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Get data in Power BI Desktop

With Power BI Desktop, you can connect to data from many different sources. For a full list of available data sources, see Power BI data sources.

Power BI Desktop offers two Get Data experiences:

  • New Power Query experience (Preview): A redesigned interface with streamlined navigation, improved accessibility, and a consistent Power Query experience across Power BI Desktop, web modeling, and other Fabric products.
  • Classic experience: The original Get Data dialog box with category-based data source selection.

This article provides an overview of both experiences and the available data sources in Power BI Desktop. It also describes how to export or use data sources as PBIDS files to make it easier to build new reports from the same data.

Note

The Power BI team is continually expanding the data sources available to Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service. As such, you often see early versions of data sources marked as Beta or Preview. Any data source marked as Beta or Preview has limited support and functionality, and it shouldn't be used in production environments. Additionally, any data source marked as Beta or Preview for Power BI Desktop might not be available for use in the Power BI service or other Microsoft services until the data source becomes generally available (GA).

Get data

The Power Query get data experience replaces the classic get data dialog with a redesigned interface that provides a consistent Power Query experience across Power BI Desktop, web modeling, and other Fabric products.

Note

The Power Query experience is in preview.

Prerequisites

Power BI Desktop with the New Power Query experience preview feature enabled.

To enable the Power Query experience:

  1. Launch Power BI Desktop.

  2. Go to File > Options and settings > Options.

  3. Select Preview features, and then select the New Power Query experience checkbox.

    Screenshot that shows how to enable the new Power Query experience from Preview features in Power BI Desktop.

  4. Select OK.

  5. Restart Power BI Desktop.

  6. Select Get data to get started.

Get data (Power Query)

The Get data (Power Query) experience displays a left-hand navigation pane that helps you find and select the right data source. The experience is separated into the following sections:

  • Home
  • New
  • Recent data
  • OneLake catalog
  • Blank table
  • Blank query

Screenshot that shows the new Get Data experience in Power BI Desktop.

Home

The home page summarizes all the other sections and presents you with quick options to connect to your data. On this page, you can search for a connector across all categories by using the search bar at the top of the page. From the home page, select View more next to New sources, Recent, or OneLake catalog to visit those sections.

New

In the New section you can view a full list of data connectors. On this page, you can search for a connector across all categories by using the search bar at the top of the page. You can also navigate across the categories to find a specific connector to integrate with. Selecting a connector opens the connection settings window, which begins the process of connecting. For more information on using connectors, see Getting data overview.

Recent

In the Recent section, you can find and reconnect to your most recently used data sources.

OneLake catalog

In the OneLake catalog section, you can find, explore, and use the Fabric data items in your organization that you have access to. It provides information about the items and entry points for working with them. This module also lets you choose your preferred connectivity mode. For more information on the OneLake catalog, go to OneLake catalog.

Screenshot that shows how to choose a connectivity mode in the OneLake catalog.

Blank Table

In the Blank Table section, you can copy and paste data or manually enter it into a new table.

Blank Query

In the Blank Query section, you can write or paste your own M script to create a new query.

Data sources

Power BI Desktop provides the following data sources. In the new Get Data experience, find these connectors through the New module. In the classic experience, find them organized by category in the Get Data dialog box.

File data sources

The File category provides the following data connections:

  • Excel Workbook
  • Text/CSV
  • XML
  • JSON
  • Folder
  • PDF
  • Parquet
  • SharePoint folder

Database data sources

The Database category provides the following data connections:

  • SQL Server database
  • Access database
  • SQL Server Analysis Services database
  • Oracle database
  • IBM Db2 database
  • IBM Informix database (Beta)
  • IBM Netezza
  • MySQL database
  • PostgreSQL database
  • Sybase database
  • Teradata database
  • SAP HANA database
  • SAP Business Warehouse Application Server
  • SAP Business Warehouse Message Server
  • Amazon Redshift
  • Impala
  • Google BigQuery
  • Google BigQuery (Microsoft Entra ID)
  • Vertica
  • Snowflake
  • Essbase
  • AtScale Models
  • Actian (Beta)
  • Amazon Athena
  • BI Connector
  • Data Virtuality LDW
  • Exact Online Premium (Beta)
  • Jethro (Beta)
  • Kyligence
  • Linkar PICK Style / MultiValue Databases (Beta)
  • MariaDB
  • MarkLogic
  • MongoDB Atlas SQL
  • TIBCO® Data Virtualization
  • AtScale cubes
  • Denodo
  • Dremio Software
  • Dremio Cloud
  • Exasol
  • ClickHouse (beta)
  • InterSystems Health Insight
  • KX kdb Insights Enterprise (beta)
  • Kyvos ODBC (beta)

Note

Some database connectors require that you enable them by selecting File > Options and settings > Options, then selecting Preview features and enabling the connector. If you don't see some of the connectors mentioned previously and want to use them, check your Preview features settings. Also, any data source marked as Beta or Preview has limited support and functionality, and shouldn't be used in production environments.

