Fixing 'Data Source Credentials No Longer Valid' in Power BI Scheduled Refresh
You are a Power BI administrator. A user reports that their scheduled data refresh fails with error 'The data source credentials are no longer valid.' The dataset uses a SQL Server database with Windows authentication. What should you do first to resolve the issue?
Quick Answer
Having the user update the data source credentials in the Power BI service dataset settings is the answer because this specific error message points directly at authentication rather than connectivity or capacity -- 'the data source credentials are no longer valid' is what Power BI shows when the stored credentials it's using to connect to the SQL Server database, in this case Windows authentication, have changed or expired since they were last saved, most commonly because a password was reset. The fix has to happen where those credentials are actually stored for the scheduled refresh to use, which is the dataset's connection settings in the Power BI service, not anywhere else in the refresh pipeline. The other options in this kind of scenario tend to target unrelated parts of the system: reinstalling the on-premises data gateway addresses connectivity problems, not authentication ones, and there's no indication here that the gateway itself is failing; reassigning the dataset to a different Premium capacity affects compute resources, not credential validity; and switching to impersonate the authenticated user still requires that user's credentials to be valid, so it doesn't bypass the underlying problem at all. Whenever an error message explicitly calls out credentials rather than a connection timeout or capacity issue, go straight to the stored credentials for that data source rather than troubleshooting the gateway or the surrounding infrastructure.
⚠ Common exam trap
PL-300 often tests the tendency to overcomplicate credential issues, leading candidates to choose gateway or capacity changes instead of the simple credential update.
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
✓
Ask the user to update the data source credentials in the Power BI service dataset settings.
The first step is to ask the user to update the data source credentials in the Power BI service dataset settings. The error explicitly states that credentials are no longer valid, so refreshing them is the direct fix. This is a common issue when passwords expire or service accounts change.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reinstall the on-premises data gateway on the server.
Why it's wrong here
Reinstalling the gateway does not update the stored Windows credentials that Power BI uses for the SQL Server source; the error concerns those credentials, not gateway health. Reinstallation suits gateway corruption, service failures or version problems, not expired or changed authentication secrets.
- ✗
Reassign the dataset to a different Premium capacity.
Why it's wrong here
Premium capacity assignment governs compute resources and workload hosting, not stored data source credentials. Reassigning capacity leaves the invalid Windows authentication credentials untouched, so refresh still fails. Capacity reassignment suits performance or feature-availability problems, not credential expiry.
- ✗
Modify the dataset to use 'Impersonate the authenticated user' for data sources.
Why it's wrong here
Impersonation applies to DirectQuery and Analysis Services connections, and it delegates identity rather than repairing stored credentials. The scheduled refresh uses saved Windows credentials, so this setting does not restore them. Impersonation suits row-level security scenarios requiring per-user identity.
- ✓
Ask the user to update the data source credentials in the Power BI service dataset settings.
Why this is correct
The error indicates stored credentials expired or were changed, so refreshing them in the dataset settings restores authentication. Because the source uses Windows authentication, the user must re-enter valid credentials in the Power BI service, directly resolving the refresh failure before investigating gateways or permissions.
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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. You are a Power BI administrator. A user reports that their scheduled data refresh fails every day with the error 'The credentials provided for the data source are invalid.' The user has verified the credentials are correct. What is the most likely cause?
medium- A.The user changed their password after configuring the refresh.
- ✓ B.The data source requires OAuth authentication, and the refresh token has expired.
- C.The on-premises data gateway is offline.
- D.The dataset uses incremental refresh, which requires Premium capacity.
Why B: The correct answer is B: the data source requires OAuth authentication and the refresh token has expired. In Power BI, OAuth-based connectors (such as those for SharePoint, Google Analytics, or certain cloud sources) rely on refresh tokens that expire or are revoked, causing scheduled refreshes to fail with an 'invalid credentials' error even when the user's password is unchanged. Option A is less likely because a password change would typically produce a different authentication failure and the user states credentials are correct. Option C would produce a gateway connectivity or offline error, not an invalid credentials message. Option D is incorrect because incremental refresh requires Premium or Fabric capacity for large datasets, but its absence does not cause credential errors.
Variation 2. You are a Power BI administrator. A Power BI dataset owner reports that the dataset is not refreshing automatically, but manual refreshes work fine. The dataset uses a cloud data source (Azure SQL Database) with OAuth2 credentials. What is the most likely cause?
hard- A.Row-level security (RLS) is misconfigured.
- B.The on-premises data gateway is offline.
- C.The dataset exceeds the refresh limit for the assigned capacity.
- ✓ D.The OAuth2 token used for the data source credentials has expired.
Why D: The correct answer is D: the OAuth2 token used for the data source credentials has expired. In Power BI, scheduled refreshes run unattended using the stored credentials; if the OAuth2 access/refresh token for the Azure SQL Database source is no longer valid, the scheduled refresh fails while an interactive manual refresh can still succeed because the user re-authenticates on the spot. Options A, B, and C do not fit: RLS misconfiguration would typically cause permission or data-visibility errors rather than a refresh failure, an on-premises data gateway is irrelevant for a cloud data source like Azure SQL Database, and exceeding the capacity refresh limit would affect both scheduled and manual refreshes, not just automatic ones.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.