Append Queries in Power Query: How to Combine Tables

To append queries in Power Query for Excel on Windows, open the Power Query Editor and choose Home > Append Queries or Home > Append Queries as New. Select the queries to stack, then confirm. Append adds rows from one table beneath rows from another; it does not join records side by side.

What Append Queries means

Appending is Power Query’s way to combine datasets that have the same kind of records. For example, you might have one query for January orders and another for February orders. Appending them produces a result containing January’s rows followed by February’s rows, ready to filter, summarize, or load into Excel.

The two tables do not have to contain exactly the same columns. Power Query matches columns by their header names, rather than by their positions. If one query has a column that the other does not, the combined result includes that column; rows from the query without it show a null value there. This makes append useful for recurring reports whose monthly files are mostly consistent but occasionally have additional fields.

Append combines query results, not the physical worksheets or files themselves. The source queries remain available, and the appended query uses their results when it is refreshed. That distinction matters if you want to preserve separate monthly queries or build a reusable reporting process.

How appending works

Imagine a table called JanuarySales with columns Date, Product, and Amount, and another called FebruarySales with those same columns. Append puts the rows together in one result. It does not match a January record to a February record, calculate a difference, or remove duplicates automatically. If the same transaction appears in both inputs, both copies remain unless you remove duplicates in a separate step.

Power Query builds an ordered set of columns from the input queries. It aligns values under matching column names, even when the columns appear in a different order in the source queries. A column called Product is not the same as a column called Product Name, so those names create separate output columns. Likewise, an extra space or a spelling variation in a header can prevent values from lining up as intended.

Appending does not by itself guarantee that every column has the correct data type. Dates, numbers, and text should be checked in the combined query, especially when source files were prepared by different people or software. A value that looks like a number in one source may be text in another, which can affect later calculations and sorting.

Steps to append two queries in Excel

Open the workbook and make sure each source is available as a Power Query query. For worksheet data, select a cell in the range and use Data > From Table/Range to create a query. Confirm that the table has meaningful column headers.
In the Power Query Editor, select the query you want to use as the starting query. Choose Home > Append Queries to add rows to that query, or choose Home > Append Queries as New to create a separate result query while keeping both inputs unchanged.
In the Append dialog, select Two tables, then choose the first and second queries from the lists. The first table is the query being appended to when you use Append Queries; with Append Queries as New, select both inputs in the dialog.
Select OK. Review the resulting preview, paying attention to column names, nulls, data types, and the number of rows.
When the result is ready, choose Home > Close & Load, or use the available Close & Load To option if you need to select where the result goes. You can also keep the query connection-only when you do not need a visible worksheet output.

The exact dialog wording can vary slightly with the selected append command, but the key choice is whether to change an existing query or create a new one. If the original queries are valuable as separate outputs, creating a new appended query is usually easier to maintain.

Appending three or more queries

For several inputs, choose Home > Append Queries as New and select Three or more tables in the dialog. Add each query you want in the Available tables list to the Tables to append list, then select OK. The result combines the rows from every selected query. The same name-based column matching rules apply across all of them.

This is often clearer than repeatedly appending pairs of queries. For example, a yearly sales result can use twelve monthly queries in a single append operation. Give the output a descriptive name, such as AnnualSales, and keep the monthly queries named consistently. That organization makes it easier to identify which inputs feed the final result when you revisit the workbook.

What happens when columns do not match

Power Query does not require identical layouts, but differences can produce surprising output. If the January query has Date, Product, and Amount, while February has Date, Product, Amount, and Region, the result has all four columns. February rows can contain Region values; January rows have null in Region. Null means no value was supplied for that row in that column. It is not automatically the same as an empty text string, zero, or a worksheet cell that merely looks blank.

Before appending, compare headers and decide whether variations represent the same information. Rename equivalent columns so they share one name, and remove columns that are not useful. If a field genuinely exists only in some sources, retaining the extra column may be appropriate. If a column is misspelled in only one query, correct it before appending rather than trying to repair confusing duplicate columns afterward.

