Initialization of data source failed

[Anonymous]

I have shared a report, when the user is exporting the data using analyze in excel, user is getting the error..

Initialization of the data source failed.

Check the database server or contact your database administrator, Make sure the external database is available, and then try the operation again. If you see this message again, create a new data source to connect to the database.

User has excel 2010

[v-lid-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ,

How about the result after you follow the suggestions mentioned in my original post?Could you please provide more details about it If it doesn't meet your requirement?

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ Dong Li
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Anonymous]

The user was using excel 2010, and that's the culprit, they have to upgrade the excel version , to 2016.

[GilbertQ]

That is really interesting, thanks for letting us know.

[v-lid-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Based on this document: https://exceleratorbi.com.au/power-bi-analyze-excel-what-you-need-to-know/

This issue is related to you not having the correct data connector installed for your version of Excel.  Make sure you have installed the correct (64 bit or 32 bit) data connector as covered earlier in this documents like following

Please also refer to the similar thread: https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Service/Analyze-in-Excel-Initialization-of-the-data-source-failed/td-p/24928

Could you please check if reach the limitations in this document: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-analyze-in-excel#requirements

• Analyze in Excel is supported for Microsoft Excel 2010 SP1 and later.
• Analyze in Excel requires that the dataset be in Power BI Premium or that the user have a Power BI Pro license.
• Users can connect to datasets through Analyze in Excel if they have read permission on the underlying dataset. 
• The Analyze in Excel is a Power BI service feature, and is not available in Power BI Report Server or Power BI Embedded.
• Analyze in Excel is only supported on machines running Microsoft Windows.
• Some organizations may have Group Policy rules that prevent installing the required Analyze in Excel updates to Excel.

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ Dong Li
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[GilbertQ · Accepted solution]

Hi there

I would suggest if possible to upgrade the version of Excel?

Also it could potentially be a network issue if they cannot connect to the external database, which would indicate an issue with connectivity to the Power BI Service?

[Srv794]

Hi, 

In our company, we have the same problem when sharing Excel - files with connection to PowerBI dataset. So the data refresh in Excel is no problem, also with the desktop version of Excel for the user who made the connection but not for other users. 

Can it be that the version  of Excel is a problem? The pro users who make te report have 64bit versions of Excel, the readers 32 bits. 

Thank you for your reply! 

Kind regards, 

Steven