solution]

Thank you - I have managed to solve the problem by myself :). It was a very stupid error, but if you don't know it, you can be stuck like I was. In fact, I have used click & double click on the table to import, but this kept the load & edit blanked out. There is actually a little square in front of the table name (i haven't even noticed before...) - you need to click that tick box in order to enable the options to load/edit.