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Microsoft 365 Usage Analytics Power BI App Unavailable After August 2026
Microsoft announced the retirement of the Microsoft 365 Usage Analytics Power BI template app in message center notification MC1324288 (27 May 2026). The app imports usage data from a Microsoft 365 tenant and presents the data in a dashboard format (Figure 1). All that’s needed to populate the dashboards is for an administrator to sign in to retrieve the tenant data. The data used by Power BI is refreshed monthly.
Microsoft says that downloads of the Power BI template app (merged with usage data to create a tenant-specific dashboard) will be blocked from June 1, 2026, and the app reaches end of support on August 1, 2026. At this point, the app and associated data pipelines will
Background of the Microsoft 365 Usage Analytics App
Microsoft created the Power BI app in 2017 as the Office 365 adoption Power BI content pack. At the time, a dearth of usage data existed, and tenants didn’t really know how successful they were in terms of driving usage of apps like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, and Yammer. Without insight into app usage, it was hard for customers to justify further investment in Office 365 licenses, so delivering solid usage reporting was very much in Microsoft’s interest. The Power BI dashboard solved the problem. It also served as a great demonstration of how effective Power BI can be in communicating information.
Since then, Microsoft has invested heavily in Graph-based usage APIs. These APIs are the foundation for the usage reports that are available in the Microsoft 365 admin center (Figure 2). The Microsoft 365 admin center usage reports cover all the apps that are in the Power BI dashboard and include coverage for other apps, like Planner, Visio, browsers, and Microsoft 365 Copilot.
The Graph-based usage data always lags two days behind real time, but that’s much better than the month or more delay for data to appear in the Power BI usage dashboard. The same privacy setting applies both to the Microsoft 365 usage reports and the Power BI app.
There’s no doubt that Power BI is more graphically attractive and powerful in terms of querying capabilities than the reports available in the Microsoft 365 admin center are. This might be a reason why tenants decide that they should continue using Power BI as the basis for their usage reports. In this scenario, the tenant must import the usage data from the Graph into Power BI and construct their own dashboard. Microsoft is clear that “there will be no replacement of the template app as a single packaged solution,” so it’s up to tenants to build their own view of how Microsoft 365 usage reporting should work.
A Totally Unsurprising Decision
The only thing that’s surprising about this retirement is that it’s taken Microsoft so long to make the decision. The Power BI app served its purpose at the time it was introduced, but once the Graph usage reports API became available, the Power BI app was on the way out. Nicer graphics only go so far, and it’s hard to see Microsoft management being happy about dedicating resources to develop and deliver support for the Microsoft 365 admin center usage reports alongside what could be regarded as a duplicated (but prettier) side show. This is especially so when all the engineering groups are under pressure to do more with less.
An ISV Opportunity to Replace the Microsoft 365 Usage Analytics App?
Perhaps an opportunity is opening for an ISV to create an app that includes a feed based on Graph data to populate a new version of the Power BI dashboard. Failing that, it’s a DIY future if you want to continue using Power BI.
So much change, all the time. It’s a challenge to stay abreast of all the updates Microsoft makes across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Subscribe to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook to receive insights updated monthly into what happens within Microsoft 365, why it happens, and what new features and capabilities mean for your tenant.