As Power BI evolves alongside Microsoft Fabric, a powerful new feature has emerged: Organizational Apps (Org Apps). These apps build upon traditional workspace apps by expanding content-sharing capabilities while simplifying management and boosting flexibility especially when working with various user groups across your organization.
Whether you’re a Power BI veteran or just starting with Fabric, understanding how Org Apps work and how they differ from workspace apps can significantly enhance your reporting workflows.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- What Org Apps are
- How they compare to workspace apps
- Enabling Org Apps in your tenant
- Org Apps use cases and supported content types
- Versioning differences and real-time content
- Step-by-step creation and sharing
- End-user experience
- When to use Org Apps vs Workspace Apps
Let’s dive in.
What Are Organizational Apps in Power BI?
Organizational Apps, or Org Apps, are a new artifact in Power BI and Microsoft Fabric that allow you to bundle and share multiple objects just like workspace apps but with expanded capabilities.
As of now, Org Apps are in public preview, which means you might need to enable them manually in your tenant settings. We’ll show you how in the next section.
Traditional Workspace Apps (A Quick Refresher)
Workspace apps have been the go-to method for bundling Power BI content reports, dashboards, paginated reports into a single app that can be shared with different audiences.
Power BI later introduced multiple audiences support, letting you control who sees what content within a single app.
Why Org Apps?
Org Apps go a step further. Besides bundling Power BI content, they allow you to include Fabric-specific artifacts like:
- Notebooks
- Real-time dashboards (coming soon)
This makes Org Apps a true cross-platform sharing mechanism for both Power BI and Microsoft Fabric content.
How to Enable Org Apps in Tenant Settings
Since Org Apps are currently in preview, you’ll need to enable them manually:
- Go to your Admin Portal in Power BI.
- Navigate to Tenant Settings.
- Search for the setting under Microsoft Fabric → “Users can discover and create organizational apps.”
- Toggle this setting ON.
- Optionally, restrict access to specific security groups.
Once enabled, users can start creating Org Apps from any workspace (permissions required).
Who Can Create Organizational Apps?
To create an Org App, you must be a contributor (or higher) in the workspace with sharing permissions. This is similar to workspace apps, so there’s no steep learning curve for experienced users.
Org Apps vs Workspace Apps: Key Differences
Let’s compare Org Apps and Workspace Apps based on four critical areas:
1. Supported Content Types
| App Type | Supported Artifacts |
|---|---|
| Workspace App | Reports, Dashboards, Paginated Reports |
| Org App | Everything in Workspace Apps + Notebooks + Real-time Dashboards (coming soon) |
Org Apps are ideal when you’re leveraging newer Fabric features or building across services.
2. Live Link vs Versioned Snapshot
- Workspace Apps capture a versioned snapshot of content at the time of publishing. Updates made in the workspace aren’t visible to users until the app is explicitly updated.
- Org Apps, on the other hand, use a live link to the content. Any changes made to the original artifact are instantly reflected—no update needed.
This difference is huge for managing lifecycle and content refresh workflows. If you use deployment pipelines, workspace apps might suit you better for controlled releases. But if you want instant updates, Org Apps are the way to go.
3. Multiple Org Apps per Workspace
You can create multiple Org Apps from the same workspace, each tailored to a specific audience. This is excellent for segmenting access without duplicating content or workspaces.
4. Visibility & End-User Experience
Org Apps are standalone artifacts, meaning they:
- Appear in users’ Browse, Recents, and Homepages
- Can be bookmarked or accessed directly via URL
- Are easier for users to discover and access compared to buried workspace apps
Step-by-Step: How to Create an Org App
Here’s how to build your first Org App in Power BI:
- Go to your workspace.
- Click New → Organizational App (Preview).
- Name your Org App (e.g., “Sales Dashboard – North America”).
- Choose artifacts to include:
- Power BI reports
- Notebooks
- Dashboards (real-time coming soon)
- Add sections, overview pages, external links, and even custom branding (images, themes).
- Preview the app before sharing.
- Click Share to give access via:
- Specific users
- Security groups (via Microsoft Entra ID)
Sharing and Managing Access
Sharing works just like workspace apps:
- Use Share to add users/groups.
- Manage permissions anytime.
- You can revoke or change access easily.
Org Apps provide read access to artifacts in the workspace no extra duplication or permissions management needed.
When Should You Use Organizational Apps?
Use Org Apps when:
- You want to include Fabric Notebooks or real-time dashboards.
- You need real-time updates without republishing.
- You have distinct audiences requiring tailored views.
- You want easier discovery and access for users.
Use Workspace Apps when:
- You prefer version control.
- You follow deployment pipelines and want to stage content.
- Your content is limited to traditional Power BI artifacts.
Learn More with Power BI Training
If you’re looking to sharpen your Power BI skills or explore Fabric features in depth, check out our hands-on training at Data Bear’s Power BI Training.
