8.3 Export Settings and Automatic Page Refresh

Quick Answer: Control what consumers can extract under File -> Options -> Current file -> Report settings -> Export data (underlying vs. summarized data, plus PDF/PowerPoint/image). Automatic page refresh (Format pane -> Page refresh) auto-updates visuals and is available only for DirectQuery sources. In a non-Premium workspace the minimum interval is 30 minutes; in a Premium/Fabric workspace it can be as low as 1 second, but the effective minimum is whatever the capacity admin configured (default 5 minutes for fixed interval, 5 seconds for change detection). Change detection refreshes only when a chosen measure's value changes.

Export settings

Configuring export permissions

In Report settings -> Export data, choose the level of export you allow:

A common governance pattern is to allow summarized export (so users can grab the numbers they see) but block underlying export (so they cannot pull raw detail rows, which may contain PII or break RLS expectations downstream).

Export and sensitivity labels

Exports inherit the report's sensitivity label (from Microsoft Purview). A Confidential label can encrypt the exported PDF/Excel/PowerPoint and add content marking or watermarks; a Highly Confidential label can block Excel export, PDF export, and even screenshots entirely. The label travels with the file, so protection persists outside Power BI. This is why an export that is "allowed" in Report settings can still be blocked at run time by the label's protection policy.

Automatic page refresh

Configuration

Select the page background, then in the Format pane -> Page refresh -> On, and pick a type:

• Auto page refresh (fixed interval): poll the source every N seconds/minutes.
• Change detection: poll a measure and only refresh visuals when its value changes.

Critical: Automatic page refresh is DirectQuery-only. It does not work for Import models — Import data is updated by scheduled refresh, not page refresh. Treat any "auto-refresh an Import report every 10 seconds" scenario as impossible.

Minimum intervals by workspace

In a Premium/Fabric workspace the capacity administrator sets the floor: the default minimum is 5 minutes for fixed interval and 5 seconds for change-detection execution. If an author requests a faster interval than the capacity minimum, the service overrides it up to the allowed floor. So "every 1 second" is possible on Premium but only if the admin lowered the minimum to 1 second.

Change detection

Instead of refreshing blindly on a clock, define a change detection measure that signals data freshness, e.g.:

Last Update = MAX(Sales[ModifiedDate])

Set it as the change-detection source; Power BI polls it at the execution interval and refreshes the page's visuals only when the value changes. Benefits: fewer queries against the source, lower database load, and no visual flicker when nothing has changed. Only one change-detection measure is allowed per model, and it counts against capacity refresh resources.

Export formats and where they live

Beyond the toggles, know what each export produces and where the setting is governed. Export summarized data yields a CSV/Excel of the aggregated values the visual displays; export underlying data yields the unaggregated detail rows. Export to .xlsx with live connection (Analyze in Excel) is a different path that keeps a live connection to the model rather than a static snapshot. Export to PDF/PowerPoint captures the whole report's visible pages.

Crucially, two layers govern exports: the report-level toggles you set in Desktop, and the tenant admin export settings in the admin portal, which can disable export org-wide regardless of report settings. On the exam, "the toggle is on but export still fails" points to either a sensitivity label policy or a tenant admin restriction.

Automatic page refresh: the full decision tree

Walk the scenario logically. First, is the source DirectQuery? If not (Import/Live to a model), automatic page refresh is unavailable — full stop. Second, what workspace? A shared (Pro/non-Premium) workspace caps the minimum at 30 minutes. A Premium/PPU/Fabric workspace can go to 1 second, but only down to the capacity admin's configured minimum (default 5 minutes fixed interval, 5 seconds change-detection execution). Third, fixed interval or change detection? Fixed interval re-queries on every tick regardless of whether data changed — simple but wasteful.

Change detection re-queries a single lightweight measure each tick and only refreshes the page's visuals when that measure's value moves, which is far gentler on the source. Because change detection still issues a query per interval, it is not "free," but it avoids re-running every visual's query.

Worked example

An IoT floor dashboard must show machine status "in near real time." The model is DirectQuery against Azure SQL, published to a Premium workspace where the admin set the minimum interval to 5 seconds. You enable fixed-interval auto refresh at 5 seconds. To reduce load you switch to change detection on a MAX(Telemetry[EventTime]) measure so visuals only redraw when a new telemetry row arrives. If the business later moves the model to Import for performance, auto page refresh stops working and you must fall back to scheduled refresh — a classic exam "gotcha."

On the exam

Expect to be asked: which capacity supports sub-minute refresh (Premium/Fabric, with the admin-set minimum); that auto page refresh is DirectQuery-only; the advantage of change detection over fixed interval (refresh only on actual change); that a tenant admin or sensitivity label can block an export even when the report toggle is on; and the difference between exporting summarized vs underlying data.