Sharepoint folder excel live update

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Posted on by VS-06091158-0

i have excel file located inside sharepoint folder, i want to connect power bi with this file so that if anyone update data in excel file it should immediately reflect in power bi report without refreshing the semantic model (dataset) in power bi service , can it be possible using power automate?

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WillPage 2,307 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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You can trigger a refresh of you dataset from Power Automate using the Power BI connector - there's an action Refresh a dataset. However, there's no magical way to update your report without refreshing the model unless your data source supports direct query, which Excel definitely does not.

As an alternative, you could consider creating an Azure SQL database, sink data into that using Power Automate and connect to it using direct query.

PBI streaming datasets are another option for real-time data but they're slated for the chop 2027 so don't invest too much into that.

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Riyaz_riz11 3,893 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi,

Phase 1: Immediate Solution (Week 1)

Automated Refresh via Power Automate:

Create Power Automate Flow:

Trigger: SharePoint file modified Action: Delay 30 seconds Action: Refresh Power BI dataset Action: Send notification email

Test and Deploy:

Test with small Excel changes

Monitor refresh success rate

Adjust delay timing if needed

Phase 2: User Experience Enhancement (Week 2-3)

Add Tracking and Notifications:

User Notifications:

Email when refresh completes

Teams notification to stakeholders

Status updates in SharePoint

Error Handling:

Retry logic for failed refreshes

Alert administrators on persistent failures

Fallback to scheduled refresh

Phase 3: Advanced Features (Month 2)

Consider Migration Options:

Evaluate SharePoint Lists:

Pilot with subset of data

Train users on SharePoint interface

Measure user adoption

Assess Streaming Needs:

Identify truly time-critical reports

Implement streaming for priority data

Maintain Excel for less critical updates

If I have answered your question, please mark it as the preferred solution ✅ . If you like my response, please give it a Thumbs Up 👍.
Regards,
Riyaz

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Tomac 3,953 Moderator on at

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Hi @VS-06091158-0

As @WillPage noted, you cannot refresh the report data without refreshing the dataset. If you use a Power Automate flow to automatically update the dataset, you will encounter the dataset refresh limits:

If you're trying to get around this limitation, which it seems like you are, you can use a Push Semantic Model instead:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/developer/embedded/push-datasets-limitations

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/power-bi/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/power-bi/push-datasets

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