Pbix file not opening on desktop after deleting dataset

[preetks]

Hi,

I have a pbix file which is connected to an Excel file on SharePoint as the data source. The Excel file had some issues with file size. We had to delete the file and recreate it. While doing that, the dataset on PowerBI got deleted. I have recreated the Excel file and the dataset.

I am now trying to fix the existing pbix to point it to the new dataset. However, the file fails to open on desktop. I get no error message and desktop just opens a blank "Untitled" file. Is there any way to recover this report and use a new dataset? If not, any way to extract the various visuals out of it and copy to a new pbix?

Thanks

[MFelix]

Hi @preetks ,

What you can do to test out is to make a new query connecting to the new file and check if you are abble to see the information in the query editor, then just copy the first line (Source) from that new connection to the previous query and check if everything works properly.

Regarding the copy paste you can select all the visualizations on a report and copy to a new PBIX file by CTRL+C - CTRL+V only downside is that if you have 10 pages you need to do one page at a time.

[preetks]

Thanks, @MFelix. The problem is that the pbix is not even opening in PowerBI desktop. It fails to publish also.

Is there any way to manually edit it in Notepad or some other application?

[MFelix]

Hi @preetks ,

you can edit your PBIX file by changing the extension to ZIP.

Check the blog post below with an explanation on how to change the data source using the zip format, you may need to adapt since you are using excel and not the source they refer but the process should be pretty much the same.

https://eriksvensen.wordpress.com/2017/10/03/how-to-change-the-powerbi-desktop-file-connection-from-...

If you need further help please tell me.