Power BI and Local Excel Data Refresh

Here we will cover the scenario where there is a local spreadsheet file on a user’s desktop, and we have a Power BI desktop file that connects to the spreadsheet. We want that data to be automatically updated in the Power BI service.

To do this, first create a new Power BI desktop file and connect to the spreadsheet.

Here is our excel file:

In Power BI Desktop, go to Get Data->Excel:

Create a simple visualization, save and publish to powerbi.com:

If we add a new row to the data and refresh, we will see it cannot refresh:

Try refreshing:

Add a Gateway connection:

Go to the data source and Schedule Refresh. Select the Gateway:

Now when you refresh the dataset, the data is updated:

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Carl de Souza Enterprise Architect at Microsoft · AI Technology Expert