How to Open Power Query in Power BI

Updated on:

May 12, 2026

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Use this interactive demo to learn how to launch the Power Query Editor in Power BI Desktop.

Quick summary

Power Query in Power BI is a built-in data transformation tool that lets you clean, shape, and prepare data before loading it into your reports. You can open Power Query Editor in seconds by importing a data source and clicking the Transform Data button.

Steps

Open Power BI Desktop and select a data source to start with.
Import data from Excel into your Power BI project.
Click 'Transform Data' to open it directly in the Power Query Editor.
Follow these steps to launch the Power Query Editor window and begin transforming your data.

📌 Why this matters

Power Query is the core data transformation engine inside Power BI Desktop, enabling analysts to clean, reshape, and combine data from multiple sources without writing complex code. Knowing how to open the Power Query Editor quickly is a foundational skill for anyone building accurate, reliable Power BI reports. By importing data from sources like Excel and using the Transform Data button, users can immediately begin shaping their datasets before they ever reach a report canvas. Mastering this workflow reduces data preparation time and ensures consistent, high-quality outputs across all Power BI dashboards.

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