Join the FabCon + SQLCon recap series. Up next: Power BI, Real-Time Intelligence, IQ and AI, and Data Factory take center stage. All sessions are available on-demand after the live show. Register now
I want to combine 4 different Excel reports with username + last login.
Not all users are in every report.
How can I make a long list of all usernames + last login per system?
In Excel I would do this with xlookup but I want to automate this so I can place the reports in a folder every period and refresh the Power BI to reflect the new complete list of all users with 4 columns that show the last login in each system.
Thank you!
Solved! Go to Solution.
Without knowing exactly what your data looks like...
Assuming each system has a separate sheetm each sheet is in a separate workbook, the column names are the same.
I start with excel sheets formatted like this:
Each sheet has all login times of a user.
The result woul look like this:
One row for each user with a column per system showing the last login. The column name is the name of the Excel sheet...
The Powerquery would be like this:
let
// Get the excel files from a folder
Source = Folder.Files("C:\Users\keess\OneDrive\Documents\- Tools en Programmeren\Power Query\Fabric Community\Combining data sources with overlapping values"),
// Filter the sheets YOU are interested in.
#"Filtered Rows" = Table.SelectRows(Source, each Text.StartsWith([Name], "System")),
// Add a column with the contents of the workbooko: A table with all the sheets and tables.
#"Added Custom" = Table.AddColumn(#"Filtered Rows", "Custom", each Excel.Workbook([Content])),
// Expand the table, showing a row for each sheet and table in your book.
#"Expanded Custom" = Table.ExpandTableColumn(#"Added Custom", "Custom", {"Name", "Data", "Item", "Kind", "Hidden"}, {"Custom.Name", "Custom.Data", "Custom.Item", "Custom.Kind", "Custom.Hidden"}),
// Filter the sheets and tables you need.
#"Filtered Rows1" = Table.SelectRows(#"Expanded Custom", each ([Custom.Kind] = "Sheet")),
// Select thje minimum number of columns you need
#"Removed Other Columns" = Table.SelectColumns(#"Filtered Rows1",{"Name", "Custom.Data"}),
// Rename the column that represents the name of the system.
#"Renamed Columns" = Table.RenameColumns(#"Removed Other Columns",{{"Name", "System"}}),
// Needed if you imported sheets. If you import tables, this step is not needed
#"Promoted Headers" = Table.TransformColumns(#"Renamed Columns",{{"Custom.Data", each Table.PromoteHeaders(_, [PromoteAllScalars=true])}}),
// Add the actual data columns. Tis is now all sytems combined
#"Expanded Custom.Data" = Table.ExpandTableColumn(#"Promoted Headers", "Custom.Data", {"User", "Last Login"}, {"Custom.Data.User", "Custom.Data.Last Login"}),
// Get the last login date for each system as a separate column
#"Pivoted Column" = Table.Pivot(#"Expanded Custom.Data", List.Distinct(#"Expanded Custom.Data"[System]), "System", "Custom.Data.Last Login", List.Max)
in
#"Pivoted Column"
Without knowing exactly what your data looks like...
Assuming each system has a separate sheetm each sheet is in a separate workbook, the column names are the same.
I start with excel sheets formatted like this:
Each sheet has all login times of a user.
The result woul look like this:
One row for each user with a column per system showing the last login. The column name is the name of the Excel sheet...
The Powerquery would be like this:
let
// Get the excel files from a folder
Source = Folder.Files("C:\Users\keess\OneDrive\Documents\- Tools en Programmeren\Power Query\Fabric Community\Combining data sources with overlapping values"),
// Filter the sheets YOU are interested in.
#"Filtered Rows" = Table.SelectRows(Source, each Text.StartsWith([Name], "System")),
// Add a column with the contents of the workbooko: A table with all the sheets and tables.
#"Added Custom" = Table.AddColumn(#"Filtered Rows", "Custom", each Excel.Workbook([Content])),
// Expand the table, showing a row for each sheet and table in your book.
#"Expanded Custom" = Table.ExpandTableColumn(#"Added Custom", "Custom", {"Name", "Data", "Item", "Kind", "Hidden"}, {"Custom.Name", "Custom.Data", "Custom.Item", "Custom.Kind", "Custom.Hidden"}),
// Filter the sheets and tables you need.
#"Filtered Rows1" = Table.SelectRows(#"Expanded Custom", each ([Custom.Kind] = "Sheet")),
// Select thje minimum number of columns you need
#"Removed Other Columns" = Table.SelectColumns(#"Filtered Rows1",{"Name", "Custom.Data"}),
// Rename the column that represents the name of the system.
#"Renamed Columns" = Table.RenameColumns(#"Removed Other Columns",{{"Name", "System"}}),
// Needed if you imported sheets. If you import tables, this step is not needed
#"Promoted Headers" = Table.TransformColumns(#"Renamed Columns",{{"Custom.Data", each Table.PromoteHeaders(_, [PromoteAllScalars=true])}}),
// Add the actual data columns. Tis is now all sytems combined
#"Expanded Custom.Data" = Table.ExpandTableColumn(#"Promoted Headers", "Custom.Data", {"User", "Last Login"}, {"Custom.Data.User", "Custom.Data.Last Login"}),
// Get the last login date for each system as a separate column
#"Pivoted Column" = Table.Pivot(#"Expanded Custom.Data", List.Distinct(#"Expanded Custom.Data"[System]), "System", "Custom.Data.Last Login", List.Max)
in
#"Pivoted Column"
Check out the April 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.
If you have recently started exploring Fabric, we'd love to hear how it's going. Your feedback can help with product improvements.
A new Power BI DataViz World Championship is coming this June! Don't miss out on submitting your entry.
| User | Count |
|---|---|
| 3 | |
| 3 | |
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 |
| User | Count |
|---|---|
| 5 | |
| 4 | |
| 4 | |
| 4 | |
| 4 |