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Power Query - Simply Explained
Oct 30, 2026 ·
13m 51s
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Power Query - Simply Explained
Description
If you clean the same spreadsheet by hand every month, Power Query can turn that ritual into a process that repeats itself. This beginner-friendly episode explains the four phases, applied...
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If you clean the same spreadsheet by hand every month, Power Query can turn that ritual into a process that repeats itself. This beginner-friendly episode explains the four phases, applied steps, the M language, merge versus append and the habits that keep queries fast, for Excel and Power BI users who want to stop doing manual cleanup.
In this episode
Key takeaways
Worth quoting
“The real problem is that your clean up can't run itself again, so every new file drags you back to the same manual steps.” – Mirko Peters (03:44)
“The manual cleanup lives in your memory and disappears when you close the file, while the recorded one waits for you and runs again on demand.” – Mirko Peters (06:58)
Explore more on M365.FM
Follow and rate M365.FM in your podcast app, and join the free M365 community at m365con.net.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-fm-microsoft-365-azure-cloud-power-platform-ai--6704921/support.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
show less
In this episode
- 00:00 – What Power Query actually is
- 02:06 – Where you'll run into it
- 03:06 – The problem it solves
- 04:28 – The four phases and applied steps
- 07:07 – The M language underneath the buttons
- 08:18 – Merging, appending, data types and locale
- 10:40 – Refresh
- 11:43 – Where beginners go wrong and recap
Key takeaways
- Power Query is the data transformation engine built into Excel, Power BI and other Microsoft tools, and every click becomes a recorded, replayable step.
- The workflow follows four phases—connect, transform, combine and load—and refresh reruns the saved steps without changing the source data.
- Setting data types (with locale) early, filtering at the top and understanding query folding keep queries correct and fast.
Worth quoting
“The real problem is that your clean up can't run itself again, so every new file drags you back to the same manual steps.” – Mirko Peters (03:44)
“The manual cleanup lives in your memory and disappears when you close the file, while the recorded one waits for you and runs again on demand.” – Mirko Peters (06:58)
Explore more on M365.FM
- Episode page: the full episode with chapters, quotes and a beginner FAQ
- Power Query – the data preparation engine this episode explains, from applied steps to query folding
- Microsoft Excel – where Power Query sits on the Data tab under Get & Transform, with manual refresh
- Power BI – the second front door to Power Query, shaping data before reports and offering scheduled refresh
- Connector – how Power Query reaches hundreds of sources, from text files to SQL Server databases
- Related episode: What Happens When Sales Promises an Urgent Order
Follow and rate M365.FM in your podcast app, and join the free M365 community at m365con.net.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-fm-microsoft-365-azure-cloud-power-platform-ai--6704921/support.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
Information
| Author | Mirko Peters M365, Azure & AI |
| Organization | m365 FM |
| Website | - |
| Tags |
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