Hi, I'm Tom Blessing. I'm an expert at helping small to mid-sized companies adopt Power BI. I'm also a recovering investment banker, with deep experience applying technology to otherwise manual data problems. I have dual degrees in Finance and Technology Management from Indiana University.

Resources to help build your fundamentals: Learning Power BI? Data fundamentals are critical for this process to be easier. I've assembled a few DataCamp courses to help. I earn a small commission if you click and purchase.

Introduction to Power BI course: Master Power BI basics and learn to build impactful reports.

Exploratory Data Analysis in Power BI course: Learn about Power BI's Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) and enhance your reports.

Introduction to SQL course: Learn how to create and query relational databases using SQL in just two hours.

Introduction to DAX course: Learn the fundamentals of Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) such as calculated columns, tables, and measures.

Database Design course: Learn to design databases in SQL to process, store, and organize data in a more efficient way.

Introduction

Power BI Online refresh is a critical feature that allows you to keep your data up-to-date and ensure that your reports and dashboards are always showing the latest information. However, sometimes refresh can fail, which can be frustrating and inconvenient.

In this blog post, I will take a look at the problem of Power BI Online refresh not working, discuss how it can impact your data model, and offer a few detailed troubleshooting steps.

How can Power BI Online refresh not working impact my data model?

There are a number of things you can do to troubleshoot Power BI Online refresh failures. Some of the most common troubleshooting steps include:

Check the Refresh Status and History

The first step is to check the refresh status and history of your dataset. This will give you more information about the error that occurred.

To check the refresh status and history:

1. Navigate to your Datasets (now called Semantic models) in the Power BI service.
2. Select the dataset that you're having problems with.
3. Click the Refresh button.

The refresh status will tell you whether the refresh is currently running, succeeded, or failed. If the refresh failed, the refresh history will show you more information about the error, including the error code and message.

Check the Data Source Permissions

Make sure that Power BI has the necessary permissions to access the data source.

To check the data source permissions:

• Navigate to your Datasets in the Power BI service.
• Select the dataset that you're having problems with.
• Click File > Settings 

• In the Settings section, review the permissions that are granted to Power BI under the 'Data Source Credentials' section.
• Make sure that Power BI has the necessary permissions to access the data source. 
• If Power BI does not have the necessary permissions, click the Edit Credentials.

Here are some additional things to try:

• If you're using a cloud-based data source, such as Azure SQL Database or Azure Synapse Analytics, make sure that you have granted Power BI access to the data source in the Azure portal.
• If you're using an on-premises data source, make sure that the Power BI service account has the necessary permissions to access the data source.
• If you're using a gateway to connect to the data source, make sure that the gateway is configured correctly and that the Power BI service account has the necessary permissions on the gateway.

• Try refreshing the dataset using a different account. This can help you determine if the issue is with the data source credentials or with the Power BI account that you're using to refresh the dataset.
• Try refreshing the dataset using a different browser. This can help you determine if the issue is with your browser or with the Power BI service.
• Try restarting your computer. This can sometimes resolve credential issues.
• Try restarting the Power BI service. This can sometimes resolve credential issues caused by temporary glitches in the service. 

Conclusion

Power BI Online refresh not working can be frustrating and inconvenient. However, by following the troubleshooting steps outlined in this blog post, you should be able to resolve most refresh failures.