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How to Connect Power BI to Snowflake: Step-by-Step Guide 

  • May 11, 2026
  • •

How to Connect Power BI to Snowflake

Use the native Snowflake connector in Power BI Desktop. Open Home > Get Data > More > Snowflake, enter the Snowflake server and warehouse, choose an authentication method, select the required Snowflake objects, and then load the data in Import mode or DirectQuery mode. 

Before you start: required information

Make sure all requirements are fulfilled before creating the connection. 

  • Power BI Desktop installed and updated. 
  • Snowflake account/server name, for example: your-account.snowflakecomputing.com. 
  • Snowflake warehouse name used to run Power BI queries. 
  • Database and schema access for the tables or views you want to use. 
  • A valid authentication method: Snowflake username/password, Microsoft Entra ID / OAuth, or Key Pair authentication. 
  • A Snowflake role with privileges to use the warehouse and read the required database objects. 
  • Power BI Service access if you plan to publish, refresh, share, or use SSO in the cloud. 

Step-by-step connection process

Step 1: Open Power BI Desktop and select the Snowflake connector

Open Power BI Desktop on your computer and start from a blank report or an existing report file. Make sure you are using an updated version of Power BI Desktop, because Microsoft states that new Snowflake connections use Snowflake connector implementation 2.0 by default and recommends updating connections created before March 2025. 

  1. Go to the Home tab in the top ribbon.
  2. Select Get Data.
  3. Select More to open the full connector list.
  4. In the Get Data window, select Database from the left-side categories.
  5. Search for and select Snowflake.
  6. Select Connect to open the Snowflake connection window.

At this point, Power BI will ask for the Snowflake server and warehouse. Prepare these values before continuing. If the Snowflake connector is not visible, update Power BI Desktop or check whether your organization restricts available connectors. 

Step 2: Enter the Snowflake server and warehouse

In the Snowflake connection window, enter the Snowflake server name and the warehouse name. 

Example: 

Server: your-account.snowflakecomputing.com 

Warehouse: ANALYTICS_WH 

 

How to find the Snowflake server name 

Log in to Snowsight, open the user menu, select View account details, and check the account or server URL. Copy the server URL from there. 

How to find the Snowflake warehouse 

Log in to Snowsight, open Admin > Warehouses, and check the available warehouses. Another option is to open a worksheet that already uses the required dataset and check the selected warehouse at the top right of the worksheet. 

Step 3: Choose the authentication method

Power BI can connect to Snowflake using different authentication methods depending on your organization’s setup. 

  • Snowflake account login: uses your Snowflake username and password. 
  • Microsoft account / Microsoft Entra ID login: uses your organization’s Microsoft identity and can support OAuth or SSO configuration. 
  • Key Pair authentication: uses a public/private key pair instead of a password and is commonly used for stronger or automated authentication. 

Use Microsoft Entra ID or SSO when your organization wants centralized identity management. Use Key Pair authentication when passwordless authentication is required and the user’s Snowflake public key has already been configured. 

Step 4: Select, transform, and load Snowflake data

After authentication succeeds, Power BI opens the Navigator window. The Navigator shows the Snowflake databases, schemas, tables, and views available to your Snowflake role. 

  1. Expand the relevant database and schema.
  2. Select the table or view you want to use in the report.
  3. Use the preview pane to confirm that the selected object contains the expected columns and sample rows.
  4. Select Load if the data is already ready for reporting.
  5. Select Transform Data if you need to clean, filter, rename, merge, or reshape the data in Power Query before loading it.

Recommended Power Query checks before loading: 

  • Remove columns that are not needed in the report. 
  • Check data types for dates, numbers, booleans, and text columns. 
  • Rename technical column names to user-friendly reporting names where appropriate. 
  • Filter rows only when the filter should be part of the model logic. 
  • Avoid unnecessary transformations in DirectQuery mode because unsupported steps can break query folding or reduce performance. 
  • Confirm whether you are loading a table, a view, or a curated reporting object prepared by the Snowflake team. 

When the data is ready, select Close & Apply. Power BI will either import the data into the model or keep the connection live, depending on the connection mode selected in the next step. 

Step 5: Choose Import mode or DirectQuery mode

Power BI can use either Import mode or DirectQuery mode when connecting to Snowflake. The right option depends on data freshness, report performance, model size, and governance requirements. 

Import mode 

Power BI copies the data from Snowflake into the Power BI model. Reports are usually faster for users, but the data is updated only when the semantic model is refreshed. 

DirectQuery mode 

Power BI does not store the data locally; it sends queries to Snowflake when users interact with the report. This supports fresher data, but performance depends on Snowflake query speed, warehouse size, network latency, and report design. 

Import vs DirectQuery comparison 

Topic 

Import mode 

DirectQuery mode 

Data storage 

Data is copied into the Power BI model. 

Data stays in Snowflake. 

Data freshness 

Updated only after scheduled or manual refresh. 

