Power Query Intermediate Lesson 1: Parameters – One Folder Path for Every Query

📎 This article includes 3 downloadable practice files ↓

📘 Power Query Intermediate Course · Lesson 1 of 8

Every query you build has the full path baked into its Source step. Move the folder, or send the file to a colleague, and every query breaks. Put the path in one place.

Option A: a named cell (best for sharing)

1. In a sheet, type the folder in a cell, e.g. D:\PQ\, and name the cell FolderPath (Name Box).
2. In each query’s Advanced Editor, add at the top:

Folder = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="FolderPath"]}[Content]{0}[Column1],
Source = Csv.Document(File.Contents(Folder & "invoices.csv"), [Delimiter=",", Encoding=65001]),

A colleague types their own path in the cell and clicks Refresh All.

Option B: a parameter

Home > Manage Parameters > New: name Folder, type Text, current value D:\PQ\. Use Folder & "invoices.csv" in the Source step. Change it any time from Manage Parameters.

Type early

The lesson’s query filters [Date] >= #date(2026, 8, 1). That only works after Table.TransformColumnTypes turns the text into real dates; comparing text dates gives wrong results silently.

Practice

Unzip the source files (e.g. to D:\PQ\). Try to build the query with the ribbon first, then compare with the M solution and the expected result. Every solution was run by Excel’s own Power Query engine before publishing.