Forum Discussion
Default query when opening Power Query?
Hi Anonymous , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.
The file is auto opening on Hormel because your target query is part of an active dependency chain (you show Source = Table.Combine({Hormel, #"Not Hormel"}) and several Table.NestedJoin steps).
Make a truly independent landing query. Either create a topmost Landing query with no references or duplicate the Sales history query and inline the actual source steps from Hormel and Not Hormel into the duplicate (rename those local blocks and set Source = Table.Combine({Source_Hormel, Source_NotHormel})) so the duplicate has no incoming arrows in View -> Query Dependencies. Save the PBIX, fully close Power BI and reopen, the editor will then open to that independent query.
Hi,
As far as I know, there is no way to set a default query for Transform data.
In your case Sales history depends on Hormel and Not Hormel, so Power Query opens the first query in that chain (Hormel).
A simple workaround is to create a new query that just references Sales history and move it to the top of the Queries list, or right-click Sales history in the Fields pane and choose Edit query to open it directly.
Hi - I did exactly that and exited PowerBI. I came back to the file and it went straight to the highlighted query. It wasn't the last query that I was viewing prior to exit, so I'm not sure what I could be doing wrong here. I want it to go to "Sales history", but I cannot get it to move away from "Hormel" when I open the file.
Hi Anonymous , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.
Power BI always opens the editor to the first expanded query it sees. In your screenshot, the first open folder is Sales history and its first item is Hormel, so the editor goes there every time. Collapse that folder (and any others above it), save and reopen. Once the folder is collapsed, Power BI will stop drilling into it and it will open at the top query or group instead, letting Sales history be the one that appears first.
I did those exact steps, exited PBI and reopened into Power Query and it went straight back to all folders expanded and the Hormel query.
Hi Anonymous , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.
From your screenshots, I can see that Power BI isn’t opening on Hormel because of anything you’re doing wrong, it’s because the Sales history group is a dependent query chain and Power BI automatically expands groups like that every time the file opens. When a group contains queries that reference each other, Power Query treats it as active, rebuilds the chain on load and expands the folder so you can see all the dependent steps. Once that folder is expanded, the first query inside it becomes the default landing point, which is why it keeps snapping back to Hormel even after you collapse and save it.
If you want Power Query to open somewhere else, you’ll need to move Sales history (or a small landing query) into its own independent group at the very top. Independent groups don’t auto-expand on load, so Power BI won’t drill into them and you’ll get consistent control over which query opens first.
I believe I tried that (screenshot below), no change in behavior.