Initialization of the data source failed

Question

_{Wednesday, June 15, 2016 8:27 PM}

I get the following error when exporting from SharePoint 2013 to Excel 2013:

"Initialization of the data source failed. Check the database server or contact your database administrator. Make sure the external database is still available, and then try the operation again. If you see this message again, create a new data source to connect to the database."

My machine has Power Query (Version: 2.27.4163.242) and Microsoft Project Pro 2016, too.

We've uninstalled and reinstalled office twice. Each time the functionality returns for a while and I can download from SharePoint to Excel. However, it starts failing again after a certain period of time.

What's causing this to fail? Is there a permanent fix out there?

Thanks!

JFitch

All replies (6)

_{Thursday, June 16, 2016 11:06 AM ✅Answered}

Hi JFitch,

Not sure why it worked after you clicked "Open with Access".

As for "Initialization of the data source failed" error, it is generally related to the Power Pivot add-in. Please confirm if there is an Excel 2010 application retained on your computer. Also check if the Power Pivot add-in is enabled in Excel 2013.

Regards,

Winnie Liang
TechNet Community Support

Please mark the reply as an answer if you find it is helpful.

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_{Wednesday, June 15, 2016 8:51 PM | 2 votes}

Related note...

I clicked on "Open with Access" and my computer loaded something affiliated with Office 2013 Professional. I didn't quite catch what it was - but it definitely installed something. 

After that, I tried "Export to Excel" again and this time it worked.

Does anyone know what happened and why that worked?

JFitch

_{Wednesday, December 7, 2016 9:53 PM | 1 vote}

I can't tell you why this worked, but I'm very grateful you posted here.

I had exactly the same error message and problem. When I opened the Sharepoint list via "Open with Access" button, some changes were made to my MS Office 2013 installation (I had never opened the Access application before). I went back to Sharepoint and tried "Export to Excel" again and it opened the file correctly.

Thanks! 

_{Thursday, December 8, 2016 3:22 PM}

Same issue occurred : the link between Excel 2013 and the SharePoint list works great for me, but my colleagues kept on receiving the message "Initialization of the data source failed". After reading this article, I realized I am the only one using MS Access so far. After starting up MS Access on my colleagues pc's we first saw a pop up message with config info before MS Access started up. When completed, we just closed Access again, started the xls workbook, refreshed the data and compared it with the SharePoint list. This worked fine on all pc's.

_{Tuesday, April 11, 2017 7:20 PM}

Did this permanently fix your issue or did it return like previously stated?

I'm an PC technician for my organization and a user had this same problem. I just within 10 minute ago had the user launch Access one time; it went through it's initial setup and likely installed additional files that maybe Sharepoint/Excel needed (?) and the issue went away. However, I am concerned like previously stated with repairing or uninstalling/reinstalling Office that the issue may return

_{Thursday, February 1, 2018 12:00 AM}

You may have resolved this issue but I just resolved mine so I thought to leave this for others.

The Office PowerPivot may have been corrupted. Try two things:

1) Enable the PowerPivot:

• From the File menu, select Options, and then Add-Ins.
• In the "Manage" box, select COM Add-ins, and then click Go....
• Check the box next to Microsoft Office PowerPivot for Excel 2013, and then click OK.

2) repair your office by reinstallation 

I hope that helps someone.