Symptoms
After publishing your Power BI report to the Power BI Online service, you try and schedule a refresh but the Scheduled Refresh is disabled or greyed out.
Why this happens
In almost every case, this is not a Connectorly authentication
problem. If you've confirmed that your Connectorly credentials are valid, then the most likely cause is that there are other data sources that the Power BI service can't see.
The most common cause is that your report contains one or more
local file data sources, such as:
Excel files on your PC
CSV files on your PC
Files referenced using
File.Contents()
Power BI Desktop can read local files, but Power BI Service cannot.
In this case, Power BI Online will suggest configuring an On-premises Data Gateway but typically this isn't something you will want to do.
When Power BI detects local file references, it assumes you want to use
an On-premises Data Gateway and disables cloud refresh until those
sources become accessible.
For most Connectorly customers, installing a Personal Gateway is not
the recommended solution.
Instead you should move the files off your local computer and into a cloud service where they can be accessed using the Power Query Web.Contents() method.
The recommended solution
Instead:
Upload your Excel (or CSV) files to SharePoint Online (or
OneDrive for Business).Use the same Microsoft 365 tenant as your Power BI workspace.
Update Power Query - typically this is the first step in the data sources you see in Transform Data - to use
Web.Contents()instead of
File.Contents().Configure the Connectorly Path value as described in our guide How to use a file from SharePoint as a data source in Power BI
Do this for all file sources.
Republish the report.
In Power BI Service, sign in to the SharePoint data source using
your Microsoft 365 account.Configure Connectorly credentials if required.
Configure the Microsoft 365 credentials for each
Web.Contents()datasource.Scheduled Refresh should now become available without requiring an
On-premises Gateway.
SSL / HTTPS errors
If you've already moved your files to SharePoint but receive an SSL or
HTTPS error while configuring credentials, this is normally related to
the SharePoint connection configuration rather than Connectorly.
Follow this guide:
Configure automatic refresh
Once every data source is cloud-accessible (Connectorly + SharePoint),
configure Scheduled Refresh using:
Frequently Asked Questions
My Connectorly credentials are valid. Why can't I enable Scheduled Refresh?
Because another data source (typically local Excel files) is preventing
Power BI Service from refreshing the dataset.
Power BI wants me to install a Gateway. Should I?
Usually no.
If your only local data sources are Excel or CSV files used alongside
Connectorly, the recommended approach is to move those files to
SharePoint Online and connect using Web.Contents().
Does Connectorly require an On-premises Gateway?
No. Connectorly works with Power BI Service without a Gateway, provided
all supporting data sources are also cloud-accessible.
How can I tell if I'm still using local files?
Open Transform Data in Power BI Desktop and look for queries using:
File.Contents()
These should be replaced with Web.Contents() as per above to use
SharePoint-hosted files instead.
Troubleshooting Checklist
Check that:
✅ Connectorly credentials are valid.
✅ Supporting Excel/CSV files have been uploaded to SharePoint
Online.
✅ Queries use Web.Contents() instead of File.Contents().
✅ SharePoint credentials are configured successfully in Power BI
Service.
✅ SSL/HTTPS issues have been resolved (if applicable).
✅ Scheduled Refresh is configured after republishing.