Get & Transform (Power Query) in Excel for Mac - Phase 1
Published Oct 02 2019 02:13 PM 138K Views
Microsoft

Excel 2016 for Windows introduced a powerful set of Get & Transform Data tools. These tools, based on Power Query technology, enable you to easily connect, combine, and shape data coming from a variety of sources.

 

Today, we are excited to announce the first step in a journey to support Power Query in Excel for Mac. This is by far the most popular idea on Excel UserVoice under Excel for Mac category. In this release, you can refresh your Power Query queries on Mac from Text, CSV, XLSX, XML and JSON files, and you can author queries with VBA.

 

Getting started

The new functionality is live for all Office 365 subscribers in Excel for Mac running version 16.29 (19090802) and later. If you are running an earlier version, find out how to update your Office for Mac.

 

Refreshing Power Query queries

You can now refresh the Power Query queries in your workbook that pull data from Text, CSV, XLSX, XML or JSON files. Triggering the refresh command is done the same way that you've been doing it so far. For example:

  • Click on the Data tab of the ribbon > then choose Refresh All
  • Right-click on your query table > then click Refresh
  • Right click on your PivotTable > then click Refresh Data
  • Use a VBA script
  • And more...

Mac - Refresh All.png

 

Please note that upon the first time you try to refresh your workbook queries, you may need to update the location of the data source so that it works on your Mac. Click the Data tab on the ribbon > Connections > select the desired connection > and click Change File Path button to update it.

Mac - Change File Path.png

 

Authoring Power Query queries

With this update, you can also create and manage Power Query queries in your workbook using VBA. Any existing macros and VBA scripts that reference Workbook.Queries and WorkbookQuery entities in the Excel's object model will work in Excel for Mac as expected.

Note: You may still need to adjust your scripts to reflect the notion of a file path on Mac (e.g.,  /Users/USERNAME/Desktop/data.csv) that is different than a file path on Windows (e.g., C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\data.csv).

 

Sharing your feedback

Let us know what you think and submit your feedback using Send a Smile/Frown (Send us a Smile :slightly_smiling_face: or Frown :slightly_frowning_face: button at the top right)!

Screen Shot 2019-10-02 at 10.21.31.png

 

Stay tuned for more updates!

 

Guy Hunkin

Program Manager, Excel

136 Comments
Steel Contributor

Is there a plan to actually be able to author queries using an editor similar to the one in Excel on Windows and Power BI Desktop on Windows? That is when it gets really useful.

 

Or is the end goal to support most/all data refreshes, but the assumption is the authoring happens on Windows clients?

Copper Contributor

Hi there,

 

Can you please give us an update or time frame when the Power Query feature will be included in the Excel 365 for Mac?

 

No one at Microsoft has given any Office 365 for Mac user a time frame on when this feature will be available for all Mac users.  We pay a yearly subscription to use Office 365 and we expect Office 365 for Windows to have the exact features as Office 365 for Mac.

 

KINDEST REGARDS

 

 

PAUL

Microsoft

@Ed Hansberry, the goal is to support full query authoring on Mac. As you can understand, this is an expensive project and we adopted a staged delivery plan - we aim to release valuable functionality to the users as soon as we are done with coding and testing.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Guy.

Microsoft

@The_Gov , this update is available for Excel 365 for Mac.

Copper Contributor

Due to the difference in file path names, does this mean a Power Query in a shared workbook cannot be used by both Mac and Windows users?

Microsoft

@Gareth890, yes. This is the current experience when linking to local files from shared workbooks on both Mac and Windows. Unfortunately, Mac (Unix) and Windows use completely different file paths.

Microsoft

@Gareth890 , when the data source file is located on a local drive you will need to update the location based on the user's operating system. As ODHANSON mentioned, this is by design since Mac and Windows have a different file path notion. Same goes for files stored on a network share.

 

The solution will be to host the data source file on a cloud (e.g., SharePoint folder). We are working on supporting refresh from HTTP sources but it will take us some time to get there. This is definitely ranked high on our list. I'll keep you posted.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Copper Contributor

Just trying PowerQuery on Mac .... some queries that were authored in Windows fail on refresh on Mac. Is there any way to debug what's happening on the Mac side? First thing I'm running into is this error:

[Expression.Error] The module named 'ExcelInterop' has been disabled in this context.

Microsoft

@midior 

This error is appearing because you are trying to refresh from the Excel Table/Range data source and not from a file data source (such as txt, csv or xlsx, etc.). 

Currently, we do not support this data source, but we are actively working on adding it.

Copper Contributor

Thanks .... just for planning purposes - do you think Table/Range sources will be available in the next couple months? or is it a much longer timeframe?

Microsoft

@midior , I am sorry, I cannot comment about time frames. I can share that we are actively working on this and will definitely let you know when its ready to be shipped.

Copper Contributor

Hi All,

 

I am new to this forum and a very average Excel for Mac user.  My goal is to learn how to automate what is now a manual copy and paste job that slows my productivity.

