Join us at FabCon Atlanta from March 16 - 20, 2026, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.
Register now!Vote for your favorite vizzies from the Power BI Dataviz World Championship submissions. Vote now!
I can change the data type (for example) using the modelling tab in the data view of desktop but I can also do this in the "edit query" function.
What is the difference and should I really be using the "edit query" function to make changes to my data?
thanks
Solved! Go to Solution.
The function of the Query editor is to clean, shape and transform the data from a data source and load to the PowerBI Engine. Whereas Data View is the part of the PowerBI Engine to model the imported data and define calculations using DAX for complex calculations. This datamodel is used to prepare the report on the canvas later.
As explained before, It would be a good practise to use the right tool for the right job to get the right results.
There is no difference. You can use either of the tools to set data type. Query Editor and PowerBI Engine both works on the Different engines and languages. Query Editor uses M Language whereas PowerBI Engine uses DAX.
The function of the Query editor is to clean, shape and transform the data from a data source and load to the PowerBI Engine. Whereas Data View is the part of the PowerBI Engine to model the imported data and define calculations using DAX for complex calculations. This datamodel is used to prepare the report on the canvas later.
As explained before, It would be a good practise to use the right tool for the right job to get the right results.
There is no difference. You can use either of the tools to set data type. Query Editor and PowerBI Engine both works on the Different engines and languages. Query Editor uses M Language whereas PowerBI Engine uses DAX.
Vote for your favorite vizzies from the Power BI World Championship submissions!
If you love stickers, then you will definitely want to check out our Community Sticker Challenge!
Check out the January 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.
| User | Count |
|---|---|
| 64 | |
| 56 | |
| 43 | |
| 20 | |
| 17 |
| User | Count |
|---|---|
| 123 | |
| 108 | |
| 44 | |
| 32 | |
| 26 |