2.3.6. Configuring Data Loading for Queries
💡 First Principle: Not every query deserves a place in the model. Some exist only as building blocks: staging tables, lookup lists used in a merge, parameter queries. Loading them anyway wastes memory, clutters the field list, and lengthens refresh, so Power Query lets you decide per query whether its output loads.
Right-click a query in the Queries pane to find two independent settings:
- Enable load: when cleared, the query still runs as part of refresh whenever another query depends on it, but its output isn't loaded into the model. It appears in italics in the Queries pane. Use it for staging queries and intermediate steps (such as the flat table that feeds your dimensions in 2.3.4).
- Include in report refresh: when cleared on a loaded table, the table keeps the data from its last refresh and is skipped during subsequent refreshes. Use it for static lookups that never change (a list of countries, historical archive data) to shorten refresh.
| Setting combination | Effect |
|---|---|
| Load on, refresh on | Normal table: loaded and refreshed |
| Load off | Query available to other queries, not in the model |
| Load on, refresh off | Table in model, retains old data during refresh |
The Query Dependencies view (View > Query Dependencies) draws how queries feed one another and which ones load, which is the quickest way to confirm that staging queries aren't loading and to understand what a change will affect. Grouping related queries into folders (right-click > Move To Group) keeps large solutions navigable but doesn't change load behavior.
Removing unnecessary loaded queries is also one of the first moves when a stem says "reduce the model size" or "reduce refresh time" without changing report content.
⚠️ Exam Trap: Clearing Enable load doesn't delete the query or stop dependent queries from working; it only keeps its output out of the model. Conversely, clearing "Include in report refresh" doesn't remove the table from the model. Stems that want "use this query only as a source for other queries" want Enable load cleared.
Reflection Question: A model contains a 2-million-row staging table that's only used to build three dimensions, and it appears in the Fields pane where report authors keep using it by mistake. Which setting fixes both the memory and the confusion, and why doesn't it break the dimensions?
