: Users download the 64-bit .msi or .exe installer from the Microsoft Download Center .
While you cannot run Power BI Desktop portably, you can still achieve using these approaches: Power Bi Portable Version
: Running large datasets from a USB drive may result in slower performance compared to a local Solid State Drive (SSD). Comparison of Access Methods Standard Install Power BI Service (Web) Manual "Portable" Folder Requires Admin Rights Sometimes (to run .exe) Auto-Updates Yes (Store version) Yes (Managed by MS) No (Manual update) Data Modeling Full Support Limited/Growing Full Support Offline Access : Users download the 64-bit
While Microsoft doesn't market it as such, By extracting the installer files, you gain control over your versioning, bypass tedious installation wizards, and gain the freedom to analyze data from any Windows machine. Just remember to pack a fast USB drive and keep an eye out for missing database drivers! Just remember to pack a fast USB drive
Many developers create wrappers that extract the necessary files to run Power BI in a portable environment.
Excel 365 with Power Query is almost portable if you carry the xl folder structure. Many analysts create data models in Excel and then copy the model to Power BI later.