Connect Power-BI datasets directly in Excel

[BetterIdeaGroup]

re: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform-release-plan/2020wave2/power-bi/connect-power-bi-dat...

In this article it mentiones "included with E5" but I am not clear on if it should also be available with any Power BI PRO license?  I have a E3 license but also have a  Power BI Pro add-on.  Would be great to get a direct answer on if and when this funtionality should be available to me.

[collinq · Accepted solution]

Hi @BetterIdeaGroup ,

I am not sure why that article specifically states that you have to have an E5.  I believe that you just have to have a PBI Pro License and access to the dataset.  I do not have E5 and was able to get to our Datasets, as shown here.

Also, the screenshots are a bit old, but the concepts are the same from a post made by  @GilbertQ  at this location:

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Community-Blog/How-to-enable-Excel-Pro-s-to-use-Power-BI-Datasets/b...

I would appreciate Kudos if my response was helpful. I would also appreciate it if you would Mark this As a Solution if it solved the problem. Thanks!

[collinq · Accepted solution]

Hi @BetterIdeaGroup ,

I am not sure why that article specifically states that you have to have an E5.  I believe that you just have to have a PBI Pro License and access to the dataset.  I do not have E5 and was able to get to our Datasets, as shown here.

Also, the screenshots are a bit old, but the concepts are the same from a post made by  @GilbertQ  at this location:

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Community-Blog/How-to-enable-Excel-Pro-s-to-use-Power-BI-Datasets/b...

I would appreciate Kudos if my response was helpful. I would also appreciate it if you would Mark this As a Solution if it solved the problem. Thanks!

[BetterIdeaGroup]

@col  not sure what add-in you have in Excel but my get data menu in excel does NOT have a powerBI dataset as an option.  Also, I did drill thru your link and after an exhaustive search no add-in seems to be available anymore. (e.g. 
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Community-Blog/How-to-enable-Excel-Pro-s-to-use-Power-BI-Datasets/b...
shows a nice ribbon - not be be found anywhere. It even mentions:
    "If your SKU does not support this feature, the Get Data menu option does not appear"
  which I guess gives more credibility to E5 vs E3. I have no issue gaining access to PowerBI datasets when I start from their service, I just do not have the fancy new widget for starting in Excel and pulling from datasets - that was the spirit of the post as IMHO if I am paying for a Power BI license they should allow access to Power BI directly in Excel

[collinq]

Hey @BetterIdeaGroup ,

You may have to add that to the menu/ribbon?  These are the screenshots in case you have to add it to the ribbon and where I am getting the dataset option.

This is the file options screen for the ribbon modification

I would appreciate Kudos if my response was helpful. I would also appreciate it if you would Mark this As a Solution if it solved the problem. Thanks!

[BetterIdeaGroup · Accepted solution]

@collinq that's a little more basic than we're dealing with here. While I understand your Excel has the ability to connect (I'm guessing you are E5 thus not a good version to compare) as you can see it's not available in my E3 subscription which was the point of this post.

Frankly I think this is "as designed" today but am hopeful that a Microsoft support rep can take this issue up the chain.