How to Install Copilot in Power BI

Bringing AI into your Power BI reports can feel like adding a seasoned data analyst to your team, and Copilot is designed to do just that. If you're ready to start using natural language to create reports and get insights, this guide will walk you through every step. We’ll cover the essential prerequisites you need to check first, the admin settings you'll need to enable, and how to get Copilot up and running in your workspace.

First Things First: What Does Copilot in Power BI Do?

Before we jump into the setup, let's quickly touch on what Copilot brings to the table. Think of it as an assistant built directly into Power BI that helps you work faster. It's not here to replace the need for good data analysis, but it massively speeds up the process.

You can use it to:

• Create report pages automatically: Just describe what you want to see, like "create a page showing our sales performance by region and product," and Copilot will build it for you.
• Summarize your data: Have a complex report page? Copilot can generate a plain-text summary of the key insights and trends shown in the visuals.
• Generate DAX formula suggestions: Struggling with complex Data Analysis Expressions (DAX)? Describe the calculation you need, and Copilot can suggest the DAX code to accomplish it.

In short, it handles the tedious, time-consuming tasks of report creation, freeing you up to focus on exploring the data and making decisions.

The Essential Checklist: Prerequisites for Copilot

Nothing is more frustrating than trying to use a new feature only to find out you don't have the right setup. Before you dive in, you need to make sure a few key pieces are in place. Copilot for Power BI isn't just a simple toggle, it relies on the new Microsoft Fabric ecosystem.

1. Licensing and Capacity

Copilot doesn't work with a standard Power BI Pro license alone. To use Copilot in Power BI, you need two things:

• You need a Power BI Pro or Premium Per User (PPU) license to build and edit reports in your workspace.
• Your workspace must be hosted on a Microsoft Fabric capacity. Not just any capacity will do, it needs to be an F64 or higher Fabric capacity, or a P1 or higher Power BI Premium capacity.

Think of Fabric capacity as the dedicated engine that provides the computational power for advanced AI features. An F64 or P1 capacity is the minimum horsepower required to run Copilot. If you don't have a paid capacity, you can still try it out by signing up for a free Fabric trial, which temporarily gives you access to a trial capacity.

2. Critical Admin Settings

This is where most people get stuck. Copilot must be enabled by a Fabric or Power BI administrator in your organization's tenant settings. If you’re not an admin, you'll need to send this section to your IT or data team. These toggles give your organization control over how AI features and data are handled.

An admin will need to navigate to the Admin portal > Tenant settings and enable the following:

• "Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service (preview)" setting: This is the main switch. It needs to be turned on.
• "Users can use preview features with Copilot and other Azure OpenAI-powered features" setting: This is a sub-setting that also needs to be enabled for your intended users. Admins can apply this to the entire organization or specify a security group for a phased rollout.

There's also a consideration for data residency. If your data must remain within your geographic region, a separate option within these settings should be checked by the admin. However, for a fully-featured Copilot, Microsoft recommends allowing data processing to happen in other regions where Fabric capacity is available.

For Admins: How to Enable Copilot for Your Organization

If you're a Power BI or Fabric administrator, here are the detailed steps to turn on Copilot for everyone authorized in your tenant. If you aren't an admin, this is what you'll need to ask your admin to do.

Step 1: Access the Admin Portal

Sign in to the Power BI service online. In the top right corner, click the Settings gear icon (⚙️) and select Admin portal from the dropdown menu. This will take you to the central control panel for managing your organization's Power BI environment.

Step 2: Locate the Copilot Tenant Settings

In the Admin portal, scroll down the navigation pane on the left until you find Tenant settings. Click it and use the search bar on the right side of the screen to search for "Copilot." This will filter the long list of settings down to the ones you need.

Step 3: Enable and Configure Copilot

Expand the setting group titled "Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service (preview)". Here, you'll see a primary toggle. Click Enabled.

Below that, you have options for applying this setting:

• The entire organization: Everyone with the correct license can use it. We recommend starting with a smaller group first.
• Specific security groups: This is the best practice for a rollout. Create a security group (e.g., "Power BI Copilot Testers") in Azure Active Directory and apply the setting only to them. This lets you test the functionality and gather feedback before enabling it for everyone.

