Excel Data to Power BI - What's Still Working in 2024?

🧩 Method 1: Using "Get Data" in Power BI Desktop

The simplest way to import Excel data is through the Get Data button in Power BI Desktop.

• Go to Home > Get Data > Excel Workbook.
• Select your Excel file and choose the sheets or tables you want to import.
• Click Load or Transform Data if you need to clean the data using Power Query.

Note: This method keeps a live connection to your Excel file, so refreshing your dataset in Power BI will pull the latest data from Excel.

📊 Method 2: Importing Power Query & Power Pivot Work

If you’ve already done extensive work in Power Query or Power Pivot in Excel, you can import it directly into Power BI without losing your progress.

• Go to File > Import > Power Query, Power Pivot, Power View.
• Select your Excel file and import all the queries, data models, and DAX calculations.

Key Difference: This method breaks the link to the original Excel file, so any updates in Excel won't reflect in Power BI automatically.

☁️ Method 3: Connecting to Excel in Power BI Service

To work directly in the Power BI Service (cloud-based):

• Log into PowerBI.com.
• Click Create > Excel Report (Preview).
• Link a file stored in OneDrive or SharePoint for seamless cloud updates (no gateway needed).

Important: Excel files can no longer be stored directly in a Power BI workspace as of August 2024.

🔄 How to Export Power BI Data Back to Excel

Need to export data from Power BI into Excel for further analysis? Here’s how:

• Go to your Power BI Workspace.
• Find the Semantic Model or Dataset.
• Click the ellipsis (...) and select Analyze in Excel.

You can work in Excel Web or download the file to your local machine while keeping a live connection to the Power BI dataset.

🚀 Key Takeaways

• Get Data: Best for importing raw Excel data with a live connection.
• Import Power Query/Pivot: Ideal when you've already done significant modeling in Excel.
• Power BI Service: Great for working with cloud-stored Excel files directly.
• Export to Excel: Useful for further analysis using the Analyze in Excel feature.

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