Power Query Explainer
Get a comment on every step of your Power Query queries, or a cleaner version that returns the same data, checked before you paste it back. One query at a time, or the whole model at once, read straight from a PBIP folder, with a plain-language document for business readers.
Paste a query from the Advanced Editor
One query at a time. Nothing leaves this page until you paste the prompt into Copilot yourself.
- In Power BI Desktop, select Home > Transform data to open Power Query.
- Select the query on the left, then Home > Advanced Editor.
- Click in the code, press Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C, and paste it below.
Check the steps
Read straight from the code, without AI: what each step calls, which earlier step it uses, and things worth a look.
| # | Step | Calls | Uses | Findings |
|---|
Copy the prompt into Copilot
Choose who the comments are for, then paste the prompt into Copilot and send it.
Paste Copilot’s reply
Paste the whole reply. The comments go above each step; the code itself stays exactly as it is.
- Open the same query’s Advanced Editor, press Ctrl+A and paste.
- Select Done. Only
//comment lines were added, so the data doesn’t change. - The comment above each step also shows as its tooltip in Applied Steps.
| Step | What it does |
|---|
Choose the changes and copy the prompt
Copilot is told to keep the result exactly the same. The findings from Step 2 go into the prompt too.
Paste Copilot’s reply and check it
The cleaned query is compared with yours: step references, the data source, filters and values that disappeared.
Compare with the original
- Keep a copy first: right-click the query > Duplicate.
- Create the parameters above before you paste.
- Open the original query’s Advanced Editor, press Ctrl+A, paste the cleaned query and select Done.
- Compare the two: the same columns and types, and the same row count (Transform > Count Rows on each, then delete that step).
- When they match, delete the duplicate.
Get every query from your model
The Power Query code behind every loaded table, plus queries that aren’t loaded, functions and parameters. Read it from a PBIP folder, or run one DAX query in Power BI Desktop.
From a PBIP folder
For a report saved as a Power BI Project (File > Save as > Power BI project files). Choose the project folder or its .SemanticModel folder. The queries are read from the model’s TMDL files, or from model.bim in older projects. Files are read on this page; nothing is uploaded.
Or export them from Power BI Desktop
- Open your report in Power BI Desktop and select DAX query view on the left rail.
- Paste the query below into a new query tab and select Run.
- Above the results grid, select Copy. It copies every row with the column headers. Paste it in the box below.
Or copy them from TMDL view
- In Power BI Desktop, select TMDL view on the left rail.
- From the Data pane, drag the semantic model (or the tables and queries you want) into the editor. It writes them as a script.
- Click in the script, press Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C, and paste it in the box below.
Check every query
These checks run without AI, across all queries at once. To clean up a query, select Open on its row.
Queries
| ExplainExplain | Query | Type | Steps | Uses | Used by | Findings | Actions |
|---|
Explain them in batches
Each prompt covers the next few ticked queries that still need comments. Copy it, send it in Copilot, then paste the reply in Step 4. Repeat until the bar is full.
Paste each reply
Each reply adds to the comments you already have; nothing is replaced. Steps Copilot leaves out go back in the queue.
- Select Home > Transform data, then for each query: select it, open Advanced Editor, press Ctrl+A and paste its commented code.
- Select Done. Only
//comment lines were added, so the data doesn’t change. - Copy all as one document is for keeping a record; don’t paste it into a query.
- Save a copy of the report first, so you can go back.
- In Power BI Desktop, select TMDL view on the left rail, open a new tab, paste the script and select Apply.
- It replaces each listed query with its commented version, keeping its other settings. Refresh the tables if Power BI asks; only
//comment lines were added.
Explain it to the business
A document for people who use the reports but don’t work in Power BI: where each table’s data comes from, what is kept, left out or worked out, and what one row means. Copilot writes the plain-language part; the sources, settings and links between tables are read from the code.