Required Tenant Settings for External Users to Access a Power BI App
Which THREE settings should you verify in the Power BI tenant admin portal to ensure that external users (guests) can access a published app?
Quick Answer
Allow Azure AD external identities to access Power BI service is the answer because it is the single setting that actually lets a guest account authenticate into the Power BI service at all -- without it, a guest cannot sign in no matter what sharing or invitation settings exist further downstream. Verifying external-user access to a published app is really a three-layer check: the tenant must allow guests to be invited at all, must allow those guests to authenticate into the service once invited, and must allow content to be shared with them once they're signed in. Each setting governs a different link in that chain, so all three need to be enabled together, and missing any one breaks the scenario even if the other two are correctly configured. Settings that sound related but don't belong here, like the option controlling whether guests appear in people pickers or the one granting external users edit and management rights, solve different problems -- visibility in search boxes and content-editing permissions, not the basic ability to view a shared app. When a question asks you to identify multiple tenant settings needed for a single external-access scenario, look for the smallest set of switches that each remove one distinct blocker in the guest's path -- identity, invitation, and sharing -- rather than settings that merely add extra capability once access already works.
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often forget that 'Allow sharing with external users' (B) is required even for app access, not just sharing dashboards.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Invite external users to your organization via Microsoft Entra ID.
To allow external users (guests) to access a published app in Power BI, three tenant settings must be enabled: 'Invite external users' (A) allows inviting guest users, 'Allow Azure AD external identities to access the Power BI service' (C) enables guest sign-in, and 'Allow sharing with external users' (B) permits sharing content with guests. Option E ('Allow external users to edit and manage content') is not required for viewing an app; it grants additional editing permissions. Option D controls whether guests appear in people pickers, which is unrelated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Invite external users to your organization via Microsoft Entra ID.
Why this is correct
'Invite external users' allows inviting guest users via Microsoft Entra ID, a prerequisite for external access.
- ✓
Allow sharing with external users.
Why this is correct
'Allow sharing with external users' must be enabled to share published apps with guests.
- ✓
Allow Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID) external identities to access the Power BI service.
Why this is correct
'Allow Azure AD external identities to access Power BI service' enables guests to sign in and access Power BI.
- ✗
Show external users in lists of suggested people.
Why it's wrong here
'Show external users in lists of suggested people' controls UI display, not app access.
- ✗
Allow external users to edit and manage content in the organization.
Why it's wrong here
'Allow external users to edit and manage content' grants editing permissions; not required for viewing.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 217 original PL-300 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on PL-300
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Refer to the exhibit. The Power BI admin settings are shown. A user reports that they cannot share a dashboard with an external partner. What is the most likely reason?
easy- A.The 'exportDataEnabled' setting is disabled.
- B.The 'publishToWebEnabled' setting is disabled.
- C.The 'workspaceCreationEnabled' setting is disabled.
- ✓ D.The 'externalSharingEnabled' setting is disabled.
Why D: The 'externalSharingEnabled' setting is disabled, which prevents users from sharing dashboards with external partners. Option A is incorrect because 'exportDataEnabled' controls data export, not sharing. Option B is incorrect because 'publishToWebEnabled' controls publishing to the web, not external sharing. Option C is incorrect because 'workspaceCreationEnabled' controls workspace creation, not sharing.
Variation 2. A Power BI administrator wants to allow users to create dashboards and reports, but prevent them from sharing content outside the organization. Which two settings should be configured in the Power BI admin portal? (Choose two.)
easy- A.Disable 'Create workspaces' in the tenant settings.
- B.Disable 'Export data' in the tenant settings.
- C.Disable 'Featured tables' in the tenant settings.
- ✓ D.Disable 'Share content with external users' in the tenant settings.
- ✓ E.Disable 'Publish to web' in the tenant settings.
Why D: Options D (Disable 'Share content with external users') and E (Disable 'Publish to web') are correct. Disabling 'Share content with external users' prevents users from sharing dashboards and reports directly with external users. Disabling 'Publish to web' prevents users from making content publicly available via embed codes. Option A (Disable 'Create workspaces') is incorrect because it restricts workspace creation, not external sharing. Option B (Disable 'Export data') restricts data export but does not prevent external sharing. Option C (Disable 'Featured tables') is unrelated to sharing.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PL-300 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PL-300 exam.