How to Open Power Query Editor in Power BI: 6 Ways (Desktop, Service and the New 2026 Editor)

To open Power Query Editor in Power BI Desktop, go to the Home tab and select Transform data. You can also right-click any table in the Data pane and choose Edit query, or pick Transform Data instead of Load when you connect to new data. In the Power BI service, open the semantic model, switch to Editing mode and select Transform data.

This guide is for anyone who has asked "how to open power query editor in power bi" and found a tutorial with an old screenshot. Microsoft moved things around in 2026: Desktop has a new Power Query experience in preview, and the editor now also runs in the browser. You get all six ways in, what changed, and what to do when the button is greyed out.

In this guide

• What the Power Query Editor is
• How to open Power Query Editor in Power BI Desktop (4 ways)
• Power Query editor in Power BI service
• The new Power Query experience in 2026
• How to use Power Query Editor in Power BI: a quick tour
• Worked example with copy-paste M code
• Transform data greyed out or not opening: fixes
• Power Query editor in Excel vs Power BI
• Power Query vs DAX in Power BI
• Best practices once the editor is open
• Next steps
• FAQ

What is the Power Query Editor in Power BI?

Power Query Editor is the place where you connect to data and clean it before it reaches your model. Every click you make there (remove a column, change a type, filter rows) is saved as a step and written in the M language. When you refresh, Power BI replays those steps on the fresh data, so you clean once and reuse forever.

It is a separate screen from the report canvas. Report view, Table view and Model view are where you build visuals, measures and relationships. Power Query Editor sits one stage earlier: it decides which rows and columns load at all. That is why it has its own ribbon, its own Queries pane and its own Close & Apply button.

When you need to open it

• Your data has blank rows, extra headers, wrong data types or messy text.
• You need to merge or append tables, unpivot a crosstab, or combine files from a folder.
• You want to change a data source path, a parameter or a filter that runs before load.
• You want to see or edit the M code behind a table.

If you only need a calculation that reacts to slicers, you probably want a DAX measure instead. More on that split further down.

How to open Power Query Editor in Power BI Desktop (4 ways)

Here is how to open Power Query Editor in Power BI Desktop, whichever screen you are on. All four ways open the same editor; they just start you in a different place.

Way 1: Transform data on the Home ribbon

1. Open your .pbix or .pbip file in Power BI Desktop.
2. Go to the Home tab. This works from Report, Table or Model view.
3. In the Queries group, select the top half of the Transform data button.
4. The editor opens with your queries listed on the left.

The bottom half of the button is a small dropdown. It holds Transform data, Data source settings and Edit parameters. If you click the arrow by mistake, just pick Transform data from the list. Microsoft documents this route in the Query overview in Power BI Desktop.

Way 2: Edit query from the Data pane

Right-click a table name in the Data pane on the right and choose Edit query. The editor opens with that table already selected, which saves you hunting through a long Queries list. This is the route most experienced developers use day to day.

Way 3: Transform Data in the Navigator

When you connect to new data through Get data, the Navigator window shows a preview of the tables. At the bottom you get two buttons: Load and Transform Data. Choose Transform Data and the new tables land in the editor before anything loads into the model. Make this your default habit; cleaning first is cheaper than fixing after.

Way 4: Blank query from Get data

Select Home > Get data > Blank query. Power BI opens the editor with an empty query called Query1, ready for you to paste M code into the formula bar or the Advanced Editor. Use it for helper tables, parameters or a date table you write yourself.

Where did Edit Queries in Power BI go?

Older tutorials tell you to click Edit Queries. That button was renamed Transform data years ago, and it does the same job. The right-click menu in the Data pane still says Edit query, which is why people get confused. If you are following a video that shows edit queries in Power BI, map it to Transform data and carry on.

Power Query editor in Power BI service (web and online)

You no longer need Desktop to change a query. The Power Query editor in Power BI service opens right inside the semantic model editor in your browser. Microsoft covers it in Edit semantic models in the Power BI service, last updated in October 2026.

Power Query editor in Power BI web: open an existing model

1. Go to app.powerbi.com and open your workspace.
2. Find the semantic model, select More options (...) and choose Open semantic model. You can also start from the model's details page, the OneLake catalog or a report in edit mode.
3. The model opens in Viewing mode. Use the mode toggle to switch to Editing mode.
4. Select Transform data on the Home ribbon. The full Power Query editor opens in a dialog.
5. Make your changes, then save and apply them. If you cancel or close the dialog, the query changes are thrown away.

Power Query editor in Power BI online: start a new model

To build a model from scratch in the browser, go to Create and select Get Data. The modern Power Query Get data screen opens, you pick a connector and shape the data, then choose Create a report or Create a semantic model only. It creates an import model.

What you need before it works

• Write permission on the semantic model to open it in Editing mode.
• Owner rights to use Get data and add new import tables.
• Your admin must allow semantic model editing in the service in the admin portal.
• The model must be Import or DirectQuery. The editor does not work on Direct Lake tables, models with incremental refresh, or live connections.

