What is Power Query?
Power Query is Microsoft's data transformation tool used by millions to connect, clean, and shape data from diverse sources into a usable format for analysis and reporting.
Description
Power Query is a data transformation and preparation engine. Connect to various data sources and shape data to fit your needs.
Key Features
- Data connectivity
- Data transformation
- Data shaping
- Formula language (M)
- Graphical interface
- Data cleansing
Pros
- Wide data source support
- User-friendly interface
- Powerful transformation capabilities
- Automation of data preparation
- Integration with other Microsoft tools
Cons
- Steep learning curve for advanced features
- Limited version control
- Can be slow with very large datasets
- M language knowledge required for complex transformations
Details
Power Query is a powerful data transformation and data preparation engine that comes bundled with products like Excel, Power BI, and other Microsoft services. It allows users to connect to a wide array of data sources, from simple text files and databases to complex cloud services. Once connected, you can cleanse, transform, and shape the data using its graphical interface or its formula language, M. This ensures data consistency and accuracy before analysis or reporting.
💡 Try These Prompts:
1. "Connect to this CSV file and remove any rows with missing values in the 'Date' column."
2. "Import data from this SQL Server database and pivot the 'Category' column to create new columns for each category."
3. "Connect to this website and extract the table of product prices, then convert the price column to a numeric format."
4. "Combine data from these two Excel files, matching rows based on the 'ProductID' column."
5. "Create a function to clean phone numbers by removing special characters and formatting them consistently."
Summary
Power Query is Microsoft's data transformation tool used by millions to connect, clean, and shape data from diverse sources into a usable format for analysis and reporting.