High severitydata source
Power BI Refresh Error:
DataSource.Error
What does this error mean?
Power Query could not connect to or read from the data source. This is a wrapper error that usually contains a more specific inner message about what went wrong at the source level.
Common causes
- 1The data source server is down, restarting, or under maintenance
- 2A firewall rule is blocking connections from the gateway or Power BI cloud
- 3The database or file path in the connection string no longer exists
- 4Network timeout between the query engine and the data source
- 5An API endpoint (REST, OData) returned an unexpected status code or error body
How to fix it
- 1Read the full error message carefully — DataSource.Error always includes an inner error with more detail
- 2Identify whether this is a connectivity issue (can't reach server) or a data issue (server reachable, query fails)
- 3Test connectivity from the gateway machine or from Power BI Desktop using the same connection string
- 4For REST/OData sources, test the URL in a browser or Postman to confirm the endpoint is healthy
- 5Check the data source's own logs or status page for outage or maintenance windows
- 6If intermittent, consider scheduling refreshes at off-peak hours when the source system is more stable