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Scheduled Data Refresh in Power BI

Set up automatic daily or hourly data refresh so reports always show current data

When you publish a Power BI report with imported data, the data in the Service is a snapshot from when you last published or refreshed. To keep reports current — say, updating every morning at 7 AM — you configure Scheduled Refresh. For scheduled refresh to work with on-premise data sources (SQL Server, Excel on a company server, SharePoint on-premise), you need to install the On-premises Data Gateway on a machine that is always on and has access to the data source.

Example

Set up scheduled refresh
FOR CLOUD SOURCES (SharePoint Online, Azure SQL):
  Power BI Service → Datasets → your dataset → Settings
  → Scheduled refresh → On
  → Frequency: Daily or Weekly
  → Time zone and refresh times (up to 8x/day on Pro)
  → Add email notifications on failure
  → Save

FOR ON-PREMISE SOURCES (SQL Server, network Excel):

  STEP 1 — Install On-premises Data Gateway:
    Download from: microsoft.com/download/details?id=53127
    Install on a PC that is always on and has DB access
    Sign in with Power BI account → Register gateway

  STEP 2 — Connect dataset to gateway:
    Power BI Service → Datasets → Settings
    Gateway connection → select your gateway
    Enter data source credentials

  STEP 3 — Configure schedule:
    Same as cloud: Scheduled refresh → On → set times

REFRESH LIMITS (Power BI Pro):
  Import mode: 8 refreshes per day
  Premium capacity: up to 48 per day

MANUAL REFRESH:
  Datasets → click Refresh icon → immediate refresh
  Useful for ad-hoc or before a big meeting

Key Points

  • ✓Scheduled refresh only works in Power BI Service — not in Desktop
  • ✓On-premises gateway required for any data source on a local network
  • ✓Refresh failures send email alerts if configured — always set this up
  • ✓DirectQuery reports do not need scheduled refresh — they query live
  • ✓Dataset refresh and report refresh are different — only dataset refresh updates data

Practice Question

Your Power BI report connects to an on-premise SQL Server database. What do you need to install to enable scheduled refresh in Power BI Service?

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