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Resolve to Learn Power Query in 2018

February 02, 2018 - by

Resolve to Learn Power Query in 2018

Power Query is the most amazing set of features to arrive in Excel in twenty years. It might take 18 months to learn how to be proficient using VBA macros in Excel. But you can get completely up the Power Query learning curve in hours or days.

Why do I love Power Query?

Because when I am in a live seminar and someone shows me an "impossible" format that they are getting data in, I used to write a macro. Today, I can solve it in minutes in Power Query. My favorite of all time was the accountant at a fire house who had to deal with budgets that essentially were tiny Word files inside each cell. Using Power Query, I was able to add up the numbers contained in those long strings of text.

Just look at the titles in my Power Query playlist.

  • Combine four sheets with Power Query
  • Scrape Webpages using Power Query
  • Unpivot with Power Query
  • Merge Workbooks with Power Query
  • TEXTJOIN in Power Query
  • Split Delimited Data to Rows Using Power Query
  • List File Folders in Excel Using Power Query

Want More Proof that Power Query is Awesome?

Power Query is in every Windows-based copy of Excel 2016 or Office 365. Look for the Get & Transform group on the Data tab. For the first time ever, Microsoft has made a new feature retroactively available in the two previous versions of Excel. You can download Power Query for Excel 2013 and for Excel 2010 for free.

What is the Best Way to Learn Power Query?

I am a book person, so I love to buy a book and dive in. If you like books, then M is for Data Monkey is your choice. It is the best-selling book on Power Query.

However, if you prefer watching videos, then you will want to invest in the Power Query Academy course by Ken Puls and Miguel Escobar. They are authors of the aforementioned book. They will guide you as you learn to master this powerful tool, walking you through how to extract, transform, and load data in Microsoft Excel and Power BI Desktop. Read more about the academy here.

Your registration to Power Query Academy includes:

  • One year of unlimited access to the course materials
  • 15 modules developed by world-class experts
  • 12+ hours of learning broken into more than 55 bite-sized videos
  • Downloadable example files to work through
  • Free digital copy of our book, 'M is for Data Monkey' (2nd edition) - Release date TBD
  • Top support on the course materials for one year
  • Content that is updated every quarter as new features are released

Title Photo: Alicja / Pixabay