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How to Fix Power Query Not Importing New Excel Columns
Question details
Users are unable to see newly added columns from their source Excel files after refreshing their Power Query.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Refreshing a Power Query to include newly added columns from an existing Excel data source.
- Observed behavior
- The newly added columns do not appear in the final Power Query output, often because they are blocked by hardcoded column lists in the "Changed Type" step or other preceding transformations.
Before modifying your query steps, ensure that the source Excel file has been saved with the newly added columns and that there are no hidden trailing spaces or typos in the new column headers.
Remove and Recreate the Changed Type Step
The easiest way to fix this issue is by deleting the hardcoded "Changed Type" step and letting Power Query detect the new columns naturally.
Power Query automatically creates a "Changed Type" step when importing data. This step hardcodes the names of all existing columns. If a new column is added to the source, this step ignores it because it is not in the hardcoded list.
Go to the Data tab in Excel and click on "Queries & Connections". Double-click your query to open the Power Query Editor.
On the right side of the screen, look at the "Applied Steps" pane.
Find the step named "Changed Type" (or similar) and click the "X" icon next to it to delete it temporarily.
Click "Refresh Preview" to allow Power Query to pull in the new columns. Then, select all columns (Ctrl + A), navigate to the "Transform" tab, and click "Detect Data Type" to recreate the step with all columns included.
Manually Edit the M Code to Include New Columns
Advanced users can manually append the new column and its data type directly into the formula bar without deleting the step.
Check Preceding Steps for Column Restrictions
If adjusting the Changed Type step does not work, earlier steps like "Remove Other Columns" might be blocking the new data.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the "Changed Type" step break my Power Query when source columns change?
The "Changed Type" step automatically hardcodes the exact names of all columns present at the time it was created. If new columns are added, they aren't in this hardcoded list and are subsequently ignored in the data type assignment. If an existing column is removed or renamed, the hardcoded step throws a "column not found" error.
How do I make my Power Query dynamic so it always imports new columns?
To keep queries dynamic, avoid using steps that hardcode column names, such as "Remove Other Columns" or the automatically generated "Changed Type". You can delete the "Changed Type" step entirely if strict data typing isn't necessary for your analysis, or apply data typing only to specific columns rather than the entire table.
I deleted the Changed Type step, but my new Excel column is still missing. What's wrong?
If the column is still missing, a different preceding step is likely filtering it out. Check for steps like "Removed Columns", "Kept First Rows", or check your source range. If you imported data from a static range (e.g., A1:D100) instead of a dynamic Excel Table, new columns outside that range won't be imported. Format your source data as an Excel Table (Ctrl+T) to fix this.
