Power BI is part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite. It is a business intelligence and analytics tool that lets you create visual analytics and insights reports to understand your data better. Power BI licenses are assigned separately from other o365 apps. To request the assignment of a license, please fill out this form: Power BI License Assignment Request.
Once a license is assigned, you will be able to see Power BI Online in your list of o365 apps. From the Online app, you can also download the Desktop app.
Differences Between Power BI Online and Power BI Desktop
Power BI Online, also called Power BI Service and Power BI Portal, is designed for light report editing and collaboration.
Key Features of Power BI Online:
- Dashboards
- Sharing
- RSL management
- Gateway connections
Power BI Desktop is designed for report creation, data analysis, and modeling.
Key Features of Power BI Desktop:
- Data transformation, modeling, and shaping
- Calculated columns
- Python and DAX
- RLS creation
Use the desktop version for modeling and creating Power BI reports.
Use the Online version for sharing and collaborating with others.
Sign in to Power BI Online
Navigate to office.com and sign in if you aren't already.
Click the app menu button in the upper-left-hand corner of Office365. It looks kind of like a waffle.
If you don't see Power BI in this list, select All apps and scroll down to select it.
The Power BI online app will open.
Install Power BI Desktop From Power BI Online
From the Power BI online app, select the menu in the upper-right-hand corner, next to your Office Profile menu.
Mouse over Download and choose Power BI Desktop.
Power BI Desktop's page will open in the Microsoft Store app on your computer. If you like, you may set links to the Microsoft store to always open in the Store app.
Select Get on the Store page. Power BI Desktop will begin downloading and installing.
On an Adler device, you may choose to let the Store app sign you in on all Microsoft Store installed apps. If you're on a personal device, please sign in to each app separately to avoid issues with your credentials.
Once the app has finished installing, you will be able to launch it from the store page. You can also find it in the start menu.
Power BI Desktop will start. Select Get Started to begin signing in and enter your Adler email if it isn't there already. Select Continue.
Once you've signed in, Power BI Desktop will display your name in the upper-right-hand corner the way other o365 apps do.
Now you're ready to start working with Power BI Desktop.