How to Check Data Source in Power BI Desktop

Ever opened a Power BI report you built a few months ago and had zero recollection of where the data is actually coming from? You're not alone. Figuring out if you're pulling from a local Excel file, a shared SharePoint document, or a production SQL Server is a fundamental step in managing any report. This guide will walk you through exactly how to check and manage your data sources in Power BI Desktop, helping you troubleshoot issues, update connections, or simply verify your setup.

Why You Need to Check Your Data Sources in Power BI

Verifying a data source isn’t just good practice, it's an essential skill for anyone building and maintaining reports. Your dashboards are only as reliable as the data feeding them, so knowing how to inspect the pipeline is critical. Here are the most common reasons you'll find yourself needing to check connection details:

Troubleshooting Failed Refreshes: This is the number one reason. A report that refreshed perfectly yesterday might fail today because a file path was changed, a database server was retired, credentials expired, or a file on a shared drive was renamed. The Data Source Settings is your first stop to diagnose the problem.
Auditing and Documentation: When you hand over a report to a colleague or need to document your work for data governance purposes, you must be able to clearly state where every piece of data originates. Running through your data sources allows you to create that necessary paper trail.
Migrating Reports: A common workflow for analysts is to build a report using a development or test database and then switch it to the live production database before deployment. This requires changing the data source connection without rebuilding the entire report.
Updating File Locations: What starts as a small project using an Excel file on your desktop might become a critical business report. To make it accessible for automated refreshes or team collaboration, you'll need to move that file to a shared location like SharePoint or OneDrive and update the connection path in Power BI.
Performance Optimization: If a report is running slowly, the data source itself could be the bottleneck. Checking the source might reveal you're connecting to a massive, inefficient spreadsheet instead of a streamlined database view. This discovery is the first step toward improving report performance.

The Main Hub: Data Source Settings

Power BI provides a centralized place to view and manage all the data connections in your current .pbix file. This is the quickest and easiest way to get a high-level overview of everything you're connected to.

Step-by-Step Guide to Accessing Data Source Settings

Follow these simple steps to find the main settings panel:

Navigate to the Home tab on the Power BI Desktop ribbon at the top of an open report.
Look for the Queries section. Here, you'll see an icon for Transform data.
Click the dropdown arrow on the Transform data button.
From the dropdown menu, select Data source settings.

This will open the Data source settings dialog box, which presents a clear list of every source connected to your report. You can review all of your connections at a glance, from web sources to SQL databases.

What You'll See in the Data Source Settings Window

Once you have the dialog box open, you’ll see several key pieces of information and options:

Data sources in current file: This is the main list. It shows one entry for each unique data source your report uses. For file-based sources, like Excel or CSV, it displays the full file path. For databases, it shows the server and database names. For web connections, it shows the URL.
Global permissions: At the top of the window, this option links to data sources you’ve connected to in other Power BI files on your machine. Power BI stores permissions centrally, so you don't have to re-enter a password for the same database in every new report. You can view all these global permissions here.

You also have several buttons for managing each selected source:

Change Source: This is arguably the most-used button here. It lets you update the connection information - such as a file path or server name - without breaking your report.
Edit Permissions: Use this option when your credentials change. For example, if a database password is updated or if your access token for a web service expires, you can update it here.
Clear Permissions: If you're encountering strange connection errors, sometimes clearing the saved permissions for a source can solve the issue by forcing Power BI to prompt you to re-enter them.

Diving Deeper: Using the Power Query Editor

Sometimes, just seeing the file path or server name isn't enough. You need to see the specific details of a query, including how tables were filtered or selected directly from the source. For this level of detail, you need to go into the Power Query Editor.

The Power Query Editor is the data transformation engine within Power BI. It's where you clean, shape, and get every dataset ready for analysis. Crucially, it tracks every step of that process, starting with the initial connection.

How to Check the Source in Power Query

On the Home tab of Power BI Desktop, click the main part of the Transform data button. This will launch the Power Query Editor in a new window.
On the right side of the editor, you’ll see the Query Settings pane. Within this pane, look for the list called Applied Steps. This list shows every single transformation applied to your selected query.
The very first step is almost always named Source. This step establishes the connection to your data.
Click the small gear icon (⚙️) next to the Source step.

Clicking this gear icon opens a specific configuration window for that source, revealing the precise detail of the connection. This method gives you much more context than the high-level Data Source Settings screen.

For example:

If your source is an Excel workbook, it will show the direct file path and may include additional navigational steps if you chose tables or specific sheets.
If your source is a SQL Server database, the popup will display the server name, database name, and may even show the specific query written in its navigation pane.
If your source is a SharePoint Folder, it will display the site URL and the path to any subfolders.

This method has the added benefit of confirming you're on the right track and checking the right navigation steps. The 'Applied Steps' pane essentially gives you a full audit trail of how the raw data became the clean table you're using. If a column is missing from your final table, for example, you can click through "Source," then "Navigation," then "Removed Columns" to pinpoint exactly where something went wrong.

A Pro Tip for Scalable Source Management: Using Parameters

Instead of manually editing server names or paths, you can use Power BI's built-in parameters. They allow you to store values like file paths in one place. In your source connections, tell your Power Query queries to replace hardcoded server names with your parameter.

Here's why this is an ideal method:

Efficiency: If you need to change the server across multiple queries, just update the parameter, and all the queries will follow your changes without error.
Flexibility: If a column in a spreadsheet needs updating, adjusting the parameter allows you to handle these changes smoothly without disrupting other parts of the report.

Final Thoughts

Checking your Power BI data sources is a core skill for any analyst wanting to maintain reliable, accurate, and efficient reports. With the methods outlined, you can easily verify your sources' reliability using the Data Source Settings option or by exploring details within the Power Query Editor. These tools provide additional assurance that your reports are built on solid foundations.

Graphed helps manage data sources smoothly, enabling business growth with dependable data and insight.