Quick answer: To share a Power BI report with an external user, use Microsoft Entra B2B guest access and grant the guest only the permissions required for the report, app, or workspace. External sharing is controlled by Microsoft Entra policies and Power BI/Fabric tenant settings, and licensing depends on the content’s workspace and capacity.
This guide covers the current B2B sharing flow, tenant controls, licensing, external semantic model sharing, and RLS considerations.
How Power BI external sharing works
Power BI supports external collaboration through Microsoft Entra Business-to-Business (B2B). An external person can be added as a guest in your tenant and then granted access to supported Power BI content.
There are also newer cross-tenant scenarios for in-place semantic model sharing, where an authorized guest can work with a shared semantic model in their own Power BI tenant. This is different from simply opening a report shared from the provider tenant.
Step 1: Configure external access
External sharing depends on both Microsoft Entra configuration and Power BI/Fabric tenant settings. The exact settings available to your organization can vary by scenario.
- Guest users can access Microsoft Fabric: controls whether Microsoft Entra guest users can access Fabric content they have permission to use.
- Users can invite guest users to collaborate: controls whether users can invite external people through item sharing and permissions.
- Allow guest users to work with shared semantic models in their own tenants: required for the in-place semantic model sharing scenario.
- Allow specific users to turn on external data sharing: controls which users or groups can enable external sharing for eligible semantic models.
Step 2: Invite the external user
Invite the person as a Microsoft Entra B2B guest, either through Microsoft Entra ID or through a supported Power BI sharing flow. The guest must accept the invitation and sign in with the identity that was granted access.
Step 3: Share the report or Power BI app
For direct report sharing, use Specific people and grant access to the guest. For larger external audiences, a Power BI app or security group can simplify access management.
For direct sharing, the recipient receives a link and must sign in with the identity that was granted access. If the recipient uses a different identity, the granted permissions do not automatically follow that account.
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What license does an external user need?
Licensing depends on how the content is hosted. For example, users working with content in Pro or Premium Per User (PPU) scenarios generally need the appropriate Pro or PPU entitlement. In Fabric capacity scenarios, viewer licensing can depend on the capacity and the user’s activity. Check the current Microsoft licensing requirements for your exact workspace and capacity configuration.
Microsoft Entra B2B also supports bring-your-own-license (BYOL) scenarios where the external user’s existing Power BI license can be used, subject to the applicable requirements.
External semantic model sharing
Power BI supports in-place semantic model sharing for eligible external collaboration scenarios. The provider’s semantic model remains in the provider tenant, while an authorized guest can discover and work with it from their own tenant.
For this scenario, the relevant tenant controls include Guest users can work with shared semantic models in their own tenants and Allow specific users to turn on external data sharing. The semantic model also needs its external sharing option enabled.
If row-level security (RLS) is defined on the semantic model, Microsoft documents that RLS is honored for external users in this scenario. External sharing should still be governed carefully because the provider and consumer tenants have separate administrative boundaries.
Control external-user access
Grant guests only the permissions they need. For report consumers, avoid giving unnecessary workspace roles. When distributing content through a Power BI app, use the appropriate app audience instead of broad workspace access where possible.
Use RLS to restrict data
Use row-level security (RLS) when different external users should see different rows from the same semantic model. Test the effective identity and permissions before sharing production data.
Pro tips:
1. Use Microsoft Entra B2B for normal organization-to-organization Power BI sharing.
2. Review the Fabric/Power BI tenant settings before enabling external collaboration.
3. Use a security group or Power BI app for larger external audiences.
4. Use RLS when different external users need different data.
5. Treat in-place semantic model sharing as a separate cross-tenant scenario with its own tenant controls.
Important limitations
- Guest access depends on Microsoft Entra external-collaboration policies and Power BI/Fabric tenant settings.
- Some Power BI authoring and administration experiences are not available to guest users.
- Cross-tenant and cross-cloud scenarios can have additional requirements and limitations.
- External sharing should be reviewed together with licensing, RLS, sensitivity, and organizational governance requirements.
Summary
For standard external report sharing, use Microsoft Entra B2B guest access, grant the minimum required permissions, and verify the licensing and tenant settings. For cross-tenant semantic model sharing, review the dedicated external data-sharing controls and semantic model settings before enabling access.
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Kunal Rathi
With over 15 years of experience in data engineering and analytics, I've assisted countless clients in gaining valuable insights from their data. As a dedicated supporter of Data, Cloud and DevOps, I'm excited to connect with individuals who share my passion for this field. If my work resonates with you, we can talk and collaborate.
