Cannot export underlying data - PBI version is April 2022; Report Setting enabled; Unique ID present

[Anonymous]

Hi, on the same page of the PBI report, there are 2 visuals, both created from the same PBI table.

Also, the same RLS (created from Modeling ---> Manage Roles) is for both visuals.

However, for one, I can export underlying data, and the other the export underlying data option is greyed out.

I looked online for possible reasons and found this article - except none of these conditions apply in my situation:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-visualization-export-data?tabs=dashboard

"Export using Underlying data won't work if:

• the version is older than 2016.

• the tables in the model don't have a unique key.

• an administrator or report designer has disabled this feature

• you enable the Show items with no data option for the visualization Power BI is exporting.

Is this a bug?
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Hi Lucien, I really appreciate your thorough response. I believe none of the conditions you outlined apply to my situation. As I also described, the SAME data table is used to create 2 visuals on the same tab in the PBI report, except that with 1 visual I see the option to export underlying data, and the other visual that option is disabled. So, same data table used as source to create 2 visuals, but export underlying data option shows up for 1 visual and not the other. That's why I posted my question - I am a bit stumped. Thank you!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Issue solved. Turns out you need a measure in the visual to enable the export underlying data option. So the visual that had the option had a "count of", but the visual that didn't have the option did not. So I create a different "count of" for the 2nd visual (but did not display it), and that solved the issue, i.e this visual now has export of underlying data option enabled. Solution was actually posted before: https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Service/Export-Underlying-data-option-disabled/m-p/2044343#M137498. But when I tried on Friday it didn't work; tried again today and it did. I will post this reply as the "Solution". Thanks everyone.

[v-luwang-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ，

These considerations and limitations apply to Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service, including Power BI Pro and Premium. Please check if it occurs in your report.

• To export the data from a visual, you need to have Build permission for the underlying dataset.

• The maximum number of rows that Power BI Desktop and Power BI service can export from an import mode report to a .csv file is 30,000.

• The maximum number of rows that the applications can export from an import mode report to an .xlsx file is 150,000.

• Export using Underlying data won't work if:

  • the version is older than 2016.

  • the tables in the model don't have a unique key.

  • an administrator or report designer has disabled this feature.

• Export using Underlying data won't work if you enable the Show items with no data option for the visualization Power BI is exporting.

• When using DirectQuery, the maximum amount of data that Power BI can export is 16-MB uncompressed data. An unintended result may be that you export less than the maximum number of rows of 150,000. This is likely if:

  • There are too many columns. Try reducing the number of columns and exporting again.

  • There's data that is difficult to compress.

  • Other factors are at play that increase file size and decrease the number of rows Power BI can export.

• If the visualization uses data from more than one data table, and no active relationship exists for those tables in the data model, Power BI only exports data for the first table.

• Power BI custom visuals and R visuals aren't currently supported.

• In Power BI, you can rename a field (column) by double-clicking the field and typing a new name. Power BI refers to the new name as an alias. It's possible that a Power BI report can end up with duplicate field names, but Excel doesn't allow duplicates. So when Power BI exports the data to Excel, the field aliases revert to their original field (column) names.

• If there are Unicode characters in the .csv file, the text in Excel may not display properly. Examples of Unicode characters are currency symbols and foreign words. You can open the file in Notepad and the Unicode will display correctly. If you want to open the file in Excel, the workaround is to import the .csv. To import the file into Excel:

  1. Open Excel.

  2. Go to the Data tab.

  3. Select Get external data > From text.

  4. Go to the local folder where the file is stored and select the .csv.

• When exporting to .csv, certain characters will be escaped with a leading ' to prevent script execution when opened in Excel. This happens when:

  • The column is defined as type "text" in the data model, and
  • The first character of the text is one of the following: =, @, +, -

• Power BI admins can disable the export of data.

• If a dynamic format string is applied to a measure, the exported data won't preserve this formatting in Excel. Also, visual-specific formatting such as percent of grand total for a measure isn't preserved in Excel.

For more information，please see：Export the data that was used to create a visualization 

And if question still not solved ,could you pls share your pbix file ,and remember to remove confidential data.

Best Regards

Lucien