Dataflow entities in Power BI - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Dataflow entities let you prepare and organize data in Power BI before using it in reports. They help you clean, transform, and combine data from different sources in one place.

When you want to reuse cleaned data across multiple Power BI reports without repeating steps

When your team needs a shared, consistent data source for reporting

When you want to separate data preparation from report building to keep things organized

When you need to combine data from different systems and prepare it once

When you want to schedule data refreshes centrally for multiple reports

Steps

Step 1: Open

- Power BI Service and go to the workspace where you want the dataflow

You see the workspace content including datasets, reports, and dataflows

Step 2: Click

- New button and select Dataflow

The Create a dataflow window opens to start defining entities

Step 3: Select

- Add new entities option

You see options to connect to data sources to create entities

Step 4: Choose

- Your data source (like SQL Server, Excel, or Web API)

Connection setup screen appears to enter credentials and select tables

Step 5: Select

- Tables or views to include as entities

Entities appear in the dataflow editor where you can transform data

Step 6: Use

- Power Query editor inside the dataflow to clean and shape data

Data preview updates showing applied transformations

Step 7: Save and close

- Dataflow editor

Dataflow entities are created and ready to be used in Power BI reports

Before vs After

Before

Workspace has no dataflows and reports connect directly to raw data sources

After

Workspace has a dataflow with entities that clean and combine data, ready for reports to use

Settings Reference

Refresh settings

📍 Dataflow settings in Power BI Service

Schedule how often the dataflow updates its data

Default: Manual

Entity name

📍 Dataflow editor when creating or editing entities

Identify each entity clearly for reuse

Default: Table name from source

Data source credentials

📍 Dataflow connection setup

Authenticate to access the data source

Default: Depends on source

Common Mistakes

Not setting up data source credentials correctly

Dataflow cannot refresh data without proper authentication

Always verify and test credentials during dataflow creation

Creating entities with unclear or duplicate names

Makes it hard to find and reuse entities later

Use clear, descriptive names for each entity

Skipping data refresh scheduling

Data becomes outdated and reports show stale information

Set up refresh schedules to keep data current

Summary

Dataflow entities prepare and organize data centrally in Power BI Service.

They help reuse cleaned data across reports and teams.

Remember to set credentials and refresh schedules for smooth updates.