How to Unpublish Power BI Report

When you've published a Power BI report, getting it into the hands of your team feels like crossing the finish line. But sometimes you need to pull a report back, whether it's outdated, being replaced, or just not ready for primetime. This guide will walk you through exactly how to unpublish a Power BI report and manage its visibility, so you can keep your data environment clean and accurate.

What Does "Unpublish" Mean in Power BI?

First, let’s clear up a common point of confusion. There isn’t a one-click button labeled “Unpublish” in Power BI that reverses the publishing process. Instead, "unpublishing" a report means removing it from the Power BI Service - the online platform where you share and interact with your reports.

Remember the basic Power BI workflow:

You build reports locally on your computer in Power BI Desktop.
You then publish them to a workspace in the Power BI Service (app.powerbi.com) to share with others.

So, to "unpublish" a report, you have to interact with it in the Power BI Service. This can mean a few different things depending on your goal:

Deleting the Report entirely: This is a permanent removal from the workspace.
Hiding the Report from users: This involves removing it from a Power BI app or revoking sharing permissions without permanently deleting the report itself.

Choosing the right method depends on whether you want the report gone for good or just hidden from view. Let's start with the most common and direct method: deletion.

The Easiest Method: Deleting a Report from Your Workspace

If a report is obsolete or was published by mistake, the most straightforward way to unpublish it is by deleting it directly from its workspace. This action is permanent, so be sure you won't need the report in the Service anymore.

Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

Log into the Power BI Service at app.powerbi.com.
In the left navigation pane, click on Workspaces and select the workspace containing the report you want to delete.
In the workspace, find the Reports tab to see a list of all your published reports.
Hover over the report you want to remove. You'll see several icons appear. Click the ellipsis (...) to open the "More options" menu.
From the dropdown menu, select Delete.
A confirmation window will pop up asking, "Are you sure you want to delete this report?" Click the Delete button to confirm.

The report will now be gone from your workspace, and any users who previously had access will no longer be able to see it.

What about the report's Dataset?

This is a crucial detail. When you delete a report, Power BI asks if you want to delete the report's underlying dataset as well. A single dataset can be used by multiple reports.

For example, if you have a "Monthly Sales" dataset, you might have created separate reports for the Sales Team, the Marketing Team, and the Executive Team all based on that one dataset. If you delete one of those reports, you almost certainly do not want to delete the shared dataset along with it, as doing so would break all the other connected reports.

Always pause and ask yourself: "Is this dataset being used by anything else?"

If you're unsure, you can check for dependencies beforehand, which we'll cover in the "Important Considerations" section below. If you know the report and its dataset are standalone and no longer needed, you can proceed with deleting both.

Safer Alternatives to Permanent Deletion

Sometimes, outright deleting a report is too drastic. You might just want to control who sees it or temporarily hide it while you make updates. In these cases, managing access is a much better approach.

1. Removing a Report from a Published App

Many organizations use Power BI "apps" to bundle together and distribute related reports and dashboards to a large audience. Taking a report out of an app is the perfect way to "unpublish" it for your end-users without deleting your work from the workspace.

This method allows you and your fellow developers to still access and work on the report within the workspace, but it won't be visible to the app's audience.

Follow these steps:

Navigate to the workspace that contains the app.
At the top right corner, click the Update app button. If you don't see this, you may not have the necessary permissions (Member, Admin, or Contributor role).
You'll be taken to the app setup screen. Go to the Content tab.
You'll see a list of all reports and dashboards included in the app. Find the report you want to unpublish and simply remove it by clicking the 'x' or Remove on the right side.
After removing the content, click the Update app button at the bottom of the screen.
A final confirmation dialog will appear. Click Update once more.

The app will now be updated, and the report you removed will no longer be visible to anyone using the app. Meanwhile, the report and its dataset are still safe and sound within your workspace.

2. Managing Permissions to Restrict Access

If you shared a report directly with individuals or groups (instead of through an app), the best way to unpublish it for them is to revoke their access. This is like taking back a key to a specific document without throwing the whole filing cabinet away.

Here’s how to manage direct access:

Go to your workspace and locate the report in the list.
Hover over the report and click the Share icon.
In the "Share report" pane that opens, click the ellipsis (...) in the upper right and then select Manage permissions.
This will open the "Manage access" page where you can see a complete list of users and groups who have access to your report.
You can manage access in two main areas:
- Links: You can see any shareable links you've created and delete them by clicking the ellipsis next to them. This is a quick way to invalidate a link that was shared broadly.
- Direct access: This list shows specific people or groups you've added. Hover over a person or group and click the ellipsis (...) next to their permissions, then select Remove access.

Removing a user’s access is instant and precise. It's the best option for correcting sharing mistakes or temporarily restricting access for a specific audience without affecting anyone else.

What About the Original .PBIX File?

It’s important to remember that all the actions we’ve discussed - deleting reports, updating apps, and managing permissions - happen exclusively in the cloud-based Power BI Service.

None of these actions will affect your original Power BI Desktop file (the .pbix file) saved on your local computer or network drive.

Think of your .pbix file as your master blueprint. Publishing a report to the Power BI Service is like making a copy of that blueprint and putting it into circulation. Deleting the published copy doesn't erase your original design. This is a good thing! It means you always have a local backup you can use to re-publish the report if you ever need to restore it.

Important Considerations Before You Delete

Since deletion is permanent in the Power BI Service, it pays to take a quick moment to check a few things first.

Check for Dependencies with Lineage View

Before deleting a report or a dataset, you must check what other assets depend on it. The best way to do this is with the "Lineage view."

In your workspace, toggle the view from "List" to "Lineage" near the top right of the screen.
This shows you a visual flowchart of how your datasets, reports, and dashboards connect to each other.
Find your report or dataset in this view. You can clearly see if a dataset is connected with multiple reports or if a dashboard is pulling visuals (tiles) from the report you're about to delete. Deleting a report will break any dashboard tiles pinned from it.

Communicate With Your Team

If the report is used by others, don't just delete it. Send a quick email or message letting the stakeholders know the report is being retired and what, if anything, is replacing it. This avoids confusion and keeps everyone on the same page.

There Is No "Undo" Button

This can't be stressed enough. Once a report or dataset is deleted from the Power BI Service, it is gone for good. There's no recovery or recycle bin. The only "backup" is the original .pbix file on your computer, which you would need to completely re-publish and re-configure.

Final Thoughts

"Unpublishing" a Power BI report boils down to managing its presence in the Power BI Service, whether through permanent deletion, removal from an app, or an adjustment in user permissions. By choosing the right method, you can effectively control your shared data environment and ensure your team is always looking at the right information.

While mastering the publish and unpublish workflows in tools like Power BI is part of the job, the entire process can sometimes feel unnecessarily complicated and slow. We built Graphed to dramatically simplify how you get from raw data to actionable insights. Instead of spending hours in a complex BI tool, you can just describe the dashboard you want in plain English, and our AI analyst builds it for you in seconds with real-time data from all your marketing and sales platforms, ready to share instantly without wrestling with workspace permissions.