Teach on Udemy

Turn what you know into an opportunity and reach millions around the world.

Learn More

Your cart is empty.

Keep shopping

Power Query Editor in Power BI: Complete Introduction

Name: Power Query Editor in Power BI: Complete Introduction
Rating: 4.5 (4275 reviews)

Connect, transform and cleanse data in the Power BI Query Editor, then republish refreshed reports in one click

Created byIan Littlejohn

Last updated 9/2026

English

English [Auto],Spanish [Auto],

What you'll learn

Build a repeatable query in Power BI that reloads next month's file in one click, instead of redoing the import
Filter rows, change data types, remove and reorder columns, and add calculated columns in the Query Editor
Write conditional IF rules in the Query Editor to categorize your data without touching DAX
Merge two tables on a matching column, and append separate files into one table ready for modelling
Group and summarize data with Group By, and build custom calculations inside the query Find and fix broken data with Query Editor Diagnostics
Load data from SQL Server, CSV and text files, web pages, XML, JSON and published Power BI datasets

Course content

8 sections • 37 lectures • 2h 45m total length

Introduction to the Course2:24
Meet your instructor and see what the Power BI Query Editor does: change data types, filter, merge, append and group your data before it ever reaches the model.
About the Course1:23
How to get the best from the course: setting the video quality to full HD, changing the playback speed to suit you, and where to go for Udemy support and your certificate.
Please download the Training Data Files0:04
Download the training files used through the course - the workshop tables, the employee data, the CleanseData workbook, and the XML and JSON samples.
Welcome to the Udemy Roleplay0:36
What the Udemy role-play is: practice discussing a Power BI data preparation project with an AI character, and how to get the most from the conversation.
Discussion about using Power BI Query Editor for your data analysis

Introduction to Transformations0:57
What this section covers: data types, filtering rows, renaming and removing columns, Replace Values, calculated columns and Conditional IF columns.
Change Data Type, Filter Rows and Rename Fields10:28
Change the data type on each column, filter the rows and rename the fields in the Query Editor, with every change recorded as an applied step.
Remove Columns, Find and Replace7:27
Remove the columns you do not need, then use Replace Values and the text case commands to tidy the fields you keep.
Add Calculated Columns9:05
Add a custom column that calculates a new value from the fields already in the table.
Your turn: transform the data0:11
Your turn: transform the employee table - data types, filters, renames and a calculated column.
Walkthrough: the transformations exercise6:07
Walkthrough of the transformations exercise: applying each step and checking the Applied Steps list.
Conditional IF6:32
Add a Conditional Column to band the data - the point and click equivalent of a nested IF.
Your turn: build a Conditional IF column0:15
Your turn: build a Conditional IF column on the employee data.
Walkthrough: the Conditional IF exercise4:55
Walkthrough of the Conditional IF exercise: setting the conditions and checking the data type on the result.
Meeting with Ada to discuss common transformations

Introduction to Advanced Transformations2:48
What this section covers: merging tables on a key, appending rows, custom calculations and Group By summaries.
Merge Function8:04
Merge two tables in the Query Editor: pick the matching columns and the join kind to bring lookup fields into your main table.
Your turn: merge two tables0:13
Your turn: merge the two tables on their shared key and expand the columns you need.
Walkthrough: the merge exercise7:21
Walkthrough of the merge exercise: choosing the key columns, the join kind and the columns to expand.
Append Data7:28
Append one table onto another to stack the rows of a second workshop list into a single query.
Custom Calculations5:15
Add a Custom Column with your own formula to calculate new values across the table.
Group By Function7:38
Use Group By to aggregate a table - a count or a total by a field - and return a summary query.
Meeting with Ada to discuss advanced transformations

Introduction to Cleanse Data1:06
What this section covers: profiling data quality in the Query Editor, then cleansing a messy extract.
Download the CleanseData file0:02
Download the CleanseData workbook used in this section so you can work through the cleansing steps yourself.
Query Editor Diagnostics11:27
Turn on Column Quality, Column Distribution and Column Profile to see errors, empty values and distinct counts before you start cleansing.
Cleansing Data Files6:18
Cleanse a messy data file: fix the data types, strip the rows you do not need and unpivot the columns into a table you can report on.
Meeting with Ada to discuss cleansing data

