How to schedule and send Power BI reports by email

Power BI is an incredible Business Intelligence tool that combines powerful analytics with strong data visualization. Microsoft works incessantly on Power BI, adding new capabilities each month, and greatly improving the user experience.

Power BI comes in different versions, and the Pro version lets users share data and collaborate. However, while implementing it, we found out that, oftentimes, clients want to have a look at data regularly, leaving the collaboration part to data professionals. Since the current version doesn’t support an automated BI delivery system where users can schedule and automate Power BI reports and send them by email to just anyone, we developed a solution for this problem.

In short, this guide covers how to automate Power BI report distribution: scheduling reports, automating their delivery, and handling scheduled sharing of dashboards to any recipient. If you’ve been looking for a Power BI report scheduler or a reliable way to automate Power BI reports, this is it.

Before automation, most teams distribute reports by hand — exporting to PDF, attaching files to emails, or pasting screenshots. It works for a while, but it introduces real operational risks:

• Time-consuming exports: skilled analysts spend hours clicking "Export to PDF" instead of interpreting data.
• Human error: wrong filters or wrong formatting sent to the wrong stakeholder.
• Inconsistent delivery: reports go out at different times depending on who is available.
• Version-control issues: outdated attachments circulating in email threads, driving decisions on stale data.
• No audit trail: no record of who received what, and when.

Automating distribution removes these risks. That’s exactly what PowerBI Robots was built to do.

Power BI’s native subscription feature lets users receive snapshots of reports by email, but it comes with limitations that quickly become a problem for flexible or large-scale distribution:

• Every recipient needs a Power BI license.
• Emails include static images, not fully formatted reports.
• There is limited control over distribution frequency, file formats, and destinations.

PowerBI Robots is a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tool that lets users automate Power BI reports by scheduling them and having them delivered to anyone, anywhere. It’s the current market-leading tool to automate and deliver Power BI reports and dashboards.

PowerBI Robots effectively lets users schedule a Power BI data refresh that’s then sent to the recipients of their choice. It’s mainly used by professionals who need to:

• send or receive regular updates on the most recent Power BI data, wherever they are.
• stream Power BI data on a large screen without a dedicated computer, such as a smart TV or a large video wall.
• share data from a Power BI account they manage with other users – even if those users are outside their organization.
• manage a business with different areas and have to recurrently send diverse Power BI metrics to different middle managers.

While this guide focuses on email, PowerBI Robots delivers to several destinations, so reports reach people wherever they already work:

• Email
• Microsoft Teams
• SharePoint
• Network folders (and FTP delivery for legacy systems)
• Slideshow: a generated URL you can open on any browser — useful for smart TVs or projectors, with no recipients needed.

A retail chain uses PowerBI Robots to automatically email weekly sales-performance dashboards as PDFs to 150 store managers. None of the managers need a Power BI license – they simply get their updates on time, every time.

If you haven’t tried PowerBI Robots yet, click here to register for the trial version and download the desktop agent. This trial version gives you a full idea of what PowerBI Robots is capable of but isn’t recommended for extended use given its limitations: it only supports 5 playlists with up to 5 visuals each, and 5 recipients per playlist. In addition, your reports will have a red watermark.

Without further ado, let’s focus on the matter at hand:

At its core, PowerBI Robots works as a Power BI report scheduler: you define what to send, to whom, in which format, and how often, and it handles scheduled distribution automatically. Whether you need scheduled sharing of dashboards across teams or automated report distribution to external clients, the scheduler runs in the background so reports always go out on time.

The setup below is quick, but a little planning makes your automation match real business needs. These five steps frame the technical how-to that follows:

1. Define who needs the report and when. Different stakeholders need different things: executives may want weekly summaries, operational teams may need daily or real-time updates, and external users may need controlled access on a schedule.
2. Choose the right delivery method. Email is common, but it can spread outdated data. Live or automated options — embedded reports in portals, SharePoint or Teams, or automated file delivery (PDF, Excel, PNG) — keep recipients on the most recent data.
3. Automate distribution with PowerBI Robots. Hand scheduling, formats, and delivery to a dedicated engine instead of doing it manually (covered step-by-step below).
4. Apply security rules and permissions. Use Power BI security models such as Row-Level Security (RLS), control recipient access, and apply permissions by role or group, so each person only sees the data they’re authorised to see.
5. Monitor, optimise, and improve. Automation isn’t "set and forget". Track delivery successes and failures, report usage, and feedback, then refine schedules and formats over time.

