Almanac
Microsoft/power-biPower Platform

Consultant KB for Microsoft Power BI: semantic models, DAX and modelling, Power Query and dataflows, reports and visuals, the service and workspaces, capacity and performance, embedding and integration, governance and security, ALM and deployment, and licensing, plus cross-cutting decision guides. Scoped to Power BI, with Microsoft Fabric covered where it touches Power BI directly. Implementation notes, configuration decisions and the gotchas that bite on real projects. Populated by the daily author agent from the Power BI release plans, docs repo and product blog, plus the author's own consultant notes.

power-bi/03-power-query-and-dataflows/feature-new-power-query-experience.md
feature-new-power-query-experience.mdv1 · history
CurrentApplies to DesktopUpdated 3 days agoSource Microsoft Learn ↗

Status: Public Preview — behaviour may change.

What it does

A redesigned Get Data and Power Query Editor for Power BI Desktop, built to match Power Query Online in web modelling and the rest of Fabric. Same M engine, new editing surface. The modern Get Data arrived in preview in May 2026, and the full editor joined it in preview in September 2026.

Key facts

  • Preview. Turn it on in File > Options and settings > Options > Preview features > New Power Query experience. Turning it off brings back the legacy editor, and that's Microsoft's workaround for almost every known issue.
  • Get Data becomes a left-hand navigation: Home, New (all connectors, searchable by category), Recent data, OneLake catalog, Blank table and Blank query.
  • The OneLake catalog in Get Data lets you pick Fabric items you have access to and choose the connectivity mode there.
  • Microsoft publishes a known-limitations page with over 100 entries. The ones most likely to matter on a project:
    • Missing connectors: ODBC, OLE DB, SAP, Essbase, HDFS and AtScale Models aren't in the new experience yet.
    • Analysis Services connections drop back to the legacy flow, with no live / import / DirectQuery choice.
    • Snowflake key-pair, Teradata LDAP and Web API key authentication aren't available, and SAS key auth to Azure Blob and ADLS Gen2 fails.
    • Change source is missing from data source settings, and there's no Quick Access Toolbar or Binary Open As.
    • Date pickers are missing in conditional column, row filter and parameter dialogs, and Windows date formats aren't honoured in the preview.
  • Custom data sources secured through Entra ID can't be connected in the new experience.
  • The setting doesn't affect Power Query Online in web modelling, which already uses the modern surface.

When to use / skip

Turn it on for analysts who mainly use common cloud and file connectors, and for anyone who also works in web modelling or dataflows Gen2: one editor everywhere is the real benefit. Leave it off on any machine that touches SAP, ODBC, OLE DB or Snowflake key-pair auth, and for anyone maintaining legacy models where Change source and the old ribbon are part of daily work.

Configuration decisions

  • Whether to standardise the toggle across a team, or leave it per user and accept two editors in support calls.
  • Which connectors are in scope. Check them against the limitations list before recommending it.
  • Whether training material is written for the new surface now or after GA.

Gotchas

  • The toggle is per user and per Desktop install, so screenshots in your build guide won't match half the team.
  • Recent sources lists are separate between the two experiences, so switching makes recent connections look as if they've disappeared.
  • The Navigator can show a stale list. Refresh the data preview in the editor before assuming a new dataflow or table doesn't exist.
  • Keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+E (column from examples) and Ctrl+Alt+C (custom column) don't work yet.
  • RTL layouts have a long list of rendering issues. Check before rolling out to Arabic or Hebrew-language users.

Consultant notes

  • Don't mandate it on a project yet. Offer it to the people it suits and keep the legacy editor as the documented baseline until GA.
  • Run the client's actual connector list against the limitations page in the first week. Missing SAP or ODBC support is a blocker you want to find early.
  • The selling point is consistency with Fabric. If the roadmap is dataflows Gen2 and web modelling, getting analysts used to this surface now pays off later.

Worth revisiting when it reaches GA or the limitations list shrinks noticeably

Was this accurate?
Related
Power BI KB — Features & Changelog_rootXMLA endpoint09-alm-and-deploymentODBC to ADBC driver transition03-power-query-and-dataflowsPower BI on Dynamics 365 dashboards07-embedding-and-integrationPower BI vs native Dynamics 365 reporting11-decision-guidesExternal tools09-alm-and-deployment