PQ #3 – How to Access and Navigate Power Query in Excel: A Beginner’s Guide
POWER QUERY
Power Query for Finance Professionals: From Zero to Hero
Welcome back to the Power Query for Finance Professionals: From Zero to Hero series! This series is designed to take you from a complete beginner to a Power Query expert, helping you automate data preparation and improve efficiency in your financial workflows.
If you haven’t already, check out the previous post in this series – they are available in the Related Articles section at the end of this article.
Introduction: The Hidden Tool That Can Save You Hours
You’ve heard about Power Query and how it can automate tedious data-cleaning tasks. But where is it in Excel? If you’ve never used it before, finding and navigating Power Query’s interface can feel overwhelming.
The good news? Once you know where to look and how to use it, Power Query becomes an intuitive, easy-to-use tool that can transform the way you work with data.
In this guide, we will use a real case scenario that will help you to learn:
Where to find Power Query in Excel
How to access and open the Power Query Editor
A complete tour of the Power Query interface
By the end of this post, you’ll be comfortable navigating Power Query and ready to start using it for real-world financial tasks.
The Problem: An Excel Data Challenge
An Excel file containing your sales rep performance for Q1 has been uploaded to a GitHub repository for you to work with. Your mission: connect to this file using Power Query and load it into Excel.
Before diving into Power Query, here’s what you need:
✅ Excel 2016 or later (Power Query is built-in)
✅ A dataset to practice on (e.g., a messy sales or financial report)
✅ Basic knowledge of Excel (no coding required!)
Getting Started with Power Query
Power Query is part of Excel’s Get & Transform feature. Here’s how you can access it:
Go to the Data Tab – Open Excel and navigate to the Data ribbon.
Find the Get & Transform Section – Look for the group labeled Get & Transform Data.
Click on Get Data – This opens a menu with multiple data source options, including Excel workbooks, CSV files, databases, and more.
Select Your Data Source – Choose where you want to import your data from (e.g., From Workbook, From Text/CSV, From Database) and then click on OK.
Select Your Data – Select the sheet where your data is located and click on Transform Data.
Power Query Editor Opens – Once you select a data source, Excel will launch the Power Query Editor, where you can start transforming your data.
The Ribbon – At the top of the Power Query Editor, the Ribbon contains multiple tabs with different functionalities:
Home Tab – Common transformation tools (e.g., Remove Columns, Split Columns, Replace Values)
Transform Tab – Advanced data shaping tools (e.g., Pivot, Unpivot, Extract)
Add Column Tab – Create new columns based on existing data
View Tab – Adjust how data is displayed in Power Query
The Queries Pane – Located on the left side, it displays all the queries (datasets) in your Power Query session.
The Data Preview Grid – The center of the Power Query Editor displays a preview of your data. This is where you can:
Remove unnecessary columns
Filter and sort data
Apply transformations (e.g., change date formats, split text)
The Applied Steps Pane – On the right side, the Applied Steps pane keeps track of every action you perform in Power Query.
The Close & Load Button – Once you’re done cleaning and transforming your data, click Close & Load to send the cleaned dataset back into Excel.
For a visual walkthrough, check out the YouTube video below that explains these steps in a simple way.
The Outcome: Why Understanding Power Query’s Interface is a Game-Changer
Once you get comfortable with the Power Query interface, your workflow becomes significantly more efficient:
✅ Faster Data Cleaning – No more manual copy-pasting or formula-heavy transformations
✅ Reusable Transformations – Power Query remembers your steps, so you don’t have to repeat them every month
✅ Consistent and Accurate Reports – Eliminate human errors and ensure data accuracy
The best part? Power Query is beginner-friendly. Once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you ever managed financial data without it.
Conclusion: Mastering Power Query Navigation is the First Step
We covered a lot in this post:
✅ Where to find Power Query in Excel
✅ How to open the Power Query Editor
✅ A complete tour of Power Query’s interface
✅ How each feature helps you clean and transform financial data efficiently
If you’re a finance professional looking to save time and reduce errors, learning Power Query is a game-changer.
Next Steps: Get Hands-On with Power Query
Now that you know how to access and navigate Power Query, here is what you can do next:
📌 Try to reproduce the above steps today – Use the demo files available at https://github.com/versatilebieu/power_query/tree/main
📌 Get familiar with the Power Query Editor interface by trying several data transformation steps
📌 Stay tuned for my next post: How to connect to Excel workbooks, CSVs, and more