After installing and setting up the PowerBI Robots desktop agent, go to the web agent and click Create on the Playlist option in the menu. A playlist is a set of Power BI reports or dashboards, grouped to be sent somewhere, in our case, by email.

Then, on the General tab, you should:

• name the playlist.
• choose the screenshot output format (image, or single or multiple PDF or Excel files).
• set the screen size.
• set the screen-captures recurrence (i.e. your data’s refresh rate).
• select Email on the Send to.

To send by email, configure your SMTP service in the agent’s Providers tab. If you don’t have the details, ask your IT manager. The most common setups are:

• Gmail — Host: smtp.gmail.com · Port: 587 · Security box: checked.
• Office 365 — Host: smtp.office365.com · Port: 587 · Security box: checked.

If you see "The SMTP server requires a secure connection, or the client was not authenticated", your Gmail account is blocking access. Check your inbox for an email from the Gmail Security Center and follow the instructions to allow access.

When it comes to the email’s message, PowerBI Robots allows for a lot of customization. In fact, almost as much as sending it from a dedicated email client. In the top menu, you have the most commonly used options at your disposal to make your emails feel unique.

The Token feature comes in handy if you need to send emails frequently and to a large number of people. To use it, click the pound (#) sign from the menu. By selecting a token from the list, you’re ensuring these fields are always updated, making your emails feel fresh. Tokens are super elastic and versatile elements that greatly improve your messages and filters. If you wish to learn all about tokens in PowerBI Robots, we have a tutorial on the different ways you can use them to improve your Power BI report automation.

In addition, you can give the HTML editor a shot if you’re looking for even more customization. Click the XML icon on the menu (), and anything written in your email will get instantly converted to HTML:

Afterward, proceed to the Recipients tab to add the email accounts (or SharePoint library / file system) you wish to send your Power BI reports to. Click the plus sign to add an individual email, or the next button to bulk import destinations. You can add as many data recipients as you wish, including people outside your organization – just make sure you have the proper authorization. Any extra columns you add become tokens you can reuse in your messages and filters.

Once you’re done selecting your recipients, hit "next" and proceed to the Visuals tab. Click Add Power BI account to make a screen displaying your Power BI workspaces pop-up. You may see all reports, dashboards, and visuals contained on each by clicking the plus sign.

Next, you must select the report pages and individual tiles you wish to send by checking their boxes. Alternatively, select them all to send the whole report. Afterward, go to the last tab if you wish to apply individual filters to your reports. This is especially useful if you’re looking to send different data to different people from the same Power BI report. Finally, click Create to finish your playlist.

Lastly, open the PowerBI Robots desktop agent and hit Synchronize on the General tab.

Congratulations! Your newly created Power BI report playlist is ready and will be delivered to all your recipients by email!

You don’t need to be a developer to set any of this up. Business users understand their own reporting needs best — which KPIs matter, who needs them, and when. A no-code approach removes the barrier of scripts and complex APIs, with clear advantages:

• Faster setup: reports move from configuration to distribution in minutes, not days.
• Less IT dependency: technical teams focus on data architecture while business users manage delivery.
• Greater agility: departments adjust reporting frequency as conditions change.
• Improved consistency: automation removes the human error of manual exports.

Making automation accessible doesn’t mean giving up control. With Service Principal authentication, automated tasks stay secure and independent of individual user accounts, while centralised scheduling, audit logs, and controlled recipient lists keep sensitive data protected.

PowerBI Robots is the ideal solution if your stakeholders:

• Need static snapshots at regular intervals.
• Don’t all have (or shouldn’t need) Power BI licenses.
• Require reports delivered to common tools like email or SharePoint.
• Want archived versions of reports for compliance or auditing.

Instead of manual exports or expensive licensing, Robots makes distribution seamless, reliable, and scalable. In other words, it’s how you automate Power BI reports end to end: report automation that schedules, generates, and delivers without manual work.