6 Best Browsers That Support Power BI On All Platforms
All our recommended browsers come with many enhancements
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Key notes
- Power BI is an interactive software used for data visualization to help with business intelligence.
- Microsoft has designed Power BI to ensure that it works with some of the most popular browsers, especially for collaboration.
- The Power BI browser is useful for those looking for collaboration while the Power BI desktop can be used by those looking for an application for their local devices.
Power BI, developed by Microsoft, can be defined as interactive software used for data visualization. It focuses primarily on business intelligence and is part of the Microsoft Power Platform.
Due to its popularity, there has been a lot of discussion about browser support for Power BI, something that has seen some of the most popular browsers ensure that they support this software.
With Power BI, users can view reports, and dashboards, and use Power BI applications while at the same time combining related reports and dashboards. This can be done through applications for Android, iOS, and Windows operating systems, as well as web browsers.
Can you use Power BI in a browser?
Microsoft has designed Power BI to work with some of the most popular browsers we have today. However, the browser that you choose to use determines the performance of Power BI.
For instance, you might have poor performance if you decide to use Microsoft Internet Explorer because Power BI no longer supports the browser. For the best performance, you need to make sure that you are using one of the modern supported browsers.
In a situation where you are experiencing poor performance with a supported browser, you can try other browsers and choose the one that works best for you. Some of the supported browsers include Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer 11, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox.
How do I open Power BI in a browser?
Most people use the Power BI Desktop when they want to access a service in Power BI. This is because Power BI Desktop is more powerful than what users get when using a browser.
However, how do you open Power BI in a browser if you decide to use one? Well, the first thing is to make sure that you have created an account with Power BI. You can sign up for a free Power BI Premium Per User 60-day trial.
After that, you can open a Power BI service by visiting app.powerbi.com and then start working. In the navigation panel, you can choose to start a new workspace or access your previous workspaces.
What are the best browsers that support Power BI?
Opera One – Best workspace management
Because of the workspace management, Opera One is more than simply another browser that allows Power BI access. Power BI requires an up-to-date browser to function properly, and Opera One does an excellent job doing this in the background.
Power BI online access is accessible when you set up your account and integrate any data you wish to change because it uses the Chromium engine. Furthermore, with the VPN, ad-blocker and AI built-in Opera One is not only the safest but also the smartest.
Each Workspace acts similarly to having different windows open, but it is much handier, making working more smoother, and it does not consume a lot of resource usage.
Most Unicode ranges and writing systems are automatically assigned fonts by Opera One, but you may also select fonts for any encoding that you wish to be able to show. The font listings are limited to those that support the selected encoding. For each writing system, you may select a different font, such as Tahoma for Western, MS Gothic for Japanese, and Aisa Unicode for Greek and Greek Extended.
If you’re using Power BI on your laptop, Opera One includes a battery saver option that you may toggle on and off as necessary to extend battery life. If you wish to improve your Power BI actions, you may download the Developer tool from the official website.
Opera One
Lots of decoding language, organized sidebar, and workspaces for smooth access in Power BI.Microsoft Edge – Microsoft’s recommended browser
Since Power BI is a product built by Microsoft, it makes sense that one of the browsers that support Power BI on all platforms in 2022 is Microsoft Edge. However, this has not always been the case. Initially, users were advised to use other browsers such as Google Chrome when using Power BI.
Fortunately, the new Microsoft Edge browser released in 2020 is based on Chromium, the same codebase that supports Google Chrome. In addition, this browser comes with many enhancements, making it one of the best browsers that support Power BI on all platforms.
Reports and dashboards work well with Microsoft Edge and organizations can use the browser without any problems. In addition, you are likely not going to experience any performance issues with Microsoft Edge, especially when publishing your reports to the Power BI service.
Google Chrome – Fast and easy to use
Google Chrome is one of the best browsers we have today. This is because it is not only simple and easy to use, but also among the fastest browsers we have. Google Chrome is not just an application for browsing the internet, it is also an application that can be used for other purposes such as accessing Power BI and for software development.
You can extend the functionality of Google Chrome through thousands of plugins that allow users to add more features to the browser. One such plugin is the Power BI Report Tools. This is a plugin for Power BI that allows users to add multiple features to Power Bi reports that might be missing.
As discussed above, Microsoft had initially been encouraging users to use Google Chrome with Power BI especially if they want to get support on all platforms.
This means that this browser has gone through extensive testing. In addition, Microsoft Edge is now built using the chromium codebase – the same codebase used for Google Chrome.
Safari – Ideal for an uninterrupted experience
Just like professionals using Power BI in the Windows operating system, their counterparts using the Apple technologies can also leverage the capabilities of Power BI without any problems.
Apart from using the Microsoft Power BI application on their Macs, iPhones, or iPads, they can also use the Safari browser to not only access but also manipulate data from their organizations using Power BI. However, you have to make sure that you are using the latest version of the Safari browser for an uninterrupted experience.
Using the Safari browser, you can visit the Power BI website, as discussed above. Here, you can access recent information and your favorites, review datasets, create new pages, and perform many other functions. You will access the navigation bar on the left-hand side of the page.
However, Power BI does not run in any browsers installed on iOS 10 and the previous versions of the operating system.
Mozilla Firefox – Enhanced download protection
Mozilla Firefox is one of the few browsers that has seen a lot of changes aimed at improving their user experience in the recent past. One of the most notable features has been the relegation of Flash content to be on an on-demand status.
Other recent improvements that have made it a suitable browser for use with Power BI include a 64-bit version of the browser, enhanced download protection, and process separation. Firefox is among the most privacy-concerned browsers and users can easily customize it to meet their requirements.
Just like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox offers a lot of plugins and extensions aimed at improving the experience of users. One of the extensions that you can use with Power BI is the Power BI Report Server Refresh. This plugin is useful when using Power BI to create a dashboard.
However, it is important to note that Firefox may change the fonts that come with Power BI.
Internet Explorer 11 – Known for its speed
Before discussing the Internet Explorer 11 browser, it is important to note that support for some operating systems ended on the 15th of June 2022. This is the reason why Microsoft is encouraging users to migrate to the Microsoft Edge browser that comes with Internet Explorer mode.
That notwithstanding, you can use Power BI with IE 11. However, this should be the last option for you if you do not have access to any other browser. You might encounter compatibility or performance issues when using this browser.
You should also be aware of some warnings that the browser might issue. This happens mostly when you are generating reports with Power BI yet the browser is known for its ease of use and speed.
Power BI browser vs desktop
The Power BI Desktop is an application that users can download and install on their local computers. This application provides a complete creation tool and data analysis. You can use these tools to connect, analyze, visualize, and transform your data. This allows you to use Power BI for free.
Power BI browser is a SaaS (Software as a Service) or cloud-based service. It comes with support for report collaboration and editing for organizations and teams. However, the Power BI browser comes with limited modeling.
As you can see, you can get browser support for Power BI with full support on all platforms. If you find any issues with a browser that you are using, you can always try another browser as long as it is in this list or update your browser to the latest version. However, you should be careful when using the IE11.