Also check data types after the append. A Date column should be a date, and Amount should be numeric if you plan to total it. Select the relevant column and use the data type control in the Power Query Editor to set an appropriate type. If a conversion produces errors, inspect the original values: a currency symbol, a text note, or an inconsistent date format may be the cause.

A practical monthly sales example

Suppose a business receives one Excel table per month, and each table contains OrderDate, SKU, Units, and NetSales. Create a query for each month, check that the header names are consistent, and append the monthly queries as a new query called AllSales. The result is one row per source record, with the same four fields available for filtering and reporting.

If a new month includes a SalesChannel column, the combined result can include it without discarding the older records. Rows from months that lack that field will have null in SalesChannel. You can then decide whether the missing value should remain blank, be replaced with a label such as Not recorded, or be handled in a later analysis step. Do not label missing information as a specific channel unless the source data supports that conclusion.

When next month’s data arrives, add or update its source query and refresh the workbook. If the query was designed around a folder or another changing source, new files may be incorporated through that source setup; simply appending a fixed list of twelve query names does not automatically discover a thirteenth query. The source design determines what refresh can include.

Append versus Merge

Append and Merge are different operations. Append stacks rows from tables with similar fields. Merge combines tables by matching values in one or more selected columns, much like a lookup or relational join, and brings selected fields from one table alongside fields from another.

For example, use append to combine two lists of orders from different months. Use merge when an orders table needs customer details from a separate customer table, matching on a customer ID. If you need to preserve every order as a separate record, appending is generally the relevant operation. If you need to enrich each record with related information, consider a merge and choose the join kind that fits which unmatched records should remain.

Common problems and fixes

Values appear in separate columns: Check for header differences such as Customer versus Customer Name, extra spaces, or spelling variations. Rename equivalent columns consistently before appending.
Some cells show null: Confirm whether that input query actually contains the column and a value for those rows. Null is expected when a source lacks a field; it does not necessarily signal a failed append.
Totals or sorting behave unexpectedly: Check the data type shown for each column. Convert numeric text or date text to the intended type and address any conversion errors.
The output contains repeated records: Append retains records from every input, including duplicates. Identify the appropriate columns that define a duplicate before using a remove-duplicates step; removing duplicates on the wrong fields can discard legitimate transactions.
A new file is missing after refresh: Check whether the appended query includes that file’s query or whether the source is configured to discover files dynamically. Refresh cannot include a source that the query does not reference.

When troubleshooting, inspect the preview of each input query as well as the final result. Fixing a header or type in the source query often makes the append easier to understand and keeps the correction in one place, rather than adding several special-case steps to the combined output.

Refresh, loading, and version notes

An appended query can be refreshed from Excel using Data > Refresh All. Power Query reruns the steps against the current source data, so changes to referenced tables or files can flow into the result. If a source has moved, been renamed, or requires updated access, refresh may fail until that source connection is corrected.

Loading the result to a worksheet is useful when people need to inspect or filter the combined rows directly. For larger or intermediate datasets, keeping a query connection-only can avoid placing an unnecessary copy on a sheet. The best choice depends on how the output will be used; an appended query can also feed another query or a reporting workflow.

These menu paths are for Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows. Power Query availability, connectors, and authoring controls can differ by Excel version and platform. Excel for Mac has Power Query capabilities, but the supported connectors and interface can vary by release; Excel for the web does not provide the same full query-authoring experience as the Windows desktop editor. If a command is not present, check the specific version’s Power Query support rather than assuming the append logic is different.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Append Queries add rows or columns?
It adds rows, stacking one query’s records beneath another’s. To bring fields from a related table into the same records, use Merge instead.

Do column names have to match to append queries?
No, but matching names determine which values align. Different names become separate columns, and rows from a query missing a column receive null in that field.

Does appending remove duplicates?
No. Append retains rows from all selected queries. Add a deliberate duplicate-removal step only after deciding which fields identify a duplicate record.

Can I append more than two queries?
Yes. Choose Append Queries as New, select Three or more tables, and add all the queries you want to combine to the selected list.

Will a new query be included automatically when I refresh?
Only if the appended query references it or its source is set up to discover new data, such as files in a configured folder. A fixed append list does not automatically include every newly created query.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

More in How-to basics

Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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