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Export Power BI Visual Data to Excel with the PBRS REST API

Create Excel workbooks containing summarized or underlying Power BI visual data rather than report screenshots.

Review status: Draft for Development and Support review. Routes and models labelled validation required must be tested against the supported PBRS build before publication.

What data-only export provides

The PowerBIDataOnlyExportModel describes an Excel workbook built from supported Power BI visual data. It is distinct from placing a rendered image of a report into a workbook. Each configured visual can become an ordered worksheet containing either summarized or underlying data.

Data-only export model

Property Documented behavior
PageNumber Zero-based page index containing the visual.
VisualTitle Title of the Power BI visual.
ExportType SUMMARY = 0, which is documented as the default; UNDERLYING = 1.
ExcelStyle A JSON string used to format the Excel output.
ColumnsToSummarize Column references to summarize in the worksheet.
RowsToSummarize Row indexes to summarize in the worksheet.
WorksheetName Worksheet name; documented default is the visual title.
OrderNumber Position of the worksheet in the workbook.

Recommended setup workflow

  1. Resolve the Power BI account, workspace, and report.
  2. Use the validated visual-discovery request to obtain the visual title and zero-based page index.
  3. Choose SUMMARY or UNDERLYING according to the data the recipient is authorized to receive.
  4. Set worksheet names and order.
  5. Add totals and styling only after validating the unformatted data.
  6. Deliver to a controlled test recipient.
  7. Open the workbook and verify columns, rows, totals, formats, worksheet names, and ordering.

Security and report design considerations

  • Underlying data may expose more detail than the rendered report.
  • Apply the same authorization and recipient controls used for the source report.
  • Test visuals that contain aggregations, hidden fields, custom measures, or large result sets.
  • Do not assume every Power BI visual supports the same export behavior.
  • Document whether the workbook is expected to preserve data types, formulas, totals, and display formatting.

What this article does not claim

The reviewed public API model establishes Power BI visual data-only Excel settings. It does not establish CSV as an API destination model, Excel template support through the API, or the exact Excel behavior for paginated reports. Those capabilities must be documented separately if Development confirms their API contracts.

Keep data extraction distinct from rendering

Data-only Excel output extracts data from a supported Power BI visual into workbook cells. It is not a screenshot pasted into Excel. A production example must show where PowerBIDataOnlyExportModel is nested in the parent schedule request and how the visual is identified.

Validate before publication

  • Supported visual types and row or payload limits
  • Underlying versus summarized data behavior
  • Totals, data types, date and number formatting
  • ExcelStyle fields and defaults
  • Permission behavior and export failures

Do not imply that this endpoint also provides CSV, paginated-report Excel export or Excel-template workflows until those API contracts are separately verified.

Parent request context

PowerBIDataOnlyExportSettings is documented as an array on a packaged Power BI report definition and is required when the selected output is MS Excel - Data Only (*.xlsx). Each element identifies a visual and worksheet.

"PowerBIDataOnlyExportSettings": [   {     "PageNumber": 0,     "VisualTitle": "Sales by Region",     "ExportType": 0,     "ExcelStyle": "{validated-style-json}",     "ColumnsToSummarize": ["B", "D"],     "RowsToSummarize": [1],     "WorksheetName": "Regional Sales",     "OrderNumber": 1   } ]

Validate the parent single-schedule equivalent with Development before using this fragment outside a packaged report model.

Timeout and large-export diagnosis

  • Record the visual, export type, returned row count, workbook size, render duration and PBRS build.
  • Test the same visual with summary data before underlying data.
  • Monitor API threads, memory and Power BI response time.
  • If data retrieval times out, collect evidence for Support rather than changing internal settings without build-specific guidance.

Support has resolved older data-only export timeouts by changing a Power BI access timeout setting, but that value and file location are build-sensitive and are not a general public recommendation.

Documentation standard: Record the PBRS build used for verification, test in a non-production environment, redact credentials and customer data, and confirm the saved PBRS state after every write.