Power BI: Combining data from different sources

Power BI is a Data Visualization product developed by Microsoft. It can get data from different sources, which can be combined and cleaned. The transformed data can be modeled and visualized using a variety of Visualization tools. These interactive visualizations can be shared with stakeholders in the form of reports or dashboards.

Image by Author

Normally, we would have to use data from multiple data sources to come up with a final visualization. In many scenarios, we might have to append several files into one or combine files to arrive at a result. This can be achieved in two ways.

For learning purposes, let’s say that we have to use all the files in a folder to come up with a report. The first method is to import each file into Power BI and append the tables

Append Queries

Import the files separately by selecting the type of file that you are going to use. In this example, we will be using CSV files. Once you have imported it, don’t directly load the files. Instead, click on Transform while importing.

Import data to Power BI (Image by Author)

In the left pane, you will be able to see the imported files.