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jansenuy
Helper I
Helper I

Auto refresh confusion

I hope you guys would be able to enlighten me regarding the autorefresh feature of Power BI Service. I have some few questions. Hope it's not too much.

 

When I first started with my pbix file on my desktop, I saved the pbix and excel on my personal One Drive. I then imported the pbix to Power BI online. I really don't know how but the hourly updates just work. 

  1. Do I need to refresh the pbix file on Power BI desktop to update the report figures on Power BI service?

As I tried creating a workspace, I eventually migrated my files to One Drive for Business. My pbix file is now both on "My workspace" and my team's workspace. Again, I used import from One Drive for Business for this. 

  1. After updating my excel file, both reports from both workspaces didn't autorefresh via One Drive. Do you guys have any idea why?

So I checked the refresh schedule window and found out about this personal gateway installer. I installed it and now running updates hourly.

  1. If I update my excel file, will it automatically update just the data?
  2. What if I need to change something in my report, can I still edit the PBIX file and expect one drive to pick it up to Power BI online?

Thanks in advance. Sorry for the noobness.

2 REPLIES 2
jansenuy
Helper I
Helper I

Sorry I'm just so confused with all the features and probable ways to deal with autorefresh.

@jansenuyThis article will go a long way in helping you understand the concepts. The gateways are what allow you to schedule refresh to on premises data sources (and some web), but for the most part, if your data exists online (example: Azure SQL DB, or OneDrive) then you don't need a gateway and you can just schedule. It also depends on what datasource, and where it is that will dictate certain special behaviors. Such as Excel files on a OneDrive where automatic refresh can occur. All of that is layed out in the linked article, read through that and if you have additional questions feel free to post back.


Looking for more Power BI tips, tricks & tools? Check out PowerBI.tips the site I co-own with Mike Carlo. Also, if you are near SE WI? Join our PUG Milwaukee Brew City PUG

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