More up to date because queries run against Snowflake. 

Performance 

Usually faster for report users. 

Depends on Snowflake query speed, network latency, warehouse size, and query complexity. 

Transformations 

More Power Query transformations are available. 

Some transformations may not be supported or may break query folding. 

DAX and modeling 

Broader DAX and modeling flexibility. 

Some DAX functions, calculated tables, and modeling features are limited or unavailable. 

Best for 

Fast dashboards, stable reporting, and repeated analysis. 

Large datasets, near-real-time reporting, and centralized Snowflake data. 

Main trade-off 

Data can become outdated between refreshes. 

Reports may be slower if queries are complex or the warehouse is undersized. 

Publishing to the Power BI Service

After building the report in Power BI Desktop, publish it to the Power BI Service if users need browser access, sharing, scheduled refresh, workspace management, or semantic model configuration. 

  • For Import mode, configure scheduled refresh and credentials in the semantic model settings. 
  • For DirectQuery, confirm that the Power BI Service can reach Snowflake and that the Snowflake warehouse can handle live report queries. 
  • For Microsoft Entra ID SSO, the Power BI/Fabric tenant setting and Snowflake External OAuth configuration must both be completed. 

Microsoft Entra ID and SSO configuration overview

For Snowflake admins 

Snowflake supports Power BI SSO by using Identity Provider credentials and an OAuth 2.0 implementation. This allows the Power BI Service to request a Microsoft Entra ID token and send it to Snowflake through the embedded Snowflake driver. 

  • Configure Microsoft Entra ID as an External OAuth authorization server for Snowflake. 
  • If Snowflake network policies are used, allow the required Azure IP ranges for the Azure region where the Snowflake account is hosted and any other required Azure regions. 
  • Confirm that the Snowflake user attribute maps correctly to the Microsoft Entra ID UPN attribute. Snowflake can use login_name, name, or email depending on configuration. 

For Power BI / Fabric admins 

To enable Snowflake SSO, a Fabric administrator must enable the Snowflake SSO tenant setting in the Power BI Admin portal. This setting allows Microsoft Entra authentication tokens to be sent to Snowflake from the Power BI Service. 

  1. Sign in to Power BI using Fabric administrator credentials.
  2. Open Settings, then Admin portal.
  3. Go to Tenant settings and find Integration settings.
  4. Expand Snowflake SSO, enable the setting, and apply the change.

After enabling this setting, it can take up to an hour for the change to take effect. 

For semantic model creators 

After publishing a report based on the Snowflake connector, the semantic model creator must configure the data source credentials in the workspace. 

  1. Open the workspace in the Power BI Service.
  2. Open the semantic model settings.
  3. Select Data source credentials and sign in using the required method: Basic, Key Pair, or OAuth2 / Microsoft Entra ID.
  4. For DirectQuery SSO, enable the option that lets end users use their own OAuth2 credentials when accessing the data source.

If SSO is not enabled, users normally access the report using the credentials configured by the semantic model owner. 

Troubleshooting checklist

  • Connection fails: check server name format, warehouse name, authentication method, and network access. 
  • Tables or views are missing: check the selected Snowflake role and privileges on the database, schema, table, or view. 
  • DirectQuery is slow: check Snowflake warehouse size, query complexity, model design, visuals, and Power Query transformations. 
  • Refresh fails in the Power BI Service: check semantic model credentials, gateway settings if used, Snowflake warehouse availability, and role permissions. 
  • SSO fails: check Snowflake External OAuth, Microsoft Entra ID mapping, Power BI tenant settings, and semantic model credential configuration. 

FAQ

Can Power BI connect directly to Snowflake?

Yes. Power BI has a native Snowflake connector in Power BI Desktop and Power Query. 

Should I use Import mode or DirectQuery for Snowflake?

Use Import mode when report speed is the priority and scheduled refresh is acceptable. Use DirectQuery when the report needs fresher data or the dataset is too large to import efficiently. 

Does DirectQuery store Snowflake data in Power BI?

No. DirectQuery keeps the data in Snowflake and sends queries to Snowflake when users interact with the report. 

Is Microsoft Entra ID recommended?

Microsoft documentation lists Microsoft Entra ID as a supported authentication option for the Snowflake connector and identifies it as the recommended identity-based method in current connector documentation. 

What should Snowflake admins prepare first?

They should prepare the account/server name, warehouse access, database and schema permissions, user or SSO authentication, network access, and the appropriate Snowflake roles. 

References, documentations:

  • Microsoft Learn: Power Query Snowflake connector – https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/connectors/snowflake 
  • Snowflake Docs: Power BI SSO to Snowflake – https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/oauth-powerbi 
  • Snowflake Docs: Configure Microsoft Entra ID for External OAuth – https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/oauth-azure 
  • Snowflake Docs: Partner support for Snowflake authentication methods – https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/partner-authentication-support 
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