You attempt to publish a Microsoft Excel file to Power BI, and you receive the error message shown in the exhibit. (Click the Exhibit button.) The file is in c:\data\. You need to ensure that you can

The correct answer is B. Decrypt the workbook.. The error shown in the exhibit indicates that the Excel workbook is password-protected or encrypted. Power BI cannot read or publish files that are encrypted or have workbook-level password protection. You must first remove the encryption (decrypt the workbook) before Power BI ca

Submitted by weili_xi· Apr 18, 2026Prepare the data

Question

You attempt to publish a Microsoft Excel file to Power BI, and you receive the error message shown in the exhibit. (Click the Exhibit button.) The file is in c:\data. You need to ensure that you can publish the file to Power BI. What should you do first?

Exhibit

Options

ASave the file in a Microsoft SharePoint document library.
BDecrypt the workbook.
CAdd a digital signature to the workbook.
DSet the file attributes to read-only.

How the community answered

(45 responses)

A
16% (7)
B
73% (33)
C
2% (1)
D
9% (4)

Explanation

The error shown in the exhibit indicates that the Excel workbook is password-protected or encrypted. Power BI cannot read or publish files that are encrypted or have workbook-level password protection. You must first remove the encryption (decrypt the workbook) before Power BI can access and publish its contents. Saving to SharePoint, adding a digital signature, or setting it to read-only would not resolve an encryption-related publishing error.

Topics

#Publishing Data#Excel Data Source#Data Encryption#Troubleshooting

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