 

I am trying to build a lead list wherein I pull data from a table on a website into an existing table in Excel ("Master List"), then from that Master List auto populate a field on the same website with address data that will yield information on that address.  The resulting information would then be "scraped" or extracted and input back into the appropriate columns on my Master List automatically. Below are the webpages containing the table I need data pulled from and populated.

 

I appreciate any feedback/solutions/ideas.

 

https://dekalbtax.org/tax-sale-listing

https://dekalbtax.org/property-information

Microsoft

Hi @kmalston ,

 

I suggest you post your question under Excel discussions space here:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Excel/bd-p/ExcelGeneral

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Copper Contributor

If I have an external source in an Excel File on OneDrive or in a Google Sheet, which I can publish as a .csv, will the above mentioned functionality allow me to get data from either of them?  I have a need to have a spreadsheet which is distributed to many people to pull from a central data source.  I am looking for a simple manner to do this and Excel or Google Sheet were the two that came to mind for me.

 

 

Microsoft

@BlueCougsnHam, not at the moment. We are actively working on adding support for OAuth which is needed to authenticate the data sources you mentioned. 

We will be sure to update you once this is released.

 

Oded

Copper Contributor

Hi @Guy Hunkin 

 

Is there any update as to when power query will be available for mac Excel?

 

This is going to be a real game changer - the sooner the better!

 

Thanks

Jamie

Microsoft

Hi @jamiewashere ,

 

We announced on the first first of Power Query on Mac in this blog post. At this stage you can refresh your quires from text, CSV, XLSX, JSON and XML files, and author queries with VBA.

 

We are working to introduce refresh from additional sources, import and transform data with Query Editor however there is no concrete timeline for this yet. I encourage you to follow the announcements on this portal for upcoming updates.

 

Guy

- Excel Team 

Copper Contributor

Hi @Guy Hunkin 

 

Appreciate your response. 

Just to clarify one thing, when you say we can author queries with VBA, does that include getting data from web?  Or is it still only text, CSV etc?

 

If that does include web, would you be able to recommend any content that can help guide us in how to author via VBA?

 

thanks

Jamie

Copper Contributor

Still very disappointed with this first version. I created a Query in Excel on Windows that creates a pivot table from 4 CSV files.  Trying to refresh them and change the pivot table does nothing.  The Pivot table just says the external data source is not supported.  Sorry, and I know a lot of effort is going into this, but it should really be finished before release, 10% of the Windows user experience is far from ideal.

Microsoft

@Alex Woodrow are you trying to use Data Model ?

In any case,  can you please open a feedback item from within Excel so we are able to support you ?

 

Please make sure to add your email address and if possible the XLS file and any other information that you can in order for us to reproduce the issue you are facing

 

Oded

Copper Contributor

HI @odhanson thanks for the response.  Sorry it was only after researching it I realised that the Data Model isn't in the Mac version.  Yes my model imports 4 CSV files into a single 80m line Data Model.... Data Model is pretty critical and I understand the lack of SQL services on Mac is probably a time consuming and expensive fix.... 

Microsoft

@Alex Woodrow I suggest you vote on this feature request on the office user voice: 

 

https://excel.uservoice.com/forums/304933-excel-for-mac/suggestions/19568977-add-powerpivot-to-mac-e...

 

Oded

Copper Contributor

Hi, I am running office 365 for Mac version 16.32 (19120802), and I can't figure out where Get and Transform is (or how to enable it). Thanks in advance.

Microsoft

Hi @aezn123!

 

One of Excel trainers published a video describing how to use this feature. Please take a look at the video here. Hope it helps.

 

Guy.

- Excel Team

 

Microsoft

Hi @aezn123!

 

One of the Excel trainers published a video describing how to use this feature. Please take a look at the video here. Hope it helps.

 

Guy.

- Excel Team

 

Copper Contributor

Thank you @Guy Hunkin , but my problem is that I don't have those options shown in the video here https://youtu.be/1VRrPPkMGs8?t=61 .  I only have from From HTML, From Text and New Database Query. I don't have any other options whatsoever. Again, I am on Mac, and 365 is set up to update Insider Fast. Thanks.

 

Screen Shot 2019-12-11 at 6.06.16 PM.png

Copper Contributor
Hi Guy, in your comment above, you say "host the data source file on a cloud (e.g., SharePoint folder)" - I am finding that in the latest Excel for Mac (Insider Preview), I can refresh from a local CSV file, but I can not refresh from a CSV in SharePoint Online (this is using an Excel with PowerQuery that was created in Excel for Windows). Is this functionality supposed to be working? If so, any idea what might be going on, or how I can try to diagnose the issue? -Anthony
Microsoft

@aezn123 , what you have today in Excel for Mac is refresh from Power Query queries in the workbook that pull data from Text, CSV, XLSX, XML or JSON files. If you have a workbook with Power Query queries that import data from one of these sources, then you should be able to refresh it using Data > Refresh All command.

 

There is no option to create a new Power Query query on Mac at this stage (I believe that this is what you are looking for).

