Get certified for free when you join Fabric Data Days 2026 and dive into Fabric, Power BI, SQL, AI, and other essential data skills.
Join nowJuly 7 - July 17 | Round 2 of the Power BI Dataviz World Championships. Don't miss your chance! Learn more
Hello,
I am trying to import selected columns from a CSV file and exclude any columns that contain personal information. An example data set is below - columns B, D and F should be excluded.
I've been using this query: = Csv.Document(File.Contents("SelectedFilePath\Test File.csv"),[Delimiter=",", Columns={"ColumnA","ColumnC","ColumnE","ColumnG"}, Encoding=1252, QuoteStyle=QuoteStyle.None])
However, the columns re-order themselves as you can see from the below output with the personal information being imported:
Instead of Column, A, B etc, I’ve tried using Column1, 2 etc and the specific column names but I get the same issue every time. Is there a quick fix for this? Many thanks!
Solved! Go to Solution.
Unfortunately, this is the limitation of PQ...You can't control the order of columns to be imported. If you specify 4 columns, here then it will import first 4 columns.
{"ColumnA","ColumnC","ColumnE","ColumnG"} = This supplies names of columns to first 4 columns, it doesn't control which columns to be imported. Hence, first 4 columns will be imported and named "ColumnA","ColumnC","ColumnE","ColumnG".
Unfortunately, this is the limitation of PQ...You can't control the order of columns to be imported. If you specify 4 columns, here then it will import first 4 columns.
{"ColumnA","ColumnC","ColumnE","ColumnG"} = This supplies names of columns to first 4 columns, it doesn't control which columns to be imported. Hence, first 4 columns will be imported and named "ColumnA","ColumnC","ColumnE","ColumnG".
Join us in Barcelona for FabCon and SQLCon, the Fabric, Power BI, SQL, and AI community event. Save €200 with code FABCMTY200.
If you love stickers, then you will definitely want to check out our community sticker challenge, Barcelona edition!
Check out the July 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.