Medium severitydata source

Power BI Refresh Error:
OData: The response is not a valid OData feed or service document

Q: What causes OData: The response is not a valid OData feed or service document?

The OData endpoint URL has changed or been deprecated. The API returned an HTML error page (404, 500) instead of OData content. An authentication token expired and the API responded with a 401 or a login redirect page. A proxy or load balancer intercepted the request and returned its own error page. The API version in the URL is no longer supported by the service

What does this error mean?

The OData connector received a response from the endpoint that is not valid OData XML or JSON. This usually means the API returned an HTML error page, a redirect, or an authentication challenge instead of data.

Common causes

1The OData endpoint URL has changed or been deprecated
2The API returned an HTML error page (404, 500) instead of OData content
3An authentication token expired and the API responded with a 401 or a login redirect page
4A proxy or load balancer intercepted the request and returned its own error page
5The API version in the URL is no longer supported by the service

How to fix it

1Paste the OData URL into a browser or Postman to see exactly what response the endpoint returns.
2Check whether the endpoint URL requires an updated API version (e.g., v1 → v2 in the URL path).
3Re-authenticate the data source: in Power BI Service, navigate to the dataset's data source credentials and re-enter or re-authorize them.
4If the endpoint returns a 301/302 redirect, update the URL in Power BI Desktop to the final destination.
5Check with the API provider if the endpoint has been deprecated or moved.

Frequently asked questions

Does this error affect multiple datasets at once?

If multiple datasets connect to the same data source, yes — all of them will fail until the source connectivity is restored.

Can this error be caused by a server migration or rename?

Yes — if the server name, database name, or connection string changed (e.g., during a cloud migration), Power BI still holds the old connection details. Update the connection in Power BI Desktop and republish.

Does this error appear in Power BI Desktop?

Sometimes — if you open the .pbix file and attempt a refresh, Desktop will surface the same connection error. This is useful for debugging without affecting the Service dataset.

Will the error resolve automatically once the source is back online?

Only if it was a temporary outage. The next scheduled refresh will succeed automatically. If the connection string changed or credentials expired, manual intervention is needed.

Source · learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/desktop-connect-odata