Approximately how long do you think would take me to learn Power Query?

[NRF95]

Hello! I’ve been using Microsoft Excel on daily basis for almost 4 years now for my job as Risk Analytics Manager. The thing is that using power query or power pivot has never been mandatory in order to fulfil my tasks, but i understand that these tools would make my life so much easier if i start using them and implement them into my work. I can use all kinds of complex functions and formulas, pivot tables and so on. Simple macros as well.

I understand that it varies from person to person, but how long would you say it would take me to learn using power queries and power pivots? I’m not talking about how long to become an expert of them, more like getting a hold of them and being able to use them on work level. There’s new analyst opening which requires proficient excel skills, which i dare say i posses if we exclude the power tools and it says that additionally they require knowledge and some experience with power queries, power pivots and/or power BI.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jdellasala]

The basics are easy and might take an hour or so. Getting used to the UI (which is very good) and how Power Query works - it's column based unlike Excel that allows a lot of freedom, might take another hour. After that, years - but that's just like Excel. There's ALWAYS something to learn!
Mr. Excel has an great playlist here, and Mike G on the ExcelIsFun YT channel has a complete college course here with sample before and after files for every lesson.
Don't be intimidated! I was doing complex reconciliations for tens of thousands of items with different source files that would take me a day to a day and a half before I retired. Had I known Power Query, that work would have taken an hour or two!
And, of course, you can always get help here. (Don't forget to use XL2BB when posting data!).
Good luck!

 

[NRF95]

The basics are easy and might take an hour or so. Getting used to the UI (which is very good) and how Power Query works - it's column based unlike Excel that allows a lot of freedom, might take another hour. After that, years - but that's just like Excel. There's ALWAYS something to learn!
Mr. Excel has an great playlist here, and Mike G on the ExcelIsFun YT channel has a complete college course here with sample before and after files for every lesson.
Don't be intimidated! I was doing complex reconciliations for tens of thousands of items with different source files that would take me a day to a day and a half before I retired. Had I known Power Query, that work would have taken an hour or two!
And, of course, you can always get help here. (Don't forget to use XL2BB when posting data!).
Good luck!

Thank you for replying! I’d also like to ask, if i have the opportunity to learn Power BI instead of Power Query/Power Pivot, would you recommend that i just start with Power BI and not bother with power query/power pivot?

 

[jdellasala]

Thank you for replying! I’d also like to ask, if i have the opportunity to learn Power BI instead of Power Query/Power Pivot, would you recommend that i just start with Power BI and not bother with power query/power pivot?

Anything you learn in Excel regarding Power Query, M Code (PQ language), the Data Model, DAX (Data Model language) is completely transferable between the two products. Power Pivot is really the Data Model.
That said, they provide solutions for very different needs.
Excel is great at number crunching and basic presentations and dashboards. Power BI's is like Excel's charting on steroids, but that's not its real power. Power BI's real power is in the Enterprise where presentations can be published to the Enterprise's Power BI server environment and its charts and data can be accessed by any device - computer, tablet, smartphone, and deliver the "Intelligence" behind the data. If you are not in an Enterprise environment (meaning someplace that has a Power BI server), go ahead and install the free Desktop version and see how it works, but you need to have a good foundation in data acquisition, cleaning, and organizing to use Power BI effectively, and Excel is a much easier place to learn those fundamentals.

 

[Automatrix]

This is very good if you are looking for a written explainer about the basics:

Amazon.com: Master Your Data with Power Query in Excel and Power BI: Leveraging Power Query to Get & Transform Your Task Flow: 9781615470587: Escobar, Miguel, Puls, Ken: Books

 

[Fluff]

You can also buy that book from this site Master Your Data with Power Query in Excel and Power BI

 

[GraH]

Hi @NRF95,

I learned myself the very basics of PQ on an evening watching a YouTube tutorial or two by Mike Girvin. The next day at work (literally!) I replaced a process that took someone up to 3 weeks to complete manually, by a single mouse click operation. That "Refresh" took only a few minutes of processing time. So if you are familiar with how tables work, know your way around text/date functions and features, you will pick up easily how to use those "mouse click" powers hidden on the UI.
Next I read the first edition of book mentioned in #5 and #6 that I warmly recommend to anyone wanting to learn PQ. It took me about a week cover to cover, including doing the hands-on exercises that go with the book. It will provide you necessary insights on how to deal with basic and common patterns and how you can leverage PQ objects.

As @jdellasala rightfully said, once the journey started, the travel takes forever but brings you to potentially astonishing, jaw-dropping but also warm and very nice places.

 

[jdellasala]

Hi @NRF95,

I learned myself the very basics of PQ on an evening watching a YouTube tutorial or two by Mike Girvin. The next day at work (literally!) I replaced a process that took someone up to 3 weeks to complete manually, by a single mouse click operation. That "Refresh" took only a few minutes of processing time. So if you are familiar with how tables work, know your way around text/date functions and features, you will pick up easily how to use those "mouse click" powers hidden on the UI.
Next I read the first edition of book mentioned in #5 and #6 that I warmly recommend to anyone wanting to learn PQ. It took me about a week cover to cover, including doing the hands-on exercises that go with the book. It will provide you necessary insights on how to deal with basic and common patterns and how you can leverage PQ objects.

As @jdellasala rightfully said, once the journey started, the travel takes forever but brings you to potentially astonishing, jaw-dropping but also warm and very nice places.

No Dis to Mr. E, but I LOVE Mike "ExcelIsFun" Girvin's video, not just because he REALLY knows the subject (and not just Excel), but because every video has a Download for a Workbook or two with the Before and After of the lesson. Great way to learn!

 

[Matt Allington]

Ken and I have a comprehensive video training course at Power Query Academy

it is 24 hours of video training content. what we cover is good for 99% of all user requirements.

 

[datatronics505]

Just dive right in, import some almost-no-formatting-applied text file and try to turn it into a decent table. Open Advanced Editor any chance you get. If you prefer Object.method(argument as DataType) syntax to =FUNCTION(arg1, arg2, arg3), you'll be right at home with Power Query. It may take a bit of effort to get used to work on entire columns instead of on individual cells. I learned a lot while applying this kind of approach.
Access to qualified, high quality instruction definitely helps speed up aquring those new skills. In that retrospect, the "M is for data monkey" book also helped me but that book is already feeling dated and will be getting "Master Your Data with Power Query..." that was already mentioned above if it's an upgrade to the "M is for Data Monkey".
YouTube video courses on Power Query range from disorganized, unrehearsed sessions to top-notch rare-gem clear tutorials of the likes of Exceed Learning (Krešimir is demonstrating it all almost exclusively in M language), YouExcel Tutorials, Gašpar Kamenšek's channel and Mynda Treacy's channel- when you need even clearer explanations on a very particular topic.