Power BI Data Methods
3h 22mAdvanced2026-07-17
Authors
Helen Wall
Data analytics and business analysis expert
Course details
Power BI is a powerful business intelligence tool designed to help users create dynamic interactive data visualizations and help you monitor data, analyze trends, and make smarter decisions. Before you can create any visuals though, you need to get your data into Power BI to use in the modeling process. In this course, Helen Wall helps you handle, import, and transform your data more efficiently, using the built-in power of Power Query. Helen shows you how to create ETL frameworks and use Power Query to extract data from multiple data sources, transform it through functionalities like grouping and pivoting, and load it into the Power BI model.
Skills covered
Power BIBusiness AnalyticsBusiness IntelligenceData AnalysisData ScienceBusiness Analysis and StrategyBusiness Software and ToolsMicrosoftOne-Off
Concepts
Introduction
- The data at the core of Power BI
- What you should know
- Course project overview
Extracting Data from Files
- Working with Power Query
- The extract, transform, load (ETL) framework
- Power Query objects
Extracting Data from Files
- Connecting to text files
- Connecting to CSV files
- Connecting to Excel files
- Connecting to online Excel files
- Connecting to PDF files
- Connecting to images as data
- Setting up folder connection
- Connecting to HTML and XML
- Connecting to JSON data
- Connecting to APIs
- Connecting to ODATA feeds
- Connecting to GitHub
- Using an R script connector
- Using a Python script connector
- Challenge - Getting data
- Solution - Getting data
Transforming Data with Cleaning Operations
- Cleaning text fields
- Removing or replacing values
- Splitting and concatenating fields
- Text formulas
- Filtering or removing duplicates
- Filling up and filling down
- Transforming numerical fields
- Challenge - Add a new column
- Solution - Add a new column
Working with Dates and Times
- Dates functions
- Creating a dates table
- Working with different time zones
- Challenge - Add a Date field
- Solution - Add a Date field
Data Functions
- Using conditional functions
- Transposing tables
- Grouping fields and values
- Merging and appending data
- Pivoting and unpivoting data
- Parameters
- Custom functions
- Adding data types in M code
Relational Databases and Queries
- Working with relational databases
- Query folding
- Working with multidimensional databases
Loading Data
- Loading data
- Managing errors
- Joining semantic model tables
- Refreshing data
- Exploring OneLake connection
Conclusion
- Continuing on with Power BI