For a small, known audience, share with specific people or groups; for a larger read-only audience, distribute a Power BI app; and use workspace roles only when people need to collaborate or create content. Before sending anything, review link permissions and secure the underlying semantic model with row-level security (RLS) or object-level security (OLS) where needed. A report’s visible layout is not a security boundary.
Choose a sharing method that matches the audience
Power BI offers several ways to deliver a report, but they grant different kinds of access. Choose based on who needs the content and what they need to do with it—not just on which link or presentation is easiest to send.
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| Method | Best suited to | Permission and identity considerations |
|---|---|---|
| Specific people or groups | A bounded audience whose members you can name | Grants access to selected users, including B2B guests already represented in the tenant. Recipients must sign in with the identity that was granted access. |
| People in your organization link | Internal distribution when forwarding within the organization is acceptable | Organization members with the link can view the report. This option does not work for external or guest users. |
| People with existing access link | Sending a convenient URL to someone whose access is already established | Provides a URL without granting new access. |
| Power BI app | Polished, read-only distribution to a broader audience | App consumers still receive access to the report and semantic model. Secure the model rather than relying on the report’s visible content. |
| Workspace | Collaboration and content creation | Workspace roles carry broader access than a report link. Give readers a consumer role rather than authoring permissions they do not need. |
Teams can make a report easier to find through a tab or message link, but placing a report in Teams does not itself grant Power BI permission. The recipient still needs the appropriate Power BI access.
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Set sharing permissions to the least privilege needed
When a sharing link grants access, it includes at least read access. In Microsoft’s documented link flow, Reshare is included by default and Build is excluded by default. Review both instead of treating a link as view-only by assumption. Microsoft’s sharing guidance describes the available link permissions.
#1 Best Overall
- Read: The basic access needed to consume the report.
- Reshare: Lets the recipient pass access on. Remove it if onward sharing is not required.
- Build: Lets the recipient create reports from the associated semantic model. It is a meaningful data capability, not merely a display option; leave it off unless the recipient needs it.
Use Manage permissions to review direct access, links, and related content, and remove permissions when they are no longer needed. When removing access to a dashboard, review related reports and semantic models too; permissions on related content can otherwise remain.
Secure the semantic model, not just the report
Sharing a report also grants access to its underlying semantic model. Hiding a table, column, measure, visual, or report page only changes the user experience; it does not protect hidden content. Microsoft puts it plainly: “Hiding a table, column, measure, visual, or report page doesn’t prevent a report user from accessing these hidden elements – hiding isn’t a security measure, but an option to provide a clutter-free user experience.” The statement appears in Microsoft Learn’s “Share and collaborate on Power BI reports and dashboards”.
- Use RLS to filter which rows a user can see, typically according to the user’s identity.
- Use OLS to restrict access to particular tables or columns.
A filtered view or a link to a particular report page is not a substitute for either control. Define security on the model itself when users must be prevented from seeing data.
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Choose workspace roles carefully when RLS is required
RLS applies to workspace Viewers, including Viewers who have Build permission. It does not apply to Admin, Member, or Contributor roles because those roles have edit permission on the semantic model. If RLS must constrain a consumer, assign the Viewer role rather than an authoring role. See Microsoft’s guidance on RLS in Power BI and workspace roles.
Rank #3
Share with external guests through Microsoft Entra B2B
External sharing must be enabled by the Power BI administrator in tenant settings. The guest signs in through Microsoft Entra B2B, and access is associated with the identity to which permission was granted. A specific-people link can be used for a guest already represented in the tenant; the guest must authenticate as that identity.
Do not assume an external user resolves like an employee in an RLS rule. USERPRINCIPALNAME() can return an email-like identifier or a guest UPN in #EXT# format. External membership in Entra security groups may also behave differently across configurations. Check the value Power BI receives against the identity mapping used by your model, then test access using the actual guest account. Microsoft documents external-user considerations in its RLS guidance and B2B collaboration documentation.
Protect sensitive content and avoid public links
Microsoft Purview Information Protection sensitivity labels can be applied to Power BI reports, dashboards, semantic models, dataflows, and PBIX files. Label support must be enabled for the tenant, and applying labels has permission and licensing prerequisites. A label supports information protection; it does not replace recipient permissions or model security. See Microsoft’s overview of sensitivity labels in Power BI.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsDo not use Publish to web for confidential or proprietary reports. Microsoft warns that anyone can access the published report and underlying model data. For private internal embedding, Microsoft identifies Embed and Embed in SharePoint Online as options that enforce viewer permissions and data security. Consult the Publish to web guidance before choosing an embedding method.
Best Value
Check licensing and tenant settings before distribution
Sharing and consumption requirements depend on licenses and capacity. Microsoft says Pro or PPU is generally required to share unless content is in qualifying Premium capacity, and recipients generally need Pro or PPU unless content is in Premium or Fabric capacity. Its guidance also identifies P SKUs and F64-or-larger capacity for free-license users in certain Viewer and app scenarios. These rules are conditional, not a universal promise that a free user can open any shared report. Verify current requirements for the workspace, capacity, audience, and tenant in Microsoft’s sharing documentation before granting access.
Quick Recap
A secure sharing checklist
- Choose the audience scope: Use named people or groups for a bounded audience, an app for broader read-only delivery, or workspace access for collaboration.
- Grant only the needed link permissions: Review Reshare and Build, and remove either when the recipient does not need it.
- Apply model security: Configure RLS for row restrictions and OLS for table or column restrictions; do not rely on hidden report elements.
- Check the recipient’s role: Use Viewer when RLS needs to apply; do not assign Admin, Member, or Contributor to a consumer who should be constrained by RLS.
- Validate guest access: Confirm tenant settings, the guest identity, and the identity value used by RLS with the actual external account.
- Review ongoing access: Use Manage permissions to remove obsolete access, including permissions to related reports and semantic models.
- Confirm license and capacity conditions: Check the current Microsoft rules for the specific workspace and recipients.
- Keep private content private: Do not publish confidential reports to the web; select an embedding option that enforces viewer permissions.
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