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Power Query primer

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Power Query primer

Power Query is the data import and transformation engine inside Excel and Power BI. Here's the model.

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01

What Power Query does

Power Query is fundamentally an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool:

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/power-query-primer

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02

The M language

The UI generates M behind the scenes, but learning a little M unlocks much more:

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/power-query-primer

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03

Query folding

For SQL, OData, and many other sources, Power Query can push transformations back to the source server — generating a SELECT with WHERE clauses, joins, and aggregations rather than fetching everything and filtering clie…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/power-query-primer

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04

When to use what

Once you've internalised the Applied Steps mental model and the M language, Power Query becomes one of the most useful skills in the Microsoft data stack.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/power-query-primer

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05

Why query folding is worth understanding, not just query-writing

The performance difference query folding makes is large enough that it's worth actively checking, not just hoping for. In Power Query's editor, right-clicking a step and looking for a greyed-out "View Native Query" opti…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/power-query-primer

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