Couldn’t load the data for this visual

Couldn’t retrieve the data for this visual. Please try again later. If you contact support, please provide these details.

Vague error message with insufficient documentation

This error, “couldn’t retrieve the data for this visual”, can be a frustrating one. Like other tile errors, it only shows as a broken tile with the message “can’t display the visual” until you click to see details. If we consult the official Power BI documentation on tile errors, the documentation currently says: “This issue is usually transient. If you try again later and still see this message, contact support.”

This documentation is wrong. The error is generally related to DirectQuery, and is most often triggered when report consumers view a report in a pro workspace, but haven’t been granted build permission to the dataset.

I’ve seen the error in three situations: the most common is that a report consumer lacks build access to a report built on a DirectQuery over Power BI dataset connection. I recently asked about this in a LinkedIn poll:

LinkedIn poll. Results in caption — What tile error shows in PowerBI if report consumer doesn't have build access to underlying dataset: DirectQuery over Power BI datasets?

Missing dataset build access 14%; couldn't load data. Try later 14%; you don't have view permission 29%; couldn't retrieve data model 43%. 14 votes

Only 2/14 people got this right. Both of them learned the answer through tedious troubleshooting of the issue. Microsoft could do better here— better documentation, but also more informative error messages.

Three causes of “Couldn't retrieve the data for this visual. Please try again later.”

The three causes for this error involve DirectQuery: trying again later NEVER helps in my experience.

#1. Report consumer has no build permission for dataset used in DirectQuery over Power BI dataset connection (composite model)

The most common cause of this error is that the report uses DirectQuery over Power BI dataset, and the report consumer doesn’t have build access to a dataset. The documentation for DirectQuery over Power BI datasets lists limitations including “Build permissions are required to view reports built using this feature when one or more datasets in the chain are in Pro workspaces.” Having the dataset in Premium doesn’t cause this error.

[Update: with composite datasets going general availability, this will be an issue with Pro workspaces going forward, although eventually this feature will (for the most part: see below): only require only read permission or viewer role]

"When we started the preview, any consumer of a report that leveraged a composite model based on a Power BI dataset was required to have Build permissions or the Contributor role. Since then, we have changed this for Premium and PPU workspaces: readers of reports based on datasets in Premium or PPU workspaces just require Read permissions (or the Viewer role).
However, for most Pro workspaces Build permissions are still required in the scenario above. We are making backend changes to align the Pro workspaces with the Premium and PPU workspaces so everyone consuming these reports will just require Read permission or the Viewer role, regardless of the workspace type the data is stored in."

#2. one dataset in composite model has been deleted.

Composite models one one or more DirectQuery connections to Power BI datasets. If one of the datasets is deleted, then this error will display.

Interestingly enough, if the the composite model has only one connection to one dataset, then the report consumer will see a “cannot load model” error, as follows:

Couldn’t load model. This prevents report from loading.

This error prevents the report from displaying. If you see this error and are connected to other datasets, it most likely means that the one dataset which was connected using DirectQuery has been deleted.

Deleting a dateset, by the way, deletes all reports which use a LIVE connection to that dataset, whether they are in the original workspace or not.

#3. Gateway data source offline for DirectQuery model.

Unlike the other two cases, this error does not involve composite models. This appears when a DirectQuery model using a data gateway can’t connect to the on-premises data source because the gateway connection is offline for some reason. Of all the cases, this is the only error which is accompanied by a helpful message bar at the top of the report, telling the report consumer what action to take to get the issue resolved.

⦻ This report couldn’t access the data source. Contact {report owner}, the author, to have it fixed.

Email {report owner} (linked)

#4. Users lack read permission to live connection or dataset used in a composite model

Similar to the above cases involving composite models, but I tend to see this less often because report creators usually give their consumers access to the underlying dataset as part of their process. If they forget, however, their report consumers will see this mysterious error.

#5. Other cases?

These are the cases which I have seen, but I expect there may be other times when these errors could happen. Since they all involve DirectQuery in one way or another, I’d expect that other errors might involve DirectQuery as well. Documentation always lags a bit behind enhancements, so if you do see gaps in the documentation, it’s always a good practice to let the documentation team know.

Power BI tile error: Couldn't retrieve the data for this visual. Please try again later.