Courses / Power Query (Get & Transform)
9. Detect Data Type
Using the automatic 'Detect Data Type' feature to infer column types and its limitations.
Power Query M
Detect Data Type
Automatically inferring column types (text, number, date, etc.) from sample values when Power Query loads data.
"I let Power Query guess the column types, but some dates and numbers came out wrong."
Detect Data Type is Power Query's feature that inspects column values and inserts type-conversion steps (e.g., Text -> Date or Number) so downstream operations use typed values instead of raw text. It speeds up cleanup but can misinterpret values when formats or mixed types exist.
"I let Power Query guess the column types, but some dates and numbers came out wrong."
Detect Data Type is Power Query's feature that inspects column values and inserts type-conversion steps (e.g., Text -> Date or Number) so downstream operations use typed values instead of raw text. It speeds up cleanup but can misinterpret values when formats or mixed types exist.