Microsoft Fabric

The Microsoft Fabric category provides the following data connections:

  • Power BI semantic models
  • Dataflows
  • Warehouses
  • Lakehouses
  • KQL Databases

Power Platform data sources

The Power Platform category provides the following data connections:

  • Power BI dataflows (Legacy)
  • Common Data Service (Legacy)
  • Dataverse
  • Dataflows

Azure data sources

The Azure category provides the following data connections:

  • Azure SQL Database
  • Azure Synapse Analytics SQL
  • Azure Analysis Services database
  • Azure Database for PostgreSQL
  • Azure Blob Storage
  • Azure Table Storage
  • Azure Cosmos DB v1
  • Azure Data Explorer (Kusto)
  • Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
  • Azure HDInsight (HDFS)
  • Azure HDInsight Spark
  • HDInsight Interactive Query
  • Microsoft Cost Management
  • Azure Resource Graph
  • Azure HDInsight on AKS Trino (Beta)
  • Azure Cosmos DB v2
  • Azure Databricks
  • Azure Synapse Analytics workspace (Beta)

Online Services data sources

The Online Services category provides the following data connections:

  • SharePoint Online List
  • Microsoft Exchange Online
  • Dynamics 365 Online (legacy)
  • Dynamics 365 (Dataverse)
  • Dynamics NAV
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central (on-premises)
  • Azure DevOps (Boards only)
  • Azure DevOps Server (Boards only)
  • Salesforce Objects
  • Salesforce Reports
  • Google Analytics
  • Adobe Analytics
  • appFigures (Beta)
  • Data.World - Get Dataset (Beta)
  • GitHub (Beta)
  • LinkedIn Sales Navigator (Beta)
  • Marketo (Beta)
  • Mixpanel (Beta)
  • Planview Portfolios
  • QuickBooks Online (Beta)
  • Smartsheet (Legacy)
  • SparkPost (Beta)
  • SweetIQ (Beta)
  • Planview Enterprise Architecture
  • Aptix Insights (Beta)
  • Asana (Beta)
  • Assemble Views
  • Autodesk Construction Cloud
  • Automy Data Analytics (Beta)
  • CData Connect Cloud
  • Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (Beta)
  • Databricks
  • Digital Construction Works Insights
  • Emigo Data Source
  • Entersoft Business Suite (Beta)
  • eWay-CRM
  • FactSet Analytics
  • Palantir Foundry
  • Hexagon PPM Smart® API
  • Industrial App Store
  • Planview OKR (beta)
  • Planview ProjectPlace
  • Quickbase
  • SoftOne BI (Beta)
  • Planview IdeaPlace
  • TeamDesk (beta)
  • Webtrends Analytics (Beta)
  • Witivio (Beta)
  • Zoho Creator
  • Automation Anywhere
  • CData Connect Cloud
  • Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (beta)
  • Databricks
  • Funnel
  • Intune Data Warehouse (Beta)
  • LEAP (Beta)
  • LinkedIn Learning
  • Product Insights (Beta)
  • Profisee
  • Samsara (Beta)
  • Supermetrics (beta)
  • Viva Insights
  • Zendesk (Beta)
  • BuildingConnected & TradeTapp (beta)
  • Smartsheet (Beta)

Other data sources

The Other category provides the following data connections:

  • Web
  • SharePoint list
  • OData Feed
  • Active Directory
  • Microsoft Exchange
  • Hadoop File (HDFS)
  • Spark
  • Hive LLAP
  • R script
  • Python script
  • ODBC
  • OLE DB
  • Acterys : Model Automation & Planning (Beta)
  • Amazon OpenSearch Service (Beta)
  • Anaplan
  • Solver
  • Bloomberg Data and Analytics
  • Celonis EMS
  • Cherwell (Beta)
  • CloudBluePSA (Beta)
  • Cognite Data Fusion
  • EQuIS
  • FactSet RMS (Beta)
  • inwink (Beta)
  • Kognitwin
  • MicroStrategy for Power BI
  • OneStream (Beta)
  • OpenSearch Project (Beta)
  • Paxata
  • QubolePresto (Beta)
  • Roamler (Beta)
  • SIS-CC SDMX (Beta)
  • Shortcuts Business Insights (Beta)
  • Starburst Enterprise
  • SumTotal
  • SurveyMonkey
  • Tenforce (Smart)List
  • Usercube (Beta)
  • Vena
  • Vessel Insight
  • Wrike (Beta)
  • Zucchetti HR Infinity (Beta)
  • BitSight Security Ratings
  • BQE CORE
  • Wolters Kluwer CCH Tagetik
  • Delta Sharing
  • Eduframe (Beta)
  • FHIR
  • Google Sheets
  • InformationGrid
  • Jamf Pro (Beta)
  • SingleStore Direct Query Connector
  • Siteimprove
  • SolarWinds Service Desk
  • Microsoft Teams Personal Analytics (Beta)
  • Windsor (beta)
  • Blank Query

Note

Currently, you can't connect to custom data sources secured through Microsoft Entra ID.

