Published: July 4, 2025

🚀 Introduction

Now that you understand the architecture of Microsoft Fabric, it’s time to get hands-on. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to create your first workspace, navigate the Fabric UI, and set up key components like a Lakehouse, Dataflow, and Notebook.

Whether you’re a data analyst, engineer, or business user, this guide will help you lay the foundation for all future work in Microsoft Fabric.

🧭 What is a Microsoft Fabric Workspace?

A workspace in Microsoft Fabric is your central project hub — a collaborative environment where you manage:

• Data ingestion
• Transformations
• Reports & dashboards
• Notebooks & pipelines
• Lakehouses and Warehouses

🧰 Prerequisites

• You have a Microsoft Fabric license (trial or Power BI Premium Per User)
• Your admin has enabled Fabric in the Power BI admin portal
• You can access https://app.fabric.microsoft.com

🪄 Step-by-Step: Creating Your First Workspace

1️⃣ Go to Microsoft Fabric Portal

Open https://app.fabric.microsoft.com and sign in with your Microsoft account.

2️⃣ Click on “Workspaces”

From the left navigation menu, choose “Workspaces” → “New Workspace”

3️⃣ Enter Workspace Details

• Name: e.g., “Sales Analytics – July 2025”
• Description: Optional notes for your team
• Advanced: Choose capacity and assign roles

Click Save to create.

✅ Your workspace is now ready!

🏗️ Adding Items to Your Workspace

📦 Create a Lakehouse

1. Click “+ New” → “Lakehouse”
2. Enter a name (e.g., SalesLakehouse)
3. Click Create

You now have access to tables, files, and a SQL endpoint inside your Lakehouse.

🔁 Create a Dataflow Gen2

1. Click “+ New” → “Dataflow Gen2”
2. Choose Blank Dataflow
3. Use Power Query to connect to a data source (e.g., SQL Server, Excel)
4. Transform your data and load it into a Lakehouse or Warehouse

💻 Add a Notebook (Apache Spark)

1. Click “+ New” → “Notebook”
2. Select Python or SQL kernel
3. Write and execute Spark queries

📊 Create a Power BI Report

1. Click “+ New” → “Report”
2. Select your Lakehouse or Warehouse dataset
3. Use visuals and filters to build dashboards
4. Publish and share with stakeholders

🔐 Manage Access and Permissions

Go to Workspace Settings → Permissions tab

• Admin: Full control
• Member: Can edit content
• Contributor: Can create & update
• Viewer: Read-only access

Tip: Assign user groups rather than individuals for easier management.

🗂 Sample Folder Structure (Best Practice)

📁 SalesLakehouse
  ├── Raw Zone (Dataflow Output)
  ├── Bronze Tables
  ├── Silver Tables
  ├── Gold Tables
📁 Notebooks
  ├── CleanSalesData.ipynb
📁 Pipelines
  ├── DailyRefreshPipeline
📁 Power BI Reports
  ├── MonthlySalesDashboard
  

🧪 Workspace Demo Use Case: Sales Team

Scenario: A company wants to track daily orders, customer trends, and product KPIs.

1. Import order and CRM data using Dataflows Gen2
2. Store data in Lakehouse with a Bronze/Silver/Gold structure
3. Transform data using Spark Notebooks
4. Auto-create a Power BI dataset
5. Build a real-time dashboard to share with business leaders

🧠 Summary of Key Components

🎁 Bonus Tips for Beginners

• Use shortcuts to link data across workspaces
• Use consistent naming conventions
• Track lineage using Microsoft Purview
• Collaborate early using shared workspaces

✅ Conclusion

Creating your first Microsoft Fabric workspace is your gateway into building modern, unified data solutions. With the Lakehouse, notebooks, pipelines, and integrated Power BI, you can manage everything from ingestion to insight — all from one place.

In the next article, we’ll cover how to ingest and transform data using both no-code and pro-code tools in Fabric.

🔮 Coming Up Tomorrow:

Day 4: Ingesting and Transforming Data in Microsoft Fabric