Allow interaction with Excel while in Power Query
Please make the Power Query editor window (Get Data) non-model. When building complex queries, we often need to go back to Excel to change a worksheet and look at data. Right now, the Power Query editor window takes control over the application, preventing interaction with Excel.
The current behaviour makes it very difficult to do things like the following:
-Mid query, go back and check a worksheet to see exactly what a cell value may be that you want to refer to
-When we have a static table in Excel and are trying to build a query that lands an output in that shape, we can't hop back and forth and check how close we are
In the current implementation, we must close & load the query, check what we need, then re-open the query. Alternately we need to take a screen shot of the needed, or open a second Excel process in order to allow interaction. None of these are good solutions.
Ken Puls
shared this idea
Hi Ken,
Thanks for logging this suggestion. Yes, this could be quite useful. Others that’re interested in this, please do log your votes so we’ll prioritize this work appropriately.
thanks
Ashvini Sharma
Lead Program Manager
Excel
40 comments
-
Anonymous
commented
Omg, this is so foolish. I have to open Excel file in Google Sheets in order to read specs for my PQ output. It doesn't even allow a separate Excel application instance to run. I might as well look for better product, it will take 12 years for you to fix this. Good lock, stay safe!
-
Malcolm
commented
Over two years and we still don't have this. It's still back in the dark ages for this where you could only run one program at a time. Screenshots or handwritten notes really should not be needed in this day and age but it is the only way of seeing the data file and the query at the same time!
-
Anonymous
commented
And please, with the Online version. Why is there this rediculous issue of 30Meg file size? My company use the online version to capture data and after a year the file size is at 27 Meg. If we reach 30 we might as well get rid of our whole system and move to Google. And not to mention not able to lunk files. WTF....
-
Sam Vanderslink
commented
This would likely solve the issue of having to alt+tab twice to get away from the PQ editor window.
-
Anonymous
commented
Would love this. Currently get around it by snipping pictures, or padtinf vales into word or one note. Very clumsy.
-
Argenis Chaffardet
commented
It’s important, so yes please, we are wasting time going back every time.
-
Diederik
commented
Yes please! Just like in Power BI!
-
Edgard Stultjens
commented
Yes please: Excel Power Query frustration #1!
-
Mark
commented
This annoys me every single day. Please fix it.
-
Anonymous
commented
This has always been very frustrating
-
Anonymous
commented
Agreed.
-
Imke Feldmann
commented
Please implement this feature.
I often find myself wanting to check or adjust figures from the workbook.
Opening the file in a 2nd instance will mean read-only mode, so adjustments are not possible. -
Guido
commented
So obvious, it actually hurts it's not like that. I agree with previous reactions: PowerPivot allows it, it should have been working like this from day 1, we should not be asking this.
Thank you Ken for putting this on the user voice. -
shan
commented
Why on earth do you, MS, feel that this is something that "could be quite useful"??? This is something that we shouldn't have to ask for. This is not a "nice to have" or an "improvement opportunity". This is a defect and should be treated accordingly.
I know you have so many legitimate defects that it is likely overwhelming however, that is your own fault.
Please fix your defects, many, if not most, of which worked correctly in prior versions; STOP focusing on your ridiculous, flawed, useless Online program versions. PLEASE. We beg of you. Implore you, even.
-
João Santos
commented
100% agree. Power Pivot allows it.
-
Roy
commented
Shift - Shortcut Icon works too.
But such things would leave a person shy here as Chris Newman needs the file open in the original so could not open it in the second/third/twentieth instance.
However, one can open multiple windows for a single file. I have not tested this with PQ so conceivably one could open 30 windows on the file and they all get Bogarted by PQ so none of them can be seen. Hopefully not. Since they should themselves also be SDI (yuck) windows, one should be able to size things on a single monitor or drag the "see" window to a second monitor while using PQ in the original one on the first monitor and then see both views, PQ and the file. Interactive too, maybe, and likely nicer than screenshots though whether it is better than screenshots I cannot say.
The multiple instance of Excel thing used to be really useful now and then. Open three files with the same name, different directories? Use multiple instances. Couple other nice things. But since only one application can have a given file open at a time and SDI makes Excel and Windows see the separate instances as utterly foreign to each other programs, it seems unlikely it would let the second one open the file too.
Maybe if the file were set for sharing. Excel shouldn't care that the others are all "on the same computer" as they are just fully separate instances on the same computer.
-
JoeP
commented
Should never be necessary, but wanted to pass along a work around I picked up.
You can launch a separate instance of Excel by holding the ALT key as you select the Excel link on the Task Bar. I have found it does not always react to the held ALT key and sometime requires multiple attempts.
Don't know what I would be doing if I didn't have this work around. -
Chris Newman
commented
Wow....honestly, it is pretty ridiculous that this issue even exists! Especially with how long PQ has been around.
I'm trying to automate some complex data manipulations with PQ and was flabbergasted that I couldn't navigate to my already existing end result in Excel while building the query. Am I supposed to memorize all the steps I need to build?! I'm getting around this for now by using screenshots.
Could you imagine having this issue with the Visual Basic Editor window? Please, please fix this!
-
Richard Williams
commented
Agree
-
Martin
commented
I completely agree, the possibility to switch between PQ editor and Excel would really help a lot (which is by the way already possibly for Power Pivot!).
So please, implement this feature!