Use PBIDS files to get data

PBIDS files are Power BI Desktop files that have a specific structure and a .pbids extension to identify them as Power BI data source files.

You can create a PBIDS file to streamline the Get Data experience for new or beginner report creators in your organization. If you create the PBIDS file from existing reports, it's easier for beginning report authors to build new reports from the same data.

When an author opens a PBIDS file, Power BI Desktop prompts the user for credentials to authenticate and connect to the data source that the file specifies. The Navigator dialog box appears, and the user must select the tables from that data source to load into the model. Users might also need to select the database and connection mode if none was specified in the PBIDS file.

From that point forward, the user can begin building visualizations or select Recent Sources to load a new set of tables into the model.

Currently, PBIDS files only support a single data source in one file. Specifying more than one data source results in an error.

How to create a PBIDS connection file

If you already have a Power BI Desktop PBIX file connected to the data you want, you can export the connection files from within Power BI Desktop. This method is recommended because Power BI Desktop can autogenerate the PBIDS file. You can also edit or manually create the file in a text editor.

  1. To create the PBIDS file, select File > Options and settings > Data source settings.

    Screenshot that shows selecting Data source settings under Options and settings.

  2. In the dialog that appears, select the data source you want to export as a PBIDS file, and then select Export PBIDS.

    Screenshot that shows the Data source settings dialog box.

  3. In the Save As dialog box, enter a name for the file, and select Save. Power BI Desktop generates the PBIDS file. You can rename it, save it in your directory, and share it with others.

You can also open the file in a text editor and modify the file further, including specifying the mode of connection in the file itself. The following image shows a PBIDS file open in a text editor.

Screenshot that shows a PBIDS file open in a text editor.

If you prefer to manually create your PBIDS files in a text editor, you must specify the required inputs for a single connection and save the file with the .pbids extension. Optionally, you can also specify the connection mode as either DirectQuery or Import. If mode is missing or null in the file, the user who opens the file in Power BI Desktop is prompted to select DirectQuery or Import.

Important

Some data sources return an error if columns are encrypted in the data source. For example, if two or more columns in an Azure SQL Database are encrypted during an Import action, an error is returned. For more information, see SQL Database.

PBIDS file examples

This section provides examples from commonly used data sources. The PBIDS file type only supports data connections that Power BI Desktop also supports, with the following exceptions: Wiki URLs, Live Connect, and Blank Query.

The PBIDS file doesn't include authentication information or table and schema information.

The following code snippets show several common examples for PBIDS files, but they aren't complete or comprehensive. For other data sources, see the git Data Source Reference (DSR) format for protocol and address information.

If you're editing or manually creating the connection files, use these examples for convenience only. They aren't meant to be comprehensive and don't include all supported connectors in DSR format.

Azure AS

{ 
    "version": "0.1", 
    "connections": [ 
    { 
        "details": { 
        "protocol": "analysis-services", 
        "address": { 
            "server": "server-here" 
        }, 
        } 
    } 
    ] 
}

Folder

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "folder", 
        "address": { 
            "path": "folder-path-here" 
        } 
      } 
    } 
  ] 
}

OData

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "odata", 
        "address": { 
            "url": "URL-here" 
        } 
      } 
    } 
  ] 
}

SAP BW

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "sap-bw-olap", 
        "address": { 
          "server": "server-name-here", 
          "systemNumber": "system-number-here", 
          "clientId": "client-id-here" 
        }, 
      } 
    } 
  ] 
}

SAP HANA

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "sap-hana-sql", 
        "address": { 
          "server": "server-name-here:port-here" 
        }, 
      } 
    } 
  ] 
}

SharePoint list

The URL must point to the SharePoint site itself, not to a list within the site. Users get a navigator that they can use to select one or more lists from that site. Each list becomes a table in the model.

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "sharepoint-list", 
        "address": { 
          "url": "URL-here" 
        }, 
       } 
    } 
  ] 
}

SQL Server

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "tds", 
        "address": { 
          "server": "server-name-here", 
          "database": "db-name-here (optional) "
        } 
      }, 
      "options": {}, 
      "mode": "DirectQuery" 
    } 
  ] 
}

Text file

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "file", 
        "address": { 
            "path": "path-here" 
        } 
      } 
    } 
  ] 
}

Web

{ 
  "version": "0.1", 
  "connections": [ 
    { 
      "details": { 
        "protocol": "http", 
        "address": { 
            "url": "URL-here" 
        } 
      } 
    } 
  ] 
}

Dataflow

{
  "version": "0.1",
  "connections": [
    {
      "details": {
        "protocol": "powerbi-dataflows",
        "address": {
          "workspace":"workspace id (Guid)",
          "dataflow":"optional dataflow id (Guid)",
          "entity":"optional entity name"
        }
       }
    }
  ]
}

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