How do you publish a Power BI report to the service?

Publishing a Power BI report to the service is accomplished by clicking on the "Publish" button in Power BI Desktop. This action facilitates the transfer of your report from the desktop application to the Power BI service, where it can be shared with colleagues, embedded into applications, and refreshed with updated data. This method is specifically designed for users to easily and effectively distribute their reports, leveraging the full capabilities of the Power BI platform.

Other methods mentioned, such as exporting the report as a PDF or emailing it to stakeholders, do not involve publishing the report to the Power BI service and are instead used for sharing or distributing static versions of the report. Similarly, copying the file to a shared drive does not make the report interactive or available online through the Power BI service, which limits its accessibility and functionality. The key benefit of using the "Publish" button is that it ensures the report is live, interactive, and updated, allowing users to benefit from the dynamic features of Power BI.