High severitycredentials
Power BI Refresh Error:
Insufficient permissions to access this resource
What does this error mean?
The account used to refresh the dataset does not have the required permissions on the data source. The connection succeeds but the query is rejected due to missing access rights.
Common causes
- 1The service account's database role was changed and SELECT permission was removed
- 2A stored procedure or view that the dataset uses now requires a higher privilege level
- 3Row-level security on the data source is returning zero rows instead of raising an error
- 4An Azure resource (Blob Storage, Data Lake) had its RBAC role assignment removed or changed
- 5The data source connection is using personal credentials that do not have organization-wide access
How to fix it
- 1Identify which service account is being used for the refresh (check gateway settings or dataset credentials)
- 2Grant the account the minimum necessary permissions: SELECT on all required tables and EXECUTE on stored procedures
- 3For Azure resources, verify the managed identity or service principal has the correct RBAC role (e.g., 'Storage Blob Data Reader')
- 4Switch from personal credentials to a shared service account so permissions are stable and not tied to a person's account
- 5Test by running the exact query with the service account credentials in a direct database connection