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Using Excel PowerQuery & Power Pivot for Big Data (PC)

New session times will be displayed below upon confirmation.

Effective immediately in response to COVID-19, most Technology Training classes will be delivered online until further notice.

In advance of each session, Tech Training will provide you with a Zoom link to your class, along with any required class materials.


PowerQuery is the answer to big data that doesn't fit in Excel, integrating data from multiple sources, and cleaning up data. This advanced class will cover PowerQuery and Power Pivot as tools for analyzing and organizing large amounts of information.

Prerequisites: Basic and Advanced Excel knowledge and applied experience.

Note: this class is focused on PC computers only as Power Pivot is not available on Mac computers yet. Power Query is, but not Power Pivot.

The amount of data in business and corporations is exploding, providing massive new insight opportunities.  People who need to analyze large data sets for their jobs no longer need to rely on IT departments (and the long wait times this often requires).  Now, they can use these "power" tools themselves to get the results they need. Power Query allows us to import data sets from outside of Excel and from various data sources into one location to analyze and work with.

Learning Objectives

During this course, participants will have the opportunity to learn how to:

  • Import data into Excel with PowerQuery
  • Clean up data in PowerQuery
  • Explore the concepts of relational databases
  • Review Excel's Data Model
  • Create and edit queries in PowerQuery
  • Analyze data with Power Pivot

Topics Include:

  • Benefits of Power Query & Power Pivot
  • Understand relational databases
  • Excel's Data Model
  • Importing from various data sources
  • Creating relationships among various data sets
  • Creating & Editing Queries
  • Data Analysis with Power Pivot
  • Basing a Pivot Table on a Data Model
  • Calculated Columns, Measures, and the DAX Language


University IT Technology Training classes are only available to Stanford University staff, faculty, students and Stanford Hospitals & Clinics employees. A valid SUNet ID is needed in order to enroll in a class.

Custom training workshops are available for this program

Technology training sessions structured around individual or group learning objectives. Learn more about custom training


University IT Technology Training sessions are available to a wide range of participants, including Stanford University staff, faculty, students, and employees of Stanford Hospitals & Clinics, such as Stanford Health Care, Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley, Stanford Medicine Partners, and Stanford Medicine Children's Health.

Additionally, some of these programs are open to interested individuals not affiliated with Stanford, allowing for broader community engagement and learning opportunities.