One more thing to know: changes to the model save automatically and there is no undo button. Semantic model version history is your safety net, so check it before you experiment on a model your team depends on.

The new Power Query experience in 2026: what changed

If your editor suddenly looks different, you are not imagining it. Microsoft added a New Power Query experience (Preview) to Power BI Desktop. It started with a redesigned Get Data screen in the May 2026 update, and the Microsoft Learn docs (updated September 2026) now show a redesigned Power Query Editor under the same switch.

How to turn it on or off

1. In Power BI Desktop, go to File > Options and settings > Options.
2. Select Preview features.
3. Tick or clear New Power Query experience.
4. Select OK, then open the editor with Home > Transform data as usual.

What looks different

The new editor is laid out in five parts: the ribbon, the Queries pane, the current view (data preview, with optional diagram and schema views), the Query settings pane with Applied steps, and a status bar that shows row and column counts and execution time. The ribbon tabs are Home, Transform, Add column, View, Tools and Help. It is the same look as Power Query on the web and in Fabric, so you learn it once.

My take: switch it on for personal projects, and keep the legacy editor on a machine you use for client delivery until the preview ends. Microsoft keeps a page of known limitations for the new experience, and preview features can change between monthly releases.

How to use Power Query Editor in Power BI: a quick tour

Once you know how to access Power Query Editor in Power BI, the next question is what all the panes do. This is the short version of a power query editor in power bi tutorial, in the order you will actually use them.

Queries pane (left)

Every table, parameter and function in your file is listed here. Right-click a query to rename, duplicate, reference or group it, or untick Enable load for staging queries that should not reach the model.

Data preview (center)

Shows the first rows of the selected query. Right-click a column header for the transforms that apply to it. Turn on Column quality and Column distribution from the View tab to spot errors and empty values quickly. Profiling looks at the top 1,000 rows by default; switch it to the entire data set from the status bar when you need the full picture.

Applied steps (right)

Each transform becomes a step. Click any step to see the data at that point. Right-click to rename, delete or move a step. Rename important steps (for example "Removed blank rows") so the next person understands your query.

Formula bar

Shows the M code for the selected step. If you cannot see it, tick Formula bar on the View tab. Small fixes, like changing a filter value, are fastest here.

Advanced Editor in Power BI: see the full M code

Go to View > Advanced Editor (also on the Home tab in the legacy editor) to see the whole query as one M script. This is where you paste code from a tutorial, copy a query to another file, or fix a step that the UI cannot handle.

Close & Apply

Nothing reaches your report until you select Close & Apply on the Home tab. The dropdown also has Apply (load but stay in the editor) and Close (leave without loading, which gives you a "pending changes" banner later).

Worked example: clean a sales file in 5 steps

Here is a small messy CSV that looks like most real exports. Dates and numbers come in as text, a region has extra spaces and there is a blank row.

1. Home > Get data > Text/CSV, pick the file, then select Transform Data in the preview window.
2. Filter out the blank row: use the OrderID column filter and untick (blank) or null.
3. Select the Region column, then Transform > Format > Trim.
4. Set types: OrderID whole number, OrderDate date, Sales decimal number.
5. Add column > Custom column for a YearMonth label, then Close & Apply.

The Advanced Editor will show something close to this. Paste it into a blank query and change the file path to try it:

let
    Source = Csv.Document(
        File.Contents("C:\Data\sales.csv"),
        [Delimiter = ",", Encoding = 65001]
    ),
    PromotedHeaders = Table.PromoteHeaders(Source, [PromoteAllScalars = true]),
    RemovedBlankRows = Table.SelectRows(
        PromotedHeaders,
        each [OrderID] <> null and [OrderID] <> ""
    ),
    TrimmedRegion = Table.TransformColumns(
        RemovedBlankRows,
        {{"Region", Text.Trim, type text}}
    ),
    ChangedTypes = Table.TransformColumnTypes(
        TrimmedRegion,
        {{"OrderID", Int64.Type}, {"OrderDate", type date}, {"Sales", type number}},
        "en-US"
    ),
    AddedYearMonth = Table.AddColumn(
        ChangedTypes,
        "YearMonth",
        each Date.ToText([OrderDate], "yyyy-MM"),
        type text
    )
in
    AddedYearMonth

Two details worth copying into your own work. The "en-US" culture in the type step stops a laptop with European regional settings from reading 1250.50 as 125050. And keeping the trim before the type change means "North " and "North" end up in one group in your visuals.

Bonus: filter to today's date

A common next step is keeping only rows up to today. Add this as a custom step after ChangedTypes:

UpToToday = Table.SelectRows(
    ChangedTypes,
    each [OrderDate] <= DateTime.Date(DateTime.LocalNow())
)

Keep in mind that DateTime.LocalNow uses the clock of the machine that refreshes. In the Power BI service that is UTC, so late-evening rows in your time zone can move a day.

