Other basemap providers

Besides the built-in Icon Map styles, the basemap can come from ArcGIS, the Icon Map Catalog, any tile server, a style document that you host, a WMS service, or be a plain color. This page says what each one offers, what it needs and where you set it up.

At a glance

Maps that use the Basemaps dialog add a source with + Add a basemap and set its options on the list entry. Maps that use the Format pane can choose only Icon Map or ArcGIS, in Background Layer > Map Source > Background map source. Basemaps overview explains which your map uses. The pane's ArcGIS settings are listed in Set the basemap in the Format pane. The dialog's options are listed on this page.

A map that uses the Format pane can still draw a style document that you host: choose Custom Style URL in the Icon Map style list. See Icon Map basemap styles.

Icon Map Pro also offers Azure Maps, Mappable and Ordnance Survey basemaps with your own key. Icon Map Slicer does not.

ArcGIS

ArcGIS basemaps come from ArcGIS Online or your own ArcGIS Enterprise portal. The report connects to ArcGIS once, on the ArcGIS Authentication card of the Format pane, which appears as soon as the map uses ArcGIS. In the Basemaps dialog, the ArcGIS form has a Connect to ArcGIS card that sets the same thing. See Connect to ArcGIS and ArcGIS sign-in and the proxy.

The ArcGIS and OpenStreetMap styles can show place names in a chosen language. The default, Global, uses the style's own names.

A tiled service must have Web Mercator tiles. With API Key authentication, only Esri's basemap styles need the key: ArcGIS style, OpenStreetMap style and a Custom style given by item ID. A public tiled service such as World Imagery, a custom style given by its URL and a web map with public layers load without a key. A secured tiled service with no key shows "Please enter an ArcGIS API Key in the formatting settings." The map shows "Powered by Esri" and, for the basemap styles, the data contributors for the current view.

In the Basemaps dialog, the ArcGIS form has these options:

The Format pane's Language list for ArcGIS is longer: Global and 40 languages.

Icon Map Catalog

Ready-made national and regional basemaps from the Icon Map Catalog: aerial imagery, topographic and street maps. Add them with the Icon Map Catalog tile in the Basemaps dialog, where you can search the catalog and tick the variants you want. See The Basemaps dialog.

• Basic basemaps need nothing. Standard, Premium and Commercial basemaps draw with the report's Icon Map license.
• In the edit view, About this basemap shows the basemap's description, source and license.
• The tile is hidden when Format pane > Icon Map Slicer > Customization > Airgapped Environment is on.

Tile server

Any tile server that serves XYZ tiles. Give the tile template, for example:

https://tile.example.com/{z}/{x}/{y}.png

In the Basemaps dialog, select the Tile server tile, paste the link in Tile template and select Check. The dialog loads a test tile and tells you the result. The link must start with https://.

WMTS links are not accepted for the basemap. To draw a WMTS service, add it as a reference layer. See Raster tiles, WMTS and WMS.

MapLibre style

A complete map style that you host or that a provider gives you a link to. The link must be a MapLibre or Mapbox GL style document: a JSON file with "version": 8 and a list of layers. It is not a tile address. The style names its own tile sources, fonts and icons, and PMTiles sources inside the style work.

In the Basemaps dialog, select the MapLibre style tile, paste the link in Style link and select Check. A style added this way can be customized layer by layer. See Customize a basemap style.

A MapTiler style, for example, works this way when you give its style link with your key included.

WMS

One layer from a WMS service, drawn as map images. The service is always requested in Web Mercator (EPSG:3857), so it must support that. The address must start with https://.

The dialog has no manual mode. A service whose layer list cannot be read from Power BI is refused.

For WMS layers drawn on top of the basemap, see Raster tiles, WMTS and WMS.

Blank

The Blank tile adds a plain color instead of a map. Use it for diagrams, floor plans drawn from your own shapes, or any map where the geography would only distract. Pick the Color with the picker or type a hex value. The default is a warm light gray (#E8E6E1).

Tips and limits

• Credits. ArcGIS shows its own credit. Other sources show only what their style declares, and tile servers and WMS services usually declare nothing, so add the provider's credit in Format pane > User Interface > Controls > Additional Attribution.
• Servers must allow Power BI to read them. A Power BI visual can only read from servers that allow cross-origin requests (CORS). If a tile server, style or WMS service does not, the dialog refuses the link. There is no proxy for the basemap.
• Closed networks. Your own tile server, style, WMS service or ArcGIS Enterprise portal works on a network with no internet access, as long as the map can reach it. See Power BI Report Server (on-premises).

Related

• Basemaps overview
• The Basemaps dialog
• Icon Map basemap styles
• Set the basemap in the Format pane
• Troubleshooting