One of the common challenges I’ve seen in organizations is when a team member leaves and their Power BI reports are stored in their personal My Workspace. These reports often contain valuable datasets and dashboards that are still in use or need to be maintained. So, how do you access and recover these reports?

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the steps to access a former employee’s My Workspace, assign it to a supported capacity, and download the reports using Fabric Studio.

Here is a copy of the video if you want to watch what I do instead of reading below: YouTube – How to Access a Former Employee’s Power BI “My Workspace” and Recover Reports

Step 1 – Get Power BI Admin Access

To begin, you’ll need to have Power BI Admin rights. Without this, you won’t be able to access or manage other users’ workspaces.

Step 2 – Navigate to the Admin Portal

Once you have the necessary permissions:
1. Go to the Power BI Admin Portal.
2. Search for the user whose workspace you need to access (e.g., Sian).


3. Locate their My Workspace and click on Get Access.

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Step 3 – Assign the Workspace to a Capacity

After gaining access:
1. Click on Reassign workspace

2. Under Premium, assign the workspace to a supported capacity: Premium Per User (PPU), Premium Capacity, or Fabric Capacity.

Tip: If you don’t have Premium Capacity, a temporary PPU license can be a cost-effective workaround.

Step 4 – Use Fabric Studio to Download the Report

Now that the workspace is accessible and assigned to a capacity, you can use Fabric Studio by Gerhard to download the report:
1. Open Fabric Studio and log in.
2. Refresh the workspace list.
3. Locate the user’s My Workspace.

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.
4. Right-click on the desired report or dataset.
5. Select Download as Power BI Project.

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Step 5 – Save and Reuse the Report

Once downloaded, you’ll have the full Power BI project locally.

From here, you can open it in Power BI Desktop, modify or update the report, publish it to a shared workspace, and reassign ownership.

Summary

This process is a lifesaver when it comes to recovering critical reports from a user’s My Workspace. With the right access and tools like Fabric Studio, you can ensure that valuable insights aren’t lost when someone leaves the organization.

Thanks for reading, any comments or suggestions are most welcome!