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To publish a Power BI report on a website, first decide whether anyone on the public internet may view its data. Use Publish to web only for information approved for unrestricted public disclosure; use Website or portal secure embedding for identified viewers who must sign in; consider Power BI Embedded for a custom application or customer-facing experience.
Choose the embedding route before you publish
The routes differ in who can view the report, whether viewers authenticate, and how access controls apply. An iframe by itself does not make a report private or grant a viewer permission.
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| Route | Intended audience | Authentication and protection | Setup and main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publish to web | Anyone on the internet | No authentication or access boundary; report details may be exposed | Generate public embed code; simplest option, but only suitable for public data |
| Secure Embed: Website or portal | Identified, authorized viewers | Authentication required; report permissions and row-level or object-level security apply | Use a secure link or iframe; requires view permissions, suitable licensing or capacity, and an HTTPS host page |
| Power BI Embedded | Users of a custom application, including customers | Depends on the application and embed design; can support application-specific security, including row-level security | Requires custom development and capacity planning |
Microsoft’s Publish to web documentation, secure embedding guidance, and Power BI Embedded overview describe these options and their constraints.
Publish a report publicly with Publish to web
Use this route only if the report and the data behind it are approved for public access. Microsoft warns that “When you use Publish to web, anyone on the Internet can view your published report or visual.” Viewers do not sign in, and they may be able to access detail-level data underlying report aggregations. Do not publish confidential, personal, proprietary, or otherwise restricted information this way.
#1 Best Overall
- In the Power BI service, open a report you can edit in a workspace.
- Select File > Embed report > Publish to web (public).
- Review the dialog and create the embed code. If the option is disabled, ask your Power BI administrator whether the tenant setting permits it.
- Confirm that the report and underlying data are suitable for unrestricted disclosure, then accept the public-sharing warning.
- Add the generated embed code to the public website.
The Power BI administrator controls the tenant setting and can restrict who creates embed codes to selected security groups. Microsoft’s guidance says a license is needed to publish from My Workspace and that Pro or Premium Per User is needed to publish from workspaces. The author also needs suitable report and model permissions. Requirements can change, so verify the current tenant and licensing rules in the Power BI service before publishing.
Check report eligibility first
Publish to web is not an access-control method and is unavailable for some reports. Microsoft lists, among other restrictions, reports that rely on row-level security, DirectQuery or Live Connection reports, reports using shared semantic models stored in another workspace, reports shared with the user, and paginated reports. Certain visual and model features can also make a report ineligible. Check Microsoft’s current limitations list for the specific report before planning a public embed.
Rank #2
Embed a report for authorized viewers
For a staff portal or other site where viewers must be identified and authorized, use the secure Website or portal option rather than Publish to web.
- Open the report in the Power BI service.
- Select File > Embed report > Website or portal.
- Copy the secure embed link or the supplied iframe HTML into a portal that accepts a URL or iframe. The host page must use HTTPS.
- Separately grant the intended viewers permission to view the report in the Power BI service.
- Test access with an intended viewer account and confirm the report displays the expected data under its security rules.
Embedding does not grant access: viewers must authenticate, and the report observes item permissions plus row-level security (RLS) or object-level security (OLS), where configured. Microsoft says viewers generally need Pro or Premium Per User, subject to qualifying Power BI Premium or Fabric capacity exceptions. The exact Fabric capacity threshold is version-sensitive; check Microsoft’s current secure-embedding guidance and licensing details for the deployment you are planning. Microsoft also notes that Chromium changes can result in repeat authentication prompts.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When a custom application calls for Power BI Embedded
If you need a customer-facing experience, application-specific interactions, or a custom way to handle many external users, evaluate Power BI Embedded rather than treating a public iframe as a shortcut. Microsoft’s implementation planning guidance describes custom embedding as a fit when a team has the expertise, time, and resources to build and maintain an application. Capacity and licensing depend on the application’s design. For portal experiences, Microsoft’s Power Pages Power BI guidance covers contextual filters and row-level security in embedded scenarios.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Choose a public embed only when unrestricted disclosure is intentional.
- Choose secure embedding when viewers should sign in and existing Power BI permissions and security rules should apply.
- Assess Power BI Embedded when the report is part of a custom customer or application experience and you can support its development and operations.
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