Introduction to Power BI Data Connections and Sources0:59
What this section covers: connecting Power BI to an Azure SQL database, CSV and TXT files, web pages, XML, JSON and a published Power BI dataset.
Loading Data from Azure SQL Database8:59
Connect Power BI Desktop to an Azure SQL database, choose the tables and load them through the Query Editor.
Loading Data from CSV and TXT3:43
Load a CSV or TXT file into Power BI, check the delimiter and the data types, and tidy the fields before loading.
Your turn: load data from a CSV file0:14
Your turn: load the employee CSV file into Power BI and set the data type on every column.
Loading Data from the Web6:01
Load data from a web page: point Power BI at the URL, let it find the HTML tables on the page and pick the one you want.
Your turn: load data from a web page0:22
Your turn: connect to a table of data on a web page and load it into Power BI.
Loading Data from XML files3:09
Load an XML file into Power BI and expand its nested elements into columns.
Loading Data from JSON4:53
Load a JSON file into Power BI and convert its records into a table of columns.
Loading Data from the Power BI Service4:09
Connect to a dataset already published in the Power BI Service and build on it rather than reloading the source.
Meeting with Ada to discuss loading data from different sources

Requirements

You should be comfortable working with data in Excel and doing basic reporting. No Power BI experience needed, though a first look at Power BI Desktop will help.
Power BI Desktop, free from Microsoft. It runs on Windows only and does not run natively on Mac. The Power BI Service runs in a browser on any internet-enabled computer.
Sections 1 to 6 need only the free Power BI Desktop app and the training files provided.
Section 7 builds a Power BI Service dataflow. That needs a Power BI Pro or Premium Per User license and a shared workspace - it cannot be done in My Workspace.
If you do not have Pro, watch the dataflow section rather than following along. Everything before it stands on its own.
The Power BI Service requires a work or school email address. Personal Gmail and Outlook accounts are not accepted, and some organizations disable the individual trial.

Description

This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

Every lesson in this course is written, created and recorded by me. AI is used only to help produce supporting images and written materials around the lessons.

Most Power BI reports fail before a single chart is drawn. The data arrives in three files with different column names, the dates are stored as text, and half the rows are duplicates. This course is about that half of the job.

You will work entirely in the Power BI Query Editor: connect to a source, shape it, clean it, and save the steps, so that next month's file loads the same way in one click.

WHAT YOU WILL BUILD

Basic transformations - filter rows, change data types, remove and reorder columns, and add calculated columns
Advanced transformations - merge two tables on a matching column, append separate files into one table, group and summarize, and write custom calculations
Conditional rules - categorize your data with IF logic in the Query Editor, without touching DAX
Data cleansing - find and fix broken data with Query Editor Diagnostics, before it reaches your model
Connect to data sources - SQL Server, CSV and text files, web pages, XML, JSON and published Power BI datasets
Power BI Service dataflows - move your queries into the Service so a whole team reuses the same cleaned data

Every section sets a practical activity and then walks through the answer on video, and eleven training data files mean you are working on exactly the data I am.

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

I have been training business people to work with data since 2008, and publishing on Udemy since 2013. I now have 16 live courses, more than 450,000 enrolments and more than 139,000 reviews, averaging 4.6. This course is rated 4.6 from 4,235 ratings.

I specialise in teaching business users the analysis methods behind the tools - Microsoft Excel, Copilot in Excel, Microsoft Power BI, Data Studio and Amazon QuickSight. I teach the analysis, not just the software.

WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING

"Step by step process allowed me to understand stuff immensely"
"I have learned a lot about power BI on this learning and I now have a better understanding about it"
"I had basic PBI knowledge, this course helped me to improve my current skills. Professional, understandable and clear communication with a lot of great examples which can be used for my work on daily basis. Thank you !!!"

Ready to stop rebuilding the same import every month? Start with the first transformation and see how much of your reporting time you get back.

Who this course is for:

Power BI users who spend more time fixing data than building reports, and want to automate the fixing once and reuse it.
Analysts who have built a Power BI report or two and now need to load from real sources - a database, a web page, a folder of files - rather than one tidy spreadsheet.
This is the data preparation course in my Power BI series. Microsoft Power BI: Complete Introduction is the place to start; it covers loading, modelling and your first reports, with a short introduction to the Query Editor. This course is the deep version of that introduction. Power BI Master Class - Data Models and DAX Formulas goes deeper on the model, and Power BI Master Class - Dashboards and Power BI Service goes deeper on the visuals and publishing.
If you want these same data preparation skills inside Excel rather than Power BI, take Excel Power Query: Complete Introduction in 2 Hours instead. It covers the same ground in Excel's Power Query.
This course does not cover building reports, charts or dashboards. It is entirely about preparing the data those reports run on.

Power Query Editor in Power BI: Complete Introduction

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction5 lectures • 4min

Overview of the Query Editor1 lecture • 10min

Perform Transformations10 lectures • 46min

Advanced Transformations8 lectures • 39min

Cleanse Data5 lectures • 19min

Connect to Power BI Connections and Data Sources10 lectures • 32min

Power BI Service - Dataflows2 lectures • 14min

Conclusion2 lectures • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: