Meet the Parakeets (Ahem, Parameters)

I’m kicking off a 12-week (that's the plan don't hold me to it :) ) dive into Power Query, not the "dry tech doc" kind of series, but a weekly, bite-sized look at what Power Query can do for you.

Whether you’re into spreadsheets, building dashboards, or just trying to stop manually cleaning up CSVs every week, Power Query could be one of your tools in your kit.

And we’re starting with a surprisingly parameters. Or, as my lovely Samsung drag keyboard decided I meant, "Parakeets". Is this similar to the "duck" replacement?

Why Use Parameters in Power Query?

Let’s say you’re working with a file that lives in a folder somewhere. What happens when that folder moves? Or the file name changes?

You could edit your query every time. Or you could set up a parameter.

A parameter is a named input you can use in your query logic. It might define:

• A file path

• A date filter

• A currency code

• A threshold value, really anything you can think of.

• 
  

Once it’s set, you can reference it again and again. Change it in one place, and your whole query updates automatically. That’s not just convenience, that’s automation, its building for your future self.

How about an example, Dynamic File Path

Here’s a classic use case: you have a report that pulls in a monthly CSV file. Instead of hardcoding the path to "C:\Users\Reports\Sales.csv", create a parameter called FilePath.

You can do this in Power Query by going to:

Home > Manage Parameters > New Parameter

Next time you move folder for "Sales.csv"? Just update the parameter. No broken queries. No digging through M code. Just refresh and go.

Why It Matters

Using parameters is your first step into making queries:

• Reusable

• User-friendly

• Ready for automation

This becomes quite useful when you’re working in Power BI, building out dashboards for different regions, or automating reports across multiple teams or systems.

Parameters can be used in call kinds of areas, think API requests, Business Central environment queries, functions (we will get into these later), date filtering. The options and use cases are endless.

So next time you are looking at parakeets, you know what they are.

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