You're Getting Files from a Folder with Power Query ALL WRONG!
May 23, 2023 1:00 PM

You're Getting Files from a Folder with Power Query ALL WRONG!

External YouTube Channel

Most people get files from a folder with Power Query all wrong. In this video I show you why it’s wrong and the way you should be doing it. When Power Query com

In this video, the common mistakes made by most people when retrieving files from a folder using Power Query are addressed. The author explains that when Power Query merges files in a folder, it auto-generates several queries. However, it's crucial to pay attention to two specific ones - the sample file query and the final query.

It is shown that most individuals incorrectly apply their transformations using the wrong query, leading to challenges. The video provides detailed examples of the appropriate circumstances and reasons to utilize the sample file query versus the final query. By avoiding these mistakes, the viewer can use Power Query more effectively.

Power Query is a data connection technology that enables you to discover, connect, combine, and refine data across a wide variety of sources. It is a component of Microsoft Power BI and is also integrated with other Microsoft products like Excel.

What is Power Query

Power Query provides intuitive and consistent experiences for data discovery and transformations, such as filtering, shaping, aggregating, and merging data. These transformations are recorded by Power Query, which then automates the process for future similar data cleaning or manipulation tasks, saving you time and effort.

With Power Query, you can:

  • Connect to various types of data sources, such as databases, web services, or local files like Excel, CSV, and more.
  • Perform a series of data cleaning and transformation operations, such as removing duplicates, replacing values, merging data, splitting columns, etc.
  • Shape data into a form that suits your needs, by changing its structure, aggregating it, or reshaping it.
  • Automate and repeat these steps using the Power Query Editor, a user interface that builds the Power Query M formula language behind the scenes.

As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, Power Query is considered a key tool in modern data preparation and is widely used in business intelligence and data analysis workflows.

Jun 10, 2022 — Hi, just starting my Power BI and Power Query journey. I'm trying to 'Get Data' in Power BI from a OneDrive for Business Folder and then combine the files ...