Installing Power Query
The Power Query add-on is installed by default in Excel 2016 and can be found in the Get & Transform section of the Data tab. However, for Excel 2010 and 2013, the add-on needs to be downloaded and installed. You can download the most recent version from the Microsoft site.
There are three things you should know about this download package:
- It takes admin rights to install.
- You need to get the correct version: 32bit (x86) or 64bit (x64). This MUST match your version of Office (not Windows) that is installed on your system. To figure this out, open Excel and go to File --> Account --> About Excel. The "bitness" should be listed at the end.
- Power Query gets updated about pretty much ever month (which is awesome), so watch for those updates as new functionality is added all the time!
If you have downloaded the latest version but don't seem to have all the current Data Connectors, this may be due to your version of Excel. Check out our article about Data Connectors for Power Query in Excel for more information.
Installing Power BI Desktop
Power BI Desktop is available to download for free from Microsoft. The Download button will automatically grab the 64bit version, so if you need the 32bit version click on the Advanced Download Options link below the Download button, or visit https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=45331. Once there, click on the Download button and select the first file, the one that does NOT have "x64" at the end of its name.
Keeping Abreast of Updates
Power Query is updated approximately every month, constantly shipping with new features. To keep up to date with the new features, follow the Microsoft Excel blog, and specifically for Power Query (Get & Transform) posts. Just a note for Excel 2016: if you are running a subscription version, updates will be installed automatically; you do not have to download and install the newest version of the add-in as you do for Excel 2010/2013.
Power BI is also updated at least once every month as new features and previews are constantly coming out. Following Microsoft's Power BI blog is the best way to learn about what's been released in the latest version, and a download link is usually available right in the feature summary.
