How to connect SQL Server Tables in Power BI
Power BI is a popular Business Intelligence and Visualization application. You can connect to a variety of data sources in Power BI. In this article, we will discuss how to connect SQL Server Tables in Power BI.
Click here to learn how to connect to MS Excel data source in Power BI.
To connect SQL Server tables in Power BI, you should have access to SQL Server or it should be installed on your laptop. If you wish to install SQL Server express edition, follow this link and scroll down to download the Express edition.
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How to connect SQL Server Tables in Power BI
- Launch Power BI desktop. Close the welcome screen.
- From the Home ribbon/Tab navigate to Get Data
- Click on More at the bottom of the Get Data option.
- On the next screen, select Database and select SQL Server database. Then select the Connect option.
- On the next screen, enter your SQL Server details. If you do not recall, open your SSMS (SQL Server Management studio) and copy the name of the Server.
- There are 2 ways to connect to SQL Server – Import or DirectQuery. When Import option is selected, tables and columns are imported into the Power BI desktop. When DirectQuery is used, a connection is directly made to the data source.
- Select the default Import option.
- In the next Navigator screen, you will see the list of databases or schemas available in your instance of SQL Server. Select the database based on your requirement and select a table. For this example, I will choose vEmployee table from AdventureWorks.
- Now select Load or Transform Data. If you wish to make any transformations to the data, select Transform Data, otherwise select Load.
- This will load your table into Power BI. You can verify it by navigating to the Model view on the left of your screen on Power BI desktop.
Now you are ready to create some charts, based on your data.
More readings:
How to become a Power BI developer
Loading data using Query Editor in Power BI
Instructor-led training in Power BI
About the Author
Chandraish Sinha is the Founder and President of Ohio Computer Academy, a leading institution committed to delivering high-quality IT education. With a passion for teaching and a belief in his company’s mission—Inspire, Educate & Evolve—Chandraish brings over 25 years of experience in the Information Technology industry.
He is a prolific author, having published multiple books on Business Intelligence tools such as Tableau, Power BI, Qlik and other technologies. His most recent books include:
- IT Career Guide for Beginners: Steps to Launch and Develop a Successful Career in Information Technology
- Tableau for Job Seekers
- Excel Basics to Advanced – a comprehensive self-learning guide for mastering Microsoft Excel
- Dashboarding with Tableau – covering essential features and exercises for hands-on learning
Chandraish has successfully implemented IT solutions across diverse domains including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, telecom, finance, and retail. He actively blogs on trending IT topics and training strategies:
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