Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides Track your progress

Guides

Share a Power BI Report with a Link

By , Power BI & Data Analytics trainer LinkedIn Published: Last updated:

Share gives people a link to a report that already lives in the Power BI Service. You choose who the link is for. You do not email the PBIX. The shared copy stays on the refresh and the security you set up. A file in an inbox does not.

Friends! Emailing FreshBasket.pbix feels helpful. Why is it a trap? The attachment is a frozen copy. It skips refresh, and it skips row security. How? We use Share, pick a link for people in the organisation or for specific people, and leave the PBIX on the author’s machine. The link opens Mumbai at 150 for someone who is allowed to see Mumbai.

Quick answer

Vertical path:

  1. Open the report in the Service. Choose Share.
  2. Link for People in your organisation: anyone in the company with the link and a licence.
  3. Link for Specific people: only the names you type.
  4. Link for People with existing access: no new permission, only a convenient link.
  5. Turn on reshare or build permission only when you mean it.
  6. Do not use Publish to web. That puts the report on the public internet.
Share a link to the Service
Do not attach the PBIX

What the colleague opens

How they received it Refresh later? Security roles apply? Mumbai
Link, existing access, Viewer Yes, with the model Yes, for viewers 150 if they may see Mumbai
PBIX in email No, until they publish their own copy No, it is a local file 150 frozen on the day you sent it
  1. The three rows are still 100, 50, and 40.
  2. A person with no licence may not open the link. In many companies, viewers need a Pro licence, unless the workspace sits on a large capacity that allows free viewers. Ask your admin which one you have. Do not invent a second copy to dodge the licence.
  3. Specific people is the calm default for a small audience.
  4. People in your organisation is wider. Anyone inside the company who gets the link can open it. Do not post that link in a public chat.

What do I need before this guide?

Before and after (look at the tables first)

Before share link Emailed PBIX does not refresh.

Before - PBIX in email. Security skipped

After share link Shared Service link keeps refresh.

After - Service link. Not Publish to web

Share a link Share a link. People in your organisation Specific people People with existing access Leave reshare off unless you mean it. Share a link People in your organisation Specific people People with existing access Leave reshare off unless you mean it.

Share sends a link: people in your organisation, specific people, or people who already have access.

  1. Open the report in the Service, not the PBIX on your desktop.
  2. Clear slicers if the link should start on all cities (190). Set them if the link should start on Mumbai (150). Some link types keep the current state. Check the first open yourself.
  3. Share → choose the link type.
  4. Specific people: add the work accounts or the group. Send.
  5. Copy the link only after the type is correct.
  6. Open the link in a private window or ask the person to confirm the card.
  7. If the audience is a whole department and you have several reports, an app is usually calmer than many share links.
Do not email the PBIX Do not email the PBIX. Inbox file: frozen 150, no refresh. Service link: same model, refresh stays. Publish to web = public internet. Do not use it for shop sales. Do not email the PBIX Inbox file: frozen 150, no refresh. Service link: same model, refresh stays. Publish to web = public internet. Do not use it for shop sales.

Do not email the PBIX. That copy skips refresh and security. Never use Publish to web for shop data.

Build permission lets the other person create new reports on your semantic model. That is useful for an analyst. It is too much for a manager who only reads. Leave it off unless the job needs it.

Reshare lets them pass the link on. Leave it off when the audience is named.

What never to do with shop numbers

  1. Do not email the PBIX as the “share”.
  2. Do not use Publish to web for sales, targets, or any customer list. The report becomes public. Anyone with that link can view it, outside your company.
  3. Do not paste a “people in your organisation” link into a channel that includes guests.
  4. Sharing does not replace row-level security. A shared report still shows every row the person is allowed to see. Set security first if cities must be split.

Mistakes and calm fixes

Symptom Likely cause Fix
They cannot open the link Licence, or they are outside the link type Check licence and use Specific people
They see your test slicer You shared while filtered Reset filters and share again
A stranger in the company opened it Organisation link was forwarded Remove the link; use Specific people
Numbers never update They are using an emailed PBIX Move them to the Service link

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Interview line: “I share a Service link to specific people or to an app audience. I do not email the PBIX, and I never use Publish to web for company data.” Got it?

Practice task

  1. Publish a practice report.
  2. Create a Specific people link to one colleague or a test account.
  3. Confirm they see 190 with no slicer, and 150 on Mumbai.
  4. Write why an email attachment would fail next Monday’s refresh.
  5. Find Publish to web in the menus and leave it unused. Say why.

Learn it properly

Course lesson:

Related: Apps · Workspaces

Got it? Share a link. Do not share the file. Next: row-level security, so the right person sees only their rows. Let us go ahead.

Frequently asked questions

How do I share a Power BI report?

In the Service, use Share and send a link to specific people or to people in your organisation.

Why not email the PBIX?

The attachment does not refresh and does not keep Service security.

What is People with existing access?

A link that adds no new permission. Useful when an app or a role already let them in.

Who can open an organisation link?

People in your company who have the link and the right licence. Do not post it publicly.

What is Publish to web?

A public internet link. Do not use it for shop sales or any private data.

Course lesson?

Sharing and distribution, in the Power BI Service chapter.