Transform data greyed out or editor not opening: fixes

When the button will not respond, the cause is nearly always the type of connection, not a bug. Find your symptom here:

How to check if you are on a live connection

Look at the bottom-right corner of Power BI Desktop. A live connection shows a "Connected live to the Power BI semantic model" message, and the Table view is missing from the left bar. In that case there are no local queries to edit, so the editor has nothing to open.

Power Query not working on Mac

Power BI Desktop runs only on Windows. On a Mac your options are a Windows virtual machine or the browser: open the semantic model in the Power BI service and use Transform data there, or build the queries in a Fabric Dataflow Gen2.

Power Query editor in Excel vs Power BI

The engine and the M language are the same, so skills move both ways. The differences are where the data goes and how it refreshes. This table also answers the power query editor vs power bi desktop question, because Power Query is a part of Desktop, not a separate product.

The Power BI Power Query difference in one line

If you searched for the power bi power query difference: Power BI is the whole product (data, model, report, sharing), and Power Query is the data-prep step inside it. You cannot build a dashboard in Power Query alone, and you cannot get clean data into Power BI without it, unless the source is already clean.

Power Query vs DAX in Power BI: which one to use

This is the question that follows right after people open the editor for the first time. Power Query shapes the data before it loads; DAX calculates on the data after it loads. A good rule: if the result should be the same for every user and every slicer, do it in Power Query. If it must react to filters, it is a DAX measure.

• Power Query: remove columns, fix types, split names, merge lookups, unpivot months, combine files.
• DAX: totals, ratios, year-over-year, running totals, anything that changes with a slicer.

Doing row-level cleanup in Power Query also keeps the model smaller, which makes every DAX measure faster. Our Power BI tutorials go deeper on measures and modeling once your data is clean.

Best practices once the editor is open

1. Remove columns early. Fewer columns means a smaller model and faster refresh.
2. Set data types once, near the end. Many "Changed Type" steps slow refresh and can break when sources change.
3. Keep folding in mind. On database sources, right-click a step and check whether View Native Query is available. If it is greyed out, that step and the ones after it may run in Power BI instead of the database.
4. Use parameters for paths and servers. Moving from test to production becomes a one-value change.
5. Turn off load for staging queries. Untick Enable load so helper queries do not clutter the model.
6. Name your steps. "Removed blank rows" beats "Filtered Rows2" when someone else opens the file.

Clean data is half of a good report; the other half is design. When your tables are ready, the Power BI theme builder gives every visual consistent colours and fonts in a few clicks, and the Power BI templates give you a finished layout to drop your clean data into.

Next steps: open Power Query Editor in Power BI and start cleaning

You now know how to open Power Query Editor in Power BI from every place it lives in 2026: Transform data on the Home ribbon, Edit query in the Data pane, Transform Data in the Navigator, a blank query, and Transform data or Get Data in the Power BI service. If the button is greyed out, check for a live connection or Direct Lake first.

Your next move: open a messy file you already have, choose Transform Data instead of Load, and rebuild the five-step example above on it. Then try the New Power Query experience preview on a copy so the redesigned editor does not surprise you when it becomes the default.

FAQ

How do I open Power Query Editor in Power BI Desktop?

Go to the Home tab and select Transform data. You can also right-click a table in the Data pane and choose Edit query, or pick Transform Data in the Navigator when you connect to new data.

How do I access Power Query Editor in the Power BI service?

Open your workspace, select More options (...) on the semantic model and choose Open semantic model. Switch to Editing mode and select Transform data. You need write permission, and the model must be Import or DirectQuery.

Why is Transform data greyed out in Power BI?

Usually the report is live connected to a published semantic model or Analysis Services, so there are no local queries to edit. Direct Lake tables and missing permissions on the web cause the same thing. Edit the queries in the original model instead.

Where is Edit Queries in Power BI?

Edit Queries was renamed Transform data and sits on the Home tab. The right-click menu in the Data pane still uses the old name, Edit query, and both open the same editor.

Is Power Query Editor the same in Excel and Power BI?

The engine and M language are the same, so the steps and code work in both. The difference is where data lands: Excel loads to sheets or the Excel Data Model, while Power BI loads to a semantic model you can publish and refresh on a schedule.

Can I use Power Query Editor in Power BI on a Mac?

Power BI Desktop is Windows only. On a Mac you can edit queries in the browser by opening the semantic model in the Power BI service, or use a Dataflow Gen2 in Microsoft Fabric.

How do I see the M code in Power Query Editor?

Select View > Advanced Editor to see the full query, or turn on the formula bar from the View tab to see the code for one step. You can edit and paste code in both places.

Should I clean data in Power Query or DAX?

Clean and reshape data in Power Query so it loads ready to use. Use DAX for calculations that must react to filters and slicers, such as totals, ratios and time comparisons.