Do you create Power BI Template Apps?

Power BI Template Apps are an efficient way to package, distribute, and maintain Power BI reports and dashboards for external users.

Once published, a Template App lives in the Power BI Apps marketplace, where users can install it and either explore it with the default sample data or connect it to their own data.

✅ Pros

• Ease of distribution: Once published to the Power BI service, a template app can be shared widely without having to manage access permissions for each user individually
• Ease of maintenance: Built-in Release Management makes it simple to update and maintain your Power BI content over time
• Data source flexibility: Users can connect their own data with minimal effort
• Trial with sample data: Shipping with sample data lets users explore the features before connecting their own — and it's great for demos

❌ Cons

• Dependency on Power BI: External users need access to Power BI (a Pro or Premium license), which can limit accessibility for some. Creating template apps also requires a Power BI Pro license
• Initial setup complexity: Configuring a template app for external sharing takes more upfront effort
• Limited customization for end users: End users can filter and slice the data, but they can't modify the reports beyond that
• Performance considerations: Large datasets or complex visuals can slow loading times for end users

Creating Power BI Template Apps

Prerequisites

• Power BI Pro license
• Power BI Desktop (Windows only)
  • Mac users - either borrow a Windows machine, or run a Windows VM on VMware Fusion (free - recommended ⭐) or Parallels
• A cloud-hosted sample database with dummy data and read access
  • Keep it small
• A Power BI report (.pbix) file to connect to the sample data

Step 1: Create the Workspace

In app.powerbi.com:

1. All workspaces (left side panel) | New workspace
2. Set a Name and Description
   

   Figure: Create workspace wizard with Name and Description input fields

3. Advanced section | Workspace type | Power BI Pro
   

   Figure: Select Workspace type options

4. Advanced section | Template apps | tick “Develop template apps”
   

   Figure: Develop template apps option must be checked

5. Click Apply

Step 2: Prepare the Report with Sample Data

In Power BI Desktop (Windows only):

1. Open your .pbix file
2. Home | Transform Data - this opens a new window
   

   Figure: Power BI Desktop app

3. In the new window: Home | Manage Parameters
   • Here you can add new parameters, set their default values, or edit existing parameter names and values
   

   Figure: New window showing the queries, parameters and source settings

4. Create parameters for your SQL Server and Database Name, and default them to your sample database's details
   

   Figure: Edit / create parameters for your report

   • Back in the Transform Data window, the new parameters appear in the left pane
5. Point each query's source at these parameters:
   • Select a query in the left pane
   • Under Applied Steps (right pane), select Source
   • In the formula (fx) bar, replace the hardcoded values with your parameter names - e.g. change Sql.Database("sql-server.net", “demo-db”) to Sql.Database(Server, Database)
   • Repeat for every query whose Source step still uses hardcoded strings
   

   Figure: Left pane showing Queries, right pane showing Source and middle function input box for parameters

6. Load only the columns the report uses:
   • Select a query, then Home | Choose Columns, and keep only the columns that a visual, measure or relationship uses
   • Power Query adds a Table.SelectColumns step. It folds into the SQL query, so the model never loads the other columns
   • Repeat for every query that reads the database
7. Click Close & Apply - the whole report will refresh
8. Publish the .pbix to your template app workspace:
   • Home tab | Publish
   • Sign in with the same account that owns the workspace
   • Select your template app workspace and click Publish
   • If a report already exists there, confirm the overwrite when prompted — the report then uploads
   

   Figure: Select your template app workspace to publish your report

9. Refresh the workspace in app.powerbi.com - your report will appear

Step 3: Create and Configure the Template App

Back in app.powerbi.com:

1. In the workspace, click Create app
   

   Figure: Workspace - Create app

2. Fill out every field in the form
   

   Figure: Create app - fill out the form fields

3. On the Navigation pane, your report is selected automatically for inclusion in the app
   

   Figure: Create app | Navigation - report auto-selected

4. On the Parameters pane, you'll see the parameters you set up in Power BI Desktop. For each one:
   • Tick Required
   • Enter the same value you used in Desktop
   • Add an example to guide users - e.g. Server value sql-demo-database.windows.net, example for user sql-xxx.database.windows.net
   

   Figure: Create app | Parameters pane - set Server and Database values

5. In the Authentication section, the source defaults to SQL Server - set the authentication method to Basic
6. In the Access tab, grant access to other users in your org for testing, or select the entire organisation
7. Click Save changes, then click Create app
   

   Figure: Create app - confirm and build the app

8. After a moment, Power BI gives you a link to test the app internally within your org
9. Manage the app in the Release Management pane, where you can:
   • Update the app with new report changes by clicking Create app
   • Share the app with specific people for testing by clicking Get link
   • Publish the app by clicking Promote app
     

     Figure: Release Management - Create app, Get link, Promote app

Step 4: Publishing to Partner Center

1. After internal testing, promote the app to pre-production in Release Management
2. Copy the pre-production link it generates, then log in to Partner Center and either create a new offer or open an existing one
3. Fill in the required details
4. In the Technical Configuration section, paste the pre-production link from Release Management
   

   Figure: Microsoft Partner Center | <your template app offer> | Technical configuration

5. Click Save draft, then Review and publish

Figure: Published template app on Microsoft Marketplace

User Setup for Installed Apps

When users install and open the app, it opens with the default sample data. To connect their own data:

1. Select Connect your data in the banner at the top of the page
   

   Figure: App banner - select Connect your data

2. Enter the Server and Database parameter values in the pop-up
   

   Figure: Connect your data - enter Server and Database parameters

3. Authenticate to the database
   

   Figure: Connect your data - database authentication

4. Once authenticated, users can explore the app with their own data 🚀

Updating installed Template Apps

An installed Template App never updates itself. Each install stays on its version until an Admin of its workspace runs the update.

When you promote a new version to production:

• Installs from AppSource - Power BI shows them an update banner and a notification
• Installs from a direct link - get no banner, so tell those users yourself

Either way, give your users update steps. The update dialog makes it easy to break an install.

Keep the semantic model in Small storage format

Template Apps don't support the Large semantic model storage format. An install whose model uses Large format can't take any update.

❌ Figure: Bad example - Someone turned on Large storage format in the install's semantic model settings

❌ Figure: Bad example - Every update option fails with 'This app cannot be updated'

A fresh install is always Small, but a workspace Admin can switch it to Large later. Tell users to check the setting and turn it off before they update.

Update the workspace content, then the app

The update dialog offers 3 options:

• Update the workspace and the app - renames the workspace and the app to the template name plus a timestamp. Users lose the names they know
• Update only workspace content without updating the app (⭐ recommended) - keeps the names, the report ID, the parameters and the credentials
• Install another copy of the app into a new workspace - leaves the old install as it is

The dialog also preselects an install to overwrite, and it can be the wrong one.

✅ Figure: Good example - Update only workspace content, with the right workspace selected

After the update:

1. Power BI starts a refresh. The reports show sample data until it finishes
2. When the refresh passes, select Update app in the workspace, so app users see the new version

The report ID stays the same, so an embedded report keeps working.

Microsoft describes each option in Update a template app.

More information

• What are Power BI template apps?
• Create a template app in Power BI