Once you’ve made your selection, click Apply. Please note that it can take up to 15 minutes for tenant-level changes to take effect across your organization.

For Report Creators: Activating Copilot in Your Workspace

Once your admin has enabled Copilot at the tenant level, the next step is to make sure your individual workspace is ready. Remember, Copilot runs on a Fabric or Premium capacity, so you need to assign your workspace to one.

Step 1: Open Your Workspace Settings

Navigate to the Power BI workspace where you want to build your reports. In the workspace view, click on Workspace settings.

Step 2: Assign a Fabric Capacity

Inside the settings panel, select either the Premium or Fabric capacity tab. Here, you will see a section for a capacity license mode. You can choose:

• Trial: If you're using a free Fabric trial, select this.
• Premium per Capacity / Fabric Capacity: If your organization has purchased F64/P1 or higher capacities, you'll choose this and select the appropriate one from the list.

After assigning the capacity, an icon (like a diamond) should appear next to your workspace name, indicating that it's a premium/fabric workspace ready for advanced features.

With these steps complete, you are now officially ready to use Copilot!

Putting Copilot to Work in Power BI Desktop

The real magic happens in Power BI Desktop. Make sure you have the latest version installed, as Copilot is a new feature that is regularly updated.

Open Power BI Desktop and connect to a semantic model (formerly dataset) that is stored in your newly Copilot-enabled workspace. Once you're in the Report view, you should see a new Copilot button in the ribbon at the top of the screen. Clicking it opens the Copilot pane on the right-hand side.

From here, you can start making requests in plain English, such as:

• "Create a report page summarizing sales revenue, profit, and quantity sold."
• "Add a chart showing the trend of website sessions over the last 90 days."
• "Write a DAX expression to calculate the year-over-year sales growth."

Copilot will analyze your request and the data model schema to generate the visuals or summaries you asked for. You can then refine your report just like you normally would.

Troubleshooting: Why Isn't the Copilot Button Showing Up?

Running into issues? Don't worry, it's often due to one simple setting being missed. Here are the most common reasons why Copilot might not be an option for you:

• The Tenant Setting is Off: This is the number one cause. Double-check with your Power BI admin that they have enabled the Copilot switches in the Tenant settings as described above.
• Your Workspace Isn't on the Right Capacity: Copilot will not work in a "Pro" workspace. It must be hosted on a Fabric (F64+) or Premium (P1+) capacity. Verify in your Workspace settings.
• Geographic Location and Capacity: Copilot features might not be fully rolled out to all Azure geographic regions yet. Your Fabric capacity needs to be in a region where Copilot is available. Your admin can check this in the Fabric admin portal.
• Your Semantic Model is in Live Connection Mode: A small but important technical detail: For now, Copilot in Power BI Desktop works best with semantic models that are in DirectQuery or Direct Lake mode or when you are connected to a semantic model published in Power BI. If you are using a legacy Live Connection to Azure Analysis Services or SSAS, the Copilot functionality may be limited or unavailable.
• Your Power BI Desktop is Outdated: Microsoft releases monthly updates for Power BI Desktop. Ensure you have the latest version installed, as features like Copilot depend on the most recent software builds.

Final Thoughts

Getting Copilot for Power BI set up involves confirming a few key prerequisites: ensuring you have the right licenses, your admin has enabled it tenant-wide, and your workspace is assigned to a powerful enough Fabric capacity. While it takes a few steps across a few different admin pages, the payoff is a significant boost in reporting efficiency and a much faster path from data to insight.

The goal is always to get answers from your data without getting stuck on technical hurdles. While Copilot greatly simplifies the report-building process once installed, we've found that getting to that "Aha!" moment should be even easier. At Graphed, we designed a platform where you can securely connect all your data sources like Google Analytics, Shopify, or Salesforce, and then just ask questions to build real-time reports instantly, helping you and your team skip the complex setup and get straight to making data-driven decisions.