Microsoft

@Anthony_Wenzel_88 , I apologize if I was not clear enough. Currently, we do not support refreshing from SharePoint. We are working on this but it will take us some time to get.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Copper Contributor
Thank you Guy, that was the confirmation I was looking for, that this is not yet supported - now I know it's not me not being able to get this to work! Is there any published (or estimated) timeline for when this will be available, e.g. in a few months, or in a year or more? Just trying to determine if we should wait on this, or seek other solutions.
Microsoft

@Anthony_Wenzel_88 , I can't really comment on the timeline at this stage.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Microsoft

Hi @jamiewashere,

 

Here is a good place for you to learn about authoring queries with VBA:

https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/VBA-to-automate-Power-956a52d1

 

You can author queries only to the supported data sources, namely Text, CSV, XLSX, JSON and XML.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Copper Contributor
Tried to refresh Power Query, but got an error on my Mac: "[DataSource.Error] Permission denied Permission denied" The query supposed to download JSON data using Web.Contents function (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/web-contents). Everything works fine on Windows. Excel for Mac, version: 16.33 (20011301)
Copper Contributor

Hi Guys , I am Daniel from Argentina

As I have seen, Power Query has no problema in Excel for Windows

Nonetheless I still can not find it on MAC , do you know how can I make it work?

I have © 2010 Microsoft Corporation, Version 14.4.6

Do I need another version? In that case, where can I find it?

Thanks in advance,

Daniel

Microsoft

@DanielBenzaquen , the new functionality is available for customers running Office 365 for Mac version 16.29 (19090802) and later.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Copper Contributor

Hi Guy, @Guy Hunkin 

 

Thanks for your quick response.

 

I have installed Office 365, so I do have Power Query now

The thing is that I would like to play with database and column dynamization override.

I guess I need Power Pivot for this?

Do you have any idea if it is available?

 

Thanks once again,

Daniel

Microsoft

@DanielBenzaquen ,

 

Power Query refresh from SQL Server on Mac is coming soon.

As to your second question, then Power Pivot is not available on Mac. I am not aware of any plans to do this work in the near future.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Copper Contributor

Hello, I have very latest version of Office 365 and in excel I still cannot see more options in Data --> Get External Data. I can see only below 3 options.

 

Screenshot 2020-04-05 at 12.21.13 PM.png

 

Please suggest step by step way to enable other options as well which are shown in the video. I would like to extract the data from Salesforce. I would like to see all below options. How to enable it???

 

Screenshot 2020-04-05 at 12.23.41 PM.png

 

 

 

Copper Contributor

@Dhananjay23 I have the same issue
I do not see the option to get data from file :(
Let´s see if @Guy Hunkin can help us out!

thanks!

Copper Contributor

Any inputs on connecting to teradata?

Microsoft

@Pavan_Tadi , we do not support import or refresh from Teradata on Mac yet.

Microsoft

@Dhananjay23 @DanielBenzaquen 

As I mentioned in the blog post, at this stage we support only refresh of Power Query queries that pull data from files on Mac. We do not support import with Power Query yet. We are working on this, but I don't have any concrete timeline for you yet.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Copper Contributor

@Guy Hunkin Thanks for your reply!

Actually I do want to pull data from a file on my Mac. But I do not see the option. 

 

As on screen-shot above I only have Get external DATA option,

  • From HTML
  • From text
  • New Database query

Am I doing something wrong?

Sorry for being so insistent haha! :)

Copper Contributor

So basically you mean first need to do query in Windows & then just change the file path for further process in Mac?? How can I merge my table datas in Microsoft Excel for Mac Version 16.35 (20030802) ?

Copper Contributor

I have authored power queries on Windows laptop and then try to refresh on Mac but get error.  All I am accessing in the query is a Table in the same file but I get the expression error Excellnterop.  I thought that PQ on Mac had been enhanced to facilitate access to tables.  Any ideas or have I misunderstood?

Microsoft

@AndrewJPC what version of Excel for Mac are you currently using ? The refresh from Table/Range is currently enabled for our Insiders audience.

 

Oded

Copper Contributor

That might be the problem - I am on 16.36.  If I signed up for the Insiders would I get it?

Copper Contributor

@odhanson  or @midior has this been resolved yet?  I'm getting this error when a Mac user tries to update the pivot table, but not when a PC user tries to update the pivot table.  Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Just trying PowerQuery on Mac .... some queries that were authored in Windows fail on refresh on Mac. Is there any way to debug what's happening on the Mac side? First thing I'm running into is this error:

[Expression.Error] The module named 'ExcelInterop' has been disabled in this context.

Microsoft

@DanielBenzaquen 

 

What is currently supported is the scenario when you first create a Power Query query that pulls data from a local file on your Win32 Desktop, then move your workbook to Mac and try to refresh your query there. Please refer to this video for more information.

 

At this stage you cannot create a new Power Query query in your Excel for Mac.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

Microsoft

@quries 

 

Yes, that's right. You first create your query that pulls data from a file on Win32 Desktop version of Excel, then you can open this workbook on Mac and refresh your queries from there. You will need to change the file path first. Please refer to this video for more information.

 

Also what do you mean by "merge my table datas"? If the intention is to refresh data from a Table/Range in the current workbook, then this functionality is coming to Excel for the Mac soon.

 

Guy

- Excel Team

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