Folder datasource not refreshing or accepting new files

[Alexicon]

Hello,

So I was posting about this earlier but since my issue has changed I figured a new post would be ideal.

I am working for a company that collects survey data and then presents it. Each year we are given new data, but the data is consistantly the same (since the data we are given is the same).

I wanted to make an easy Power BI file that would allow me to in the future simply insert next years data and then have it useable immedietly. Someone suggested the 'Get data from folder' option, and from what I have been able to research it sounds perfect for my needs!

The issue I am having however is twofold. Adding one excel file is fine, but any time I add a second excel file I get this warning,

Or another that is basically exactly the same. Google unfortunately is little help as this error is apparently used for several things! I verified the collums are the same so I don't know what could be cause it.

I also noticed that when I get new files, I get this:



What are all these extra files and how do I get rid of them?

I am still new to Power BI so I would appreciate any help I could get!

[v-juanli-msft]

Hi @Alexicon 

Per your requirement,

if you have data in excel files,

this year you connect to the excel file with Power BI Desktop,

next year, you will have a new excel file,

if the excel files have the same data structure (means the same numbers of columns and the same headers),

you could replace data source for the exsiting report as introduced here

Best Regards

Maggie

[Alexicon]

Bumping this back up to the top to hopefully get some help, I'm completely at a loss!

[Alexicon]

Nudging this up one more time today, I've gotten good help from this forum before and I am not giving up hope!

[v-juanli-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @Alexicon 

From your screenshot, it seems you combine files (binaries) in Power BI,

the extra files are generated when you apply "combine files" step.

Here is a thread talking about refreshing data from folder and someone provided useful trial.

To get more adapted solution, could you show more details including these below?

Which folder do you need to connect to?

The local folder containing excel files?

or folders stored online, like Sharepoint online?

To analyze with the error message shown in the screenshot,

Does the new-added excel file have the same data structure as previous one?

It is much appreciated of you to share some example data of both previous and current file.

Best Regards

Maggie

[Alexicon]

Unfortunately the files I am working with contain protected data so I cannot share them online. They have the same number of colums and the same headers, I suspect there is a minor issue somewhere that I simply cannot find. Might require some editing on my part then.

Thank you for the resources though, I will look further into it. Is there a way to compare two data sources and see differences ie in headers?

Thank you for your